MP 40 replica, IH M1 garand

[HeviShot]

I am was going through one of my safes the other day and was wondering what these two items might be worth? Also if anyone knows of a M1 garand expert near St. Cloud. I would like this gun looked at to see if all the parts are original International Harvester (It appears to be)

The other gun is a MP 40 replica, its all metal and the bolt even works, colapsable stock, is this worth anything at all?

[Gordie]

Call Chris at Keelers gunsmithing he nay know a thing or two about those guns or know someone that does. Keelers Gusmithing is also one of our sponsers so the phone # is in his at on the right side of the listings

[musky_tail05]

Man, I wish I could go through my gun safe and find those guns! I'll take a stab at helping you out.

Ok, first the M1. Consider yourself very lucky to have a IH Garand. International Harvester only made 337, 623 rifles which is the least amount if the 4 manufacturers (Springfield Armory, Winchester, Harrington & Richardson, and International Harvester). A far as matching parts go there are a few you can check without field stripping. The face of the gas plug under the muzzle should have "IHC" stamped on it. The bolt should have a capital D followed by a 7 digit drawing number with "IHC" at the end. If you pull back and lock the operating rod and look at the barrel where the op rod covered it you should see "LMR" with a month and year of manufacture stamped. There have been some IH rifles with Springfield barrels (SA month-year stamped) that are original. Other than that you would have to field strip it and check the guts of the rifle, which would all be marked "IHC" for original parts. MOST M1's are mix-master rifles. For example, my 1953 SA has a 1950 barrel, 1945 bolt and safety, mid 40's trigger grouping, etc. If you have all original IH parts, then you have one helluva collector's piece on your hands.

As far as the MP-40 replica, I would assume if it does fire it's made to fire blank rounds. I have seen a few of these around and they are all new production but made exactly as the original German SMG in terms of operation and weight. The last one I saw was about two weeks ago at a gun shop listed for $500 I believe.

One last thing to consider is if you do take any rifle to a gun shop to get an appraisal, you have to take whatever they tell you with a grain of salt. About a year ago I considered selling my M1 (glad I didn't!!). The person that looked at didn't know that I have some good knowledge about Garand's. He told me it was worth about $350 tops. It's actually worth more in the $900 to $1000 range. Most gun shops are like car dealerships, the want as big a profit as they can get.

I hope some of this helps you out. On a side note, I'm usually in the St. Cloud area a few times a month when I visit my parents in Royalton. If you wouldn't mind I would be more than happy to take a look at it and answer any other questions you may have.