I broke down,and bought an HRA.

[Prince Humperdink]

I'm not a post war guy,but a Fella offered Me this at a price I couldn't refuse.It came from CMP and He said TE was 2.5 and ME was 1.5(TE gage confirmed throat),and He said barrel is original,and it had the clip latch.I had all those HRA parts laying around,and that last WRA was chock full of HRA parts.
Here is a breakdown:
Receiver,HRA sn#5628308 drawing#6528291

Barrel,HRA=5/55

Trigger group:housing=6528290-HRA N,Safety=HRA,Hammer=HRA,but C series,need later version.This was the group on the WRA and I believe it to be original together.

Stock,HRA=1/2X1/2 cartouche,HRA buttplate,and perhaps other metal?

gas cylinder assembly,HRA,High hump lock,HRA O screw(came together on WRA).

Follower rod,HRA with indents

follower arm,HRA

bullet guide HRA w/beveled hole edges

follower,unknown

Bolt,SA

op rod,SA 65 series

ok,pics when photobucket lets me download :(

[Punch The Clown]

You always swore you had no interest in Post-War M1's.

[Prince Humperdink]

You always swore you had no interest in Post-War M1's.

I still don't,but that WRA had so many HRA parts as did my spares bin.I got the barreled receiver,and clip latch shipped for less than the asking price.My buddy said I had to have it,so He reduced the price...I'm not "evolving" though,I'm still in love with"ugly"WRA's :)

[Prince Humperdink]

Hopefully this works.
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[dpd3672]

Nice looking gun.

I feel sort of the same way about postwar guns...they don't have the "romance" of something that served in WW2, but I grudgingly admit they're beautiful rifles. All the latest parts revisions, generally almost perfect condition, and they almost correct themselves. The finish on HRA parts is also very cool, they're probably the closest to a commercial gun finish that you can get in a Garand. Compared to WRA parts, with the machine marks and overall roughness, they're worlds apart. They make for some great shooters, too.

I love old cars, too, but I have to admit, the new Mustangs and Corvettes are damn sexy; for completely different reasons. I don't think I could get emotionally connected to a newer one, and wouldn't get the same pleasure out of turning a wrench, but I'd much rather drive one year round than a classic.

[melloman]

I like old cars too but give me a new one any day. Get in and turn the key, it starts and drive off. No leaks, noise, rust, premium fuel cost and endless repairs. Been there and done that. Unless it is mint, I will never have another one as I just want to drive it and enjoy it.

[Dave]

Years ago when I started collecting garands I was only interested in WW2 era rifles. Funny thing, the first one I got was an IHC with an SA 11-44 dated barrel on it. I thought that was so cool, a 1944 garand made by International Harvester! Eventually I found out what I had and about the DCM. My first "one per year" order ended up being a 5.9 mil SA, a rifle I kept as one of my first main shooters. I had the rifle up to two years ago when I traded it for an early 1903. My next "one per year" rifle ended up being a Dec 41 WRA with original barrel. I still have that one, fully restored. I ended up buying more locally and from the now CMP and always ended up with WW2 SA and WRA rifles. My first HRA was only purchased because it was a cheap local buy, a near correct 4.7 for $350. Quite a few years back, before CMP sold thousands of them, HRA's were not that common like they are now and to have a chance to buy one was something I was'nt going to pass up despite being a WW2 collector. Over the years however I eventually got the bug for post war guns too. One of my best buys early on was a papered NM that is like new, then found another IHC, more HRA's and so on. Recently, one of my big "bucket list" garands came my way, a 6 mil HRA. After aquiring that one I got on the HRA kick again and "filled in the gaps" in my HRA collection. I now have one from each serial block, 4.6,4.7,5.4,5.5,5.6,5.7,6.0. I'm now trying to fill in the gaps in my post war SA and IHC collection, but still have a pile of WW2 era SA and WRA to keep me happy. I thought I was done with WW2 garands but still find myself adding them here and there. After all these years of not having much interest in scoped garands, I bought an M1D locally a few years back and just this month picked up a nice WW2 vintage M1C. My next task will be finding the scope and mount for it. I never thought 25 years ago that I would someday have one, but now I do. Time passes, things change, especially your mind and it's tastes!

[Punch The Clown]

Dave, me and Axe saw a 6 mil HRA over at Tony's the other day. Tony said they are quite rare.

[Dave]

Dave, me and Axe saw a 6 mil HRA over at Tony's the other day. Tony said they are quite rare.

Yes they are rare for a post war rifle.
Also rare (aside from the numerous IHC variants) are the 5.0mil SA's, 5.2 mil SA's, 6.10 SA's, and 5.79 HRA's. Someone posted on the CMP forum about an SA 5.2 mil they got at one of the stores. Not that it's as rare as others, but still not a common find.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a305/M1Riflenut/garand%20pics/P1110944.jpg

[Roadkingtrax]

Seems like there were certainly a lot of 5.7 SA's available in the big Greek Air Force run?

I wonder if they all came back to the CMP. Wouldn't you like to see the vaults of CMP sold Serial Numbers?