Garand production dates

A friend's dad bought a Garand at a local gunshop today, paid $700 for it. I haven't seen it yet but he said it was a Springfield Armory, made in 1966 or 1967. I didn't know they were still producing them that late-does anyone have a chart that shows dates going that long? All I can find are WWII dates. Also looking for anything showing correct drawing numbers so we can go through it out of curiosity asnd see how much is correct for the receiver.My friend described it as "very nice shape" but that is a pretty broad description as we all know. I told him that a "nice" M1(we'll assume CMP Service grade or higher) runs $800-$1000 in local shops and shows, IF you can find one, so at worst his dad got a fair price for a local purchase. No clips, but I'm taking him 5 tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing just how good a deal he got. This particular shop doesn't get a lot of milsurps in, so he usually prices them to sell. Maybe he got a real gem-then again maybe he just got a semi-decent price on a mixmaster or current Springfield commercial(which wouldn't be the end of the world).

They stopped making the garands in the 50's but many went through rebuilds in the 60's and are marked with date on the lower part of the receiver.

1956 was the last year of production. But as hARd_time said many were rebuilt in the '60s and were marked on the receiver leg, with electro-pencil, with the rebuke date. A newer barrel could have been installed and not had a rebuild date inscribed on the receiver.

We definately need pics for a more definative answer though.

The Government produced Springfield Armory Garands stop in the 6 million range. After that, a private company bought the Springfield Armory name and started making Garands (as well as other firearms). The civilian produced SA Garands start at serial number 7 million and go from there.

The biggest difference is that gov't SA receivers are forged and the civilian produced Garand receivers are cast.

The original Springfield Armory wasn't shut down until '67 or '68. But also, they stopped making Garands in the 50's.

Could it be that those dates (1966 or 1967) are from the barrel he saw, not the serial number?

Thanks. Will likely be after Christmas before I get any numbers off of it now, and the dates provided help quite a bit-I knew about the commercial versions, passed on one a couple years ago for $1295. I'm hoping he got a really nice mostly correct rifle that has lockbar sights. Why? So I can trade him my later sights(and some cash) to make my rifle closer to correct. If this happens, I'll be more than fair with him, he's a good friend. The first thing they asked me was what's a good handload to use, safe for the gas system, so at least they already know THAT recommendation. Definitely looking forward to seeing it. Maybe the 60's date WAS a barrel date(all I have is a text message saying it's a 66 or 67 Springfield). Who knows, maybe he stumbled on a reworked WWII receiver that was warehoused for 30 years?

Well, if it's an "O-65", "O-66", or "O-67", then it's an Ogden rebuild. These were rebuilt specifically for the USMC.

If it's one of those, and your Dad's friend doesn't want it, I'll take it.

Small update. I talked to him today(ran into him at work) and picked hos brain about the rifle. What he described sounded like a nice CMP service grade in a CMP stock. 1965 barrel, and he thinks 6 million serial range. He didn't know what manufacturer the barrel was, and wants to research the rifle before he does any shooting with it. I gave him 5 clips for it, and will be giving him a couple grease pots too. Shelf price was $750, he talked the shop down to $700. Got the rifle, sling and a late bayonet(I can never remember the designations, nut it's the one that locks into the end of the gas cylinder instead of a ring around the brrel) with scabbard. Assuming I'm right and it fits service grade criteria, figure $625 shipped from CMP(current, sold out price) plus the cost of a bayonet, I think he did pretty damn good indeed. As for the sights, he didn;t remember if it had a lockbar, but was receptive of my offer of my assembly plus cash for his if his would be correct for my receiver(489,000 block). Almost CMP price, bought from a gunshop, without knowing anything about Garands. Lucky guy. He called one of his friends and told him about it, that guy offered him a $100 profit sight unseen-he said no.
ETA-just got a text from him. He had the SN wrong. It's a 6 digit receiver, 642,000 block. Looks like he got a WWII receiver after all. Waiting for drawing number to verify not a reweld.

You can have correct drawing numbers and still have a welded receiver. Only 100% way to tell is visually inspect

Yep, I knew that too-but if he tells me over the phone that it has the "wrong" drawing number, I know I don't have to bother going over and checking it out. I also emailed CMP and asked if it's been through them, if it has we know it's not a reweld.

he did good if the gun is not import stamped- if it is an import then he got taken- any markings on barrel like caistalbvt or blue sky?
if it is a rebarrel which sounds obvious then it is a so called mixmaster rebuilt one or more times after ww2 with a mix of gi parts.

Couldn't get any photos to turn out tonight(terrible lighting in my friend's house, and the color of his carpet on the floor interfered with contrast on the rifle) but here's what we've got-receiver is in the 642,000 block, front receiver is a -17 drawing number. If I found the right chart the front half is "correct". All machining marks(below the woodline of course) are there and line up so that points more towards not being a reweld. Also, no import mark.

Oprod track was good. The barrel, bolt and oprod are Springfield Armory, didn't bother getting drawing numbers since with the 60's barrel we know it's not original anyway.Sights are typical postwar non-lockbar.

Trigger housing and hammer are IHC. Metal finish is the typical medium-gray parkerizing and all parts are the "same" shade. Wear patterns seem to match on all the friction points, so it has had these parts for a long time.
The stock and front handguard are definitely walnut, rear handguard might be but is a slight color mismatch-didn't think to look closely at the grain and actually try to identify the wood(dumb mistake, I know). Buttstock has been refinished, a little heavy on the sanding but not horrible(I've seen and done much worse before I knew better). Condition of the muzzle looked good, didn't have a .30-06 round to use as an improvised muzzle wear gauge but the crown was good and sharp, not worn, rounded and beat to hell like lots are. Good, sharp rifling. Rear sight was knurled/checkered-I've never seen that before on a Garand, later development for glare reduction? Very tight stock-to-receiver fit and good, tight gas cylinder fit too. Should be a good shooter.

It came with a sling, but it's one of the crappy "Hunter" brand "military style" slings so I figure that's worth $5 or so as a sling that's strong enough to hold a rifle. Bayonet is the late style with a nub to insert in the gas cylinder lock, severely sharpened, likely with a grinder-maybe $20-$25 as a bayonet that's not broken in half and will fit on the rifle.A scabbard was included, and that is in good shape. It also had a combination tool in the stock-chamber brush, gas plug screwdriver and one other screwdriver type bit, all fold out like a pocketknife.
Again, he got the rifle for $700-looking at the cosmetic condition and the shape the crown is in it looks like the pics people are posting of their CMP service grades so I think he got a pretty good price based on the $625+shipping+mandatory club membership fee+accessories, even if they do have low value. He is planning to get a proper sling and nicer bayonet soon. I gave him his first 5 clips and will be giving him half an icecream bucket of brass to get him started. He bought a proper cleaning kit and grease pots(I didn't have to tell him grease, not oil so that's good).

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