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Hey Mark C.
Horse Plains Drifter
Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 40,245 ***** Forums Admin
Here is a Garand for you........
Comments
Woo doggies! At 42 grand it better be a very grand Garand!
The rifle looks straight, but gas trap M1s are a world unto their own. I would have to email a couple of guys who specialize in those very early M1s to know for sure.
One thing I do know for sure is that I don't like seeing $40K+ rifles laying on brick walls!
Yeah lets take a rare collectible and put it on an abrasive surface. That's the ticket!
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Many of the parts on these very early rifles are unique and are nearly impossible to locate today. Photos #60 and 61 show what is called a Keystone Spring. It is a double-coil spring with a unique shape/profile. They are so rare and so expensive that replicas are being produced. The last time I saw a genuine Keystone Spring offered for sale the price was $2,000 and it was sold in a heartbeat.
The original gas trap system proved problematic and was replaced by a conventional gas port which tapped gas from below the barrel rather than at the muzzle. Because nearly all existing gas trap rifles were rebuilt to gas port standards, their unique gas trap parts were considered useless and those parts were then disposed of (I have visions of 55 gallon drums filled with Keystone Springs). Any surviving parts rare and valuable.
Gas Traps play an interesting part in the history of the M1 rifle, but are priced too deep for my own M1 pocketbook.
Looking at auctions over the past 10 years, this looks perhaps a little high. SN 2838 sold for almost $ 30,000.00 in 2012, so, given what other firearms have done, the seller may not be too far off the mark. Would be interesting to see what would have happened had it started at $ 25,000.00.
Brad Steele