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I have a International harvester m1 garand that I inherited. I looked up the serial number and it was manufactured in 1953. It has a line materials barrel and a Springfield Armory receiver. My question is this: The letters AAW are stamped on the stock. Does anybody have any clue what this means? My understanding is that IHC m1's had the defense eagle stamped on the stock, but I can't see it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Probably arsenal refurb. Mixmaster parts taken out of a bin and put together. -
It is a refurb stamp and....
It will not affect the value of the stock if it also has a Defense Acceptance Stamp on it (the eagle and stars in a square) and a P on the grip behind the trigger. Take the action out of the wood and look inside the forward end of the stock in the barrel channel. If there are numbers there you may have a real IHC stock.
The AAW code signifies a rifle rebuilt at Augusta Arsenal and inspected by "W"Last edited by Russ661; 01-07-2013, 11:35 AM.Comment
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Do you have an IHC receiver or a Springfield receiver, or do you have a IHC receiver that was made by Springfield? They are different. The IHC made by Springfield is a bit more of collector item. If you have a Springfield receiver, then it is considered a Springfield, not an IHC.
AAW is an arsenal rebuild mark, showing that something was done. Is the P on the stock in a circle, by itself, or in a square box? "P"s by themselves or in a square box are usually done on replacement stocks. If it is a replacement stock, it shouldn't have the DAS (Defense Acceptance Stamp) or the IHC lettes and numbers inside the barrel channel.Comment
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Hey guys, thanks for the help. On one part of the receiver it says 'International Harvester,' with the serial number 4539753, and on the top it says D28287-17SA B4C. It is heavily worn, but I can make out a "P" with a circle around it behind the trigger. I took some pictures to give you a better idea of what's going on. I'm new to gun ownership, so I appreciate the help with figuring this all out.
Any thoughts on getting it cleaned and oiled, or should I just leave it alone? Thanks again.Comment
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That is a late war to post war bolt. Most IHCs will have all IHC marked parts. You should really field strip it and see what parts are inside. The op rod will be marked with numbers and letters. The trigger housing and hammer will be marked also. There will always be the makers initials stamped onto the bigger parts. Smaller parts have some special disitinguishing charactoristics. The sights will also have their makers initials stamped on them.
Many of the IHC rear handguards have a very tiny O stamped into the left rear corner edge of the handgarud, which is right up against the receiver.
I have an IHC that went through a rebuild, and aparently the only thing that was fixed/replaced was the trigger group and the stock.
An IHC front sight has very wide "ears" almost 7/8" wide, much wider than those made by Springfield or HRA.
Personally, if it was me, I would clean it up and shoot it. I like to clean my stocks, down to the bare wood, then refinish them with new linseed oil. But that is just me. With use, it won't take long for the linseed oil to take on the reddish brown look of the older guns. Also it appears that you have a walnut stock. I don't know if you have walnut or birch for handguards. But, I like to have matching wood. Either all walnut, or all birch.
The more parts that are original to the gun, the more valuable it becomes.Last edited by Sailormilan2; 01-07-2013, 2:36 PM.Comment
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