Doggone it if most of my stories now don't start with 'back in the day', ...
Digging thru old pics that I thought you guys might enjoy - this is more of a keep your eyes open kinda story. Hope this works.
So anyway, go to a LGS and run into a buddy. Not really into Garands but he knows I am, and he tells me to keep an eye out for a decent one that is worth hanging onto. He just wants something nice but not necessarily pristine as he'd like to take it to the range once in a while. I told him there was one here at the show that wasn't quite 100% but it was a nice one. So we walk over and look at it;
Seller tells us it has a replacement barrel and a postwar stock but basically a straight 2.1 million otherwise. Price is a little high so he takes a pass.
I wander around by myself after he leaves and don't find anything to buy, and nearing the end of the time I have to goof off I end up in front of this table and the same rifle again. Seller pipes up and tells me that if I am interested in the Garand he is ready to deal and just doesn't want to take it home with him. Besides, everyone who picked it up, racked back the oprod and said it had a replaced barrel so they weren't interested. Nothing much else to do and not wanting to go home quite yet, I ask to take the stock off.
Sure, he says, and I see this kinda rolled down about 60 degrees from the normal spot - hmmmm, what's that?;
A little closer;
Well, whaddya-know, ... it is an original barrel, and that means it is basically a straight 2.1 million but for a stock! Go figure. SA isn't really known for mis-marking barrels like this but there it is. So I ask him what he needs (and then hesitate just a bit for effect and pay his ask), and pick up a relatively difficult and pretty darn cool 2.1 million SA (and for a pretty reasonable price, to boot).
A little luck and being at the right place at the right time. Honestly, I have never seen another mis-marked like that, but there it is.
Digging thru old pics that I thought you guys might enjoy - this is more of a keep your eyes open kinda story. Hope this works.
So anyway, go to a LGS and run into a buddy. Not really into Garands but he knows I am, and he tells me to keep an eye out for a decent one that is worth hanging onto. He just wants something nice but not necessarily pristine as he'd like to take it to the range once in a while. I told him there was one here at the show that wasn't quite 100% but it was a nice one. So we walk over and look at it;
Seller tells us it has a replacement barrel and a postwar stock but basically a straight 2.1 million otherwise. Price is a little high so he takes a pass.
I wander around by myself after he leaves and don't find anything to buy, and nearing the end of the time I have to goof off I end up in front of this table and the same rifle again. Seller pipes up and tells me that if I am interested in the Garand he is ready to deal and just doesn't want to take it home with him. Besides, everyone who picked it up, racked back the oprod and said it had a replaced barrel so they weren't interested. Nothing much else to do and not wanting to go home quite yet, I ask to take the stock off.
Sure, he says, and I see this kinda rolled down about 60 degrees from the normal spot - hmmmm, what's that?;
A little closer;
Well, whaddya-know, ... it is an original barrel, and that means it is basically a straight 2.1 million but for a stock! Go figure. SA isn't really known for mis-marking barrels like this but there it is. So I ask him what he needs (and then hesitate just a bit for effect and pay his ask), and pick up a relatively difficult and pretty darn cool 2.1 million SA (and for a pretty reasonable price, to boot).
A little luck and being at the right place at the right time. Honestly, I have never seen another mis-marked like that, but there it is.
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