Garand "clips"

[454PB]

I have little to no knowledge about Garand rifles, so I have a question.

A good friend of mine passed away last November, and I've been doing some car maintenance and repair for his widow. He owned a Garand, and sold it in his fading health. She handed me a box with some wood trim obviously from the Garand, about 50 rounds of early 50's military ball ammo, and about a dozen metal U-shaped clips loaded with the same ammo. There is also a piece that looks to me like it fits over the muzzle end of the barrel and perhaps is a mounting point for a bayonet.

I know the ammo is of no value, but how about the clips and metal piece? She needs any funds she can find right now, and I told her I'd check to see if this stuff was of any value.

She also has a Junior Colt .25 ACP in very good shape. I checked on GunsAmerica and they sell for $350 to $450. I don't plan to try selling that for her, but I want her to know what it's worth.

Thanks in advance for any information you can share.

[oneokie]

The clips sell for about $1.00 each at gun shows. That is for the clip only, no ammo.

[garandsrus]

454PB,

The Garand clips are pretty cheap. Most of the time they go for between 50 cents and a buck each. I have given away quite a few.

The metal that fits over the muzzle might be for a grenade launcher. Do you have a picture of it? You don't need to add anything in order to attach a bayonet.

What does the wood trim look like? There are three pieces of wood on a Garand, the stock, front handguard, and rear handguard. Here's a site with a parts breakdown (http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/nomenclature.html) for the Garand. Are there any markings (cartouche) on the wood?

The ammo might be worth something to a collector... Are the tips colored?

John

[CZARNINA KID]

Garand clips were made by many different manufacturers and some have become collectables in their own right. I've heard the ones made by Winchester (marked with a WRA) bring in near $100 for the right ones. Seen this on a Garand website somewhere but can't remember offhand. I have a CMP M-1 and really enjoy shooting it especially when you get the "ping" of an ejected empty clip.

[454PB]

Thank you for the help. I guess I better take my digital camera over there and take some pictures. The piece I thought might be a bayonet mount doesn't look like any of the parts pictured, but it might be the "bolt". The wood pieces were long and slender and didn't resemble those pictured in the link.

Yes, the bullets have black tips, and crimped primers typical of the military ammo I used to use back when I owned an 03A3. I didn't check every round, but several were date stamped "53" and should not be corrosive primed....don't recall the maker or arsenal mark. I assume tracer ammo would have red tips, and I saw none of those. I figured I pull down the ammo for the bullets if nothing else. I don't even own a 30/06 anymore, but several .300 magnums and a .308 Winchester.

[garandsrus]

454PB,

The black tip bullet is an armor piercing round. Amazingly enough, the bullets (tips only) seem to go for about $1 each now. I don't know what the complete AP cartridge would go for. You could probably sell the ammo and do pretty well.

John

[floodgate]

There are legality issues in some jurisdictions about the use - or even possession - of AP rounds. But a little steel wool will eliminate that problem....

floodgate

[garandsrus]

Floodgate,

There are no legality problems with M2 AP rifle rounds in .30 cal... They are specifically exempt from whatever the document is that talks about AP rounds. Here is a link (http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIG1.html) that is interesting reading. Several sections of the document are cited.

There are definitely legality issues with AP rounds designed for a pistol!

John

[floodgate]

garandsrus:

THANKS! for clearing that up for us, at least as far as the Feds are concerned. There might still be restrictions, though, at State or local levels).

floodgate

[brshooter]

AP bullets, I thought were supposed to be a little more accurate than regular ball ammo. I shot a lot out of a chopper in VN in either M-134's or M-60's but never really saw the differance. And now don't even own a 30 cal. rifle.

[garandsrus]

Brshooter,

I have heard that AP are more accurate rounds also but I don't think I have ever fired one. I have loaded a few, but never shot them.

John

[Ed Barrett]

When I was on the 3rd Naval district rifle team in the early 60's we always shot practice and matches with 30-06 AP because it was very accurate and always non-corrosive. We wouls sell our boxed match 30-06 ammo to civilians for beer money. Won a lot of matches with AP and a Navy marksmanship unit M1. When I worked on the range we used to throw away 55 Gal drums of M1 clips and Brass, if I would have save a truck load of clips I could be shooting custom double rifles.

[C1PNR]

+ 1 for shooting the "black tip" '06 ammo in practice and match.

No idea of the value of ammo or clips nowadays. If you think you'll ever own an M1 Garand, I'd buy all of the ammo and clips for future use. Or even if you have NO plans to buy an M1, just get the supplies on "speculation!"[smilie=1:

[PatMarlin]

Garand clips were made by many different manufacturers and some have become collectables in their own right. I've heard the ones made by Winchester (marked with a WRA) bring in near $100 for the right ones. Seen this on a Garand website somewhere but can't remember offhand. I have a CMP M-1 and really enjoy shooting it especially when you get the "ping" of an ejected empty clip.

WHoa... I better check through all the clips Grandsrus gave me. Might get rich on this one.. :mrgreen:

[0802]

Searching the archives for an answer, this was best thread I found.

Are the Greek clips from CMP any good? I'm looking at laying in a small supply of clips -- should I buy the Greek ammo in clips and save them or am I better off buying empty clips and boxed Greek ammo? I've seen some who say the Greek clips are no good, but the ammo is good.

If I'd be better served with non-Greek clips, which ones should I get? I'm not interested in collector value, only function and durability (and price). I'm looking to get around 50.

Thanks,
Josh

[elk hunter]

454PB;

I just sold 160 rounds of LC 53 AP rounds to a place in Georgia for $1.00 per round and used to money to buy 500 rounds of nice late LC ball from CMP. Got me a bunch more shooting ammo for little effort.