A "tanker" garand

[coastie]

Back in the 1970's I was in San Antonio on a jobsite. That evening a fellow had advertised a "tanker" Garand for sale in the local newspaper. I called, but got to the seller's house too late. Sold to the fellow ahead of me.
A few years later I was told of another for sale in the immediate Houston area.
So it came to pass, in a boat shed, near Kemah, on Clear Lake, adjacent to Galveston Bay, a story was told me:
Work was needed on the sailboat that the seller had sailed from California through the Panama Canal enroute the East coast.
And needing to pay for repairs to said boat, the Garand was offered for sale.
All seemed to function when I inspected, in dim light after sunset, and I became the new owner of a "tanker" Garand.
Some weeks later I showed my prize to a gunsmith I was on good terms with.
Surprise number one: "Never seen a Garand with a two groove barrel."
Surprise number two: A "ring" about said barrel where the barrel shoulder meets the receiver.
Surprise number three: the forward and rear sections of the receiver don't match.
The markings on the receiver heel: "El Monte Ca".
I have a "reweld". A rifle from pieces.
I have never shot it, I will never attempt to shoot it, I will, maybe, display it.
One of the officers of the Houston Gun Collectors Association told of his M1D, bought at a department store sale,
Back when department stores did that. His experience was that every 4th or 5th shot was a misfire.
Upon examination he realized some cartridges had two strikes on the primer.
These were, of course, the cause of the misfire.
The firing pin was hitting a different port of the cartridge base because the receiver was not "true".
Print "SUCKER" on my forehead rushing a sale without the knowledge that we have now with the internet.
Any one else found one of these?
Of course today there are "real" "tanker" Garands that actually work and aren't dangerous; but those are from
legitimate sources, not a guy with machine tools, and a knowledge of welding, and a means of Parkerizing to
hide defects.
Paul

[nf1e]

Sounds like a Fed. Ord. cast concoction. I wouldn't want to shoot it either with the description you have given.

[coastie]

Markings on heel are poor quality, might have coulda been: "fed ordnance....S El Monte Ca....cal 30m1"

[Tuna]

Ah yes the infamous idea of an advertising executive. Created during the golden age of surplus out on the left coast. Made to fit inside a tank is what the ads said. But they were based on an experimental design out of Springfield Armory. At the request of the Army in the jungle fighting in the Pacific for a short rifle that would be easier to use in the thick jungles. The problem with them was when fired day or night the muzzle blast would light up the surrounding area like a flare. So that ended the experiments. Your right about it most likely being Federal Ordnance or Golden State. Both were well into the surplus game back then with Fed Ordnance turning out the cheapest and sometimes the most dangerous rifles.

[Sunray]

"...there are "real" "tanker" Garands..." No there aren't.
"...idea of an advertising executive..." And one who had never been in a tank. No space for a rifle in tank. Same fantasy idea as the current 18.5" and 16" M1A's and AR-15/10's.
"...A "ring"..." Inside or out? Inside is probably a bulge.

[fjruple]

These are an advertising gimmick would dates back to the early 60's. The market was flooded with condemn parts from the US military. The demil process involving the receivers were just to cut or break the receiver into two parts as scrap metal. As with any military rifle barrel, a lot are shot out or the muzzles are bulged from mud or dirt in the muzzle which comdemns the M1 barrel. Surplus dealers are enterprising folks. Where most folks see scrap metal they see a profit to be made. The M1 Garand receiver parts were mated back up with little or no attention to the manufacturer. The welding jobs range from poor, dangerous to well done. The one thing to bear in mind about these receivers are they were condemned for a reason! The shot M1 barrels were cut just in front of where the barrel starts to thin out. The chamber area was reamed out straight to accept a new $3.00 M1903A3 two groove barrel. These were usually silver soider in or pinned to the rear M1 rifle part. Then the whole barrel was profiled on a lathe to look like a new M1 Rifle. The bulged M1 Rifle barrels were cut to 18 inches with the front ends trended for the gas cylinder lock, splines and the new gas port. and re-parkerized. I believe Federal Ordnance and Golden state also used new cheaply cast receivers made in Spain also. These rifles are dangerous to fire in a full .30-06 or .308 Winchester. I have used these previously demil "rewelded" M1 receivers to make .22LR single shot rifles.