early 1940 barrel dates

[RCS]

anyone have a dated barrel before July 1940 ?

[Jersey Devil]

I thought July was the first month they started dating the barrels, no?
Do June 1940-marked barrels exist??

[GBA]

Yes, there are at least 3 still around, maybe 4.

[Jersey Devil]

Yes, there are at least 3 still around, maybe 4.

Wow! I had no idea!!
Any chance to get a photo of one posted up?

[GBA]

How about this?

[Jersey Devil]

That's incredible!
Thanks for sharing that here with us.

[RCS]

Excellent photo George, a very rare barrel and very few around. Maybe George will find a photo of the
receiver too ?

My data on June 1940 barrels:

S-A 6-40 D-35448 C-I-3-B

S-A 6-40 D-35448-2 C-I-1-D

S-A 6-40 D-35448-2 C-I-3-D

[GBA]

Sorry, it will have to wait a bit. I dropped my external hard drive on the floor not 15 minutes ago. I'll have to either get them off an old SD card, or take new ones. So no more pix tonight. Again, I'm sorry.

[Jersey Devil]

Sorry, it will have to wait a bit. I dropped my external hard drive on the floor not 15 minutes ago. I'll have to either get them off an old SD card, or take new ones. So no more pix tonight. Again, I'm sorry.

Yikes!!
Sorry to hear about your hard drive. Looking forward to any photos that you may have to share in the near future.
Thanks for your contributions thus far!

[Jersey Devil]

These aren't pre-July 1940, but they're the closest I have in my collection!

[RCS]

I have only found one 1940 barrel( dated S-A 8-40) with British proofs (London) until Dave McClain sent me a data sheet from the GCA on serial number 7860 from a sales in 1999. It was indicated on the data sheet that it is a direct conversion and it also has a S-A 8-40 barrel (TE 1.0) with British proof marks also London. This rifle has quite a few early parts including a bottom marked uncut revision 0 op rod plus numbered internal parts. The "story" is that it was sent home from England without the stock and later a SA EMcF stock was installed.

photo shows a S-A 8-40 barrel in new condition (TE 1.0) with the London proofs

[RDS]

Can some one post photos of the front end of the barrels. I once ran across an early barrel that had a groove around the barrel behind the gas cylinder pads. I was sorting a very large batch of Garand barrels at the time and this one stuck out like a sore thumb with that groove. If memory serves me correct it was a June of 1940. It was about 25yrs ago so I am not sure on date. It was sold to a well known collector.

[ghostrider]

RDS, I think this is the groove you were referring to. Unfortunately the pad is chromed but it is a 7-40 barrel.

[RCS]

Checked my S-A 7-40 barrel, excellent bore and TE 2.5 and without chrome on the gas port. Did not see that extra groove, also checked some additional '40 barrels and still unable to find any with that extra groove. There are some heat lot codes that both the S-A 6-40 and 7-40 barrels used: examples C-I-3-D and C-I-3-B

[RDS]

RDS, I think this is the groove you were referring to. Unfortunately the pad is chromed but it is a 7-40 barrel.

Yes thank you for posting