To Restore or Not Restore a M1 Garand - VIDEO

I read various discussions about the pros/cons of restoring a WWII era M1 Garand. Some believe it to be a terrible thing to do, in any way, to "improve" upon what the rifle is, since the story of the rifle comes with the way it has come down to us. Others either could care less about the "down side" of restoring, or don't like to do it only because the chances of recovering what you put into the restoration will probably never be returned to the person who paid for it. Still others want a beautiful restoration of the rifle that won WWII in the hands of our brave troops. I count myself in this group on the question of restoration.

In the midst of this, many don't ever get a chance to see a restored Garand, so I thought I would put this video together of the Garand I had restored. The video link is below.

This was my first M1 Garand I purchased, intentionally buying it for the purpose of restoring it. I wanted a WWII era Garand, both receiver and barrel. I found this one and bought it. It had a simply dreadful 50s era stock that was put on it.

Here's the video of the Garand I had restored by Dean's Gun Restorations.

Nice Garand Paul and a Great Video - But I think you may want to use the term "Refinished" rather than Restored, Both your Rear Sight and Gas Plug are Post WWII - Not a big Deal, But a WWII Garand as issued would have a Locking Bar Rear Sight and a Single Slot Gas plug, More than likely the Internals are also probably post war, All in All though no matter what Era they are from, There is nothing like an M1 Garand.

TJB

Years ago I received a woodless dane from the CMP...WWII era receiver, lockbar sights were on it. Found the correct barrel and a few other correct parts and sent it off to have it reparked. Eventually found a stock that had the correct cartouche for it..

I didn't have a problem doing that since it was essentially like putting a puzzle together..

Now, had I received a rifle of that vintage that already had the correct parts and stock, I would just leave it as is...

Also, funny enough, out of a half dozen garands, that garand I restored is probably the least favorite in my collection. It is one of the best looking ones, but it really just does not do all that much for me...Probably because I know it is not original.