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