Needle Found in Large Haystack....Guy Finds Grandfather's WW2 M-1 Rifle at CMP

[Charlie Flick]

This is a pretty remarkable story that I first saw over on the CMP Forum. If it had not had the supporting pics I would have been very skeptical. Nonetheless, it seems to be a legit story. This guy needs to go out and buy a Powerball ticket.

 

The story was originally posted by the grandson over on Reddit. Here is the substance of his post there, along with some of the pics. The link: https://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/6tz644/needle_in_a_haystack_finding_grandpas_rifle/

 

My grandpa was drafted in to the US Army in April 1945. After basic training, he ended up with the 3119th Signal Service Battalion as a Technician 5th Grade. He attended Radio Repairman School in Yokohoma and spent some time with the Army of Occupation in Moji, Japan at a radio relay station, before being discharged in December 1946. He and his wife of 62 years both passed away this last January. This is the only known photo of him in the military; he is on the far left .

He didn’t talk much about his time in the service, like most men from that era. Most of this information was put together from his enlistment and discharge records we discovered in his paperwork after his death. I was fortunate enough to receive most of his military paperwork including a copy of the soldier’s handbook, a pay ledger, and this little gem, a combination scorebook for the M1903, M1, and BAR. On the inside cover, 72 years ago, he had written his name, serial number, unit, and rifle serial number, 3142863.

When I saw this, I knew I had to try to find this rifle. The odds of finding 1 rifle out of more than 5 million produced, however, is not very good. It could have met any number of fates including being lost, destroyed, still on loan to a foreign government, etc. Still, it was worth a shot to try. So a few weeks ago, I sent a letter off to the CMP to have them search their records for the rifle. Since they have processed hundreds of thousands of rifle in their existence (and thousands more as the DCM, for which there are some records), I figured this would be a great place to start. There were three possible outcomes: Worst case scenario, they have no record of it, and I’m left to wonder whether it is in the US at all or still over seas Best case scenario, they have a record of it, but it was sold long ago and I’m staring down years of searching gun stores, gun shows, and internet auctions Dream scenario, they have it in their warehouse, available for purchase

Given the low probability of success, imagine my shock and surprise when I received a phone call from the CMP stating that, not only did they have a record of my grandpa’s rifle, but it was still at the warehouse and available for purchase.

Total search time: 5 days.

My excitement was tempered a bit when they told me that it was listed as a drill rifle. It didn’t matter to me, as the opportunity to own my grandpa’s rifle far outweighed the disappointment, so I sent off my paper work the same day, and received the rifle about a week later.

M1 serial number 3142863 was produced by Springfield in September 1944. It was issued to my grandpa sometime around May 1945 as the first date in the score book was May 25th, 1945. The rifle, as received, is a mixmaster in pretty rough condition. I’d like to believe that the lockbar sights are the same ones my grandpa used 72 years ago. The op rod also may be original. The bolt (June – Oct 1942) was made much earlier, while trigger group (Jan. 1955 – Dec. 1957) and barrel (7-51) were made much later. The stock has no identifying marks, other than the circle P proof, and a rack number of “18”.

This drill rifle pretty much meets the CMP’s description. I wasn’t able to remove the gas cylinder screw, but I didn’t see any obvious welds, and I wasn’t applying much force. The bolt features welds on both ends (See 1 2). The barrel has a cut running approximately half the length, and is plugged at the end of the cut. The receiver has welds in all four of the guides for the follower, so that an enbloc cannot be inserted. Perhaps most damaging, the cut from the barrel extends up into the receiver and then was welded on top of that (See 1 2 3).

Despite of these flaws, it was still the rifle that was issued to my grandpa, for at least basic training. I don’t know enough about army practices in the mid-1940’s to know if this rifle would have accompanied him overseas, or if he would have been issued a different one on his arrival in Japan. Regardless, it is still a family heirloom that will be displayed proudly in my home, alongside his uniform, pins, medals and other memorabilia.

Link to full album

The grandpa, Pvt. Dan Emigh, is on the far left.

The Score Book.

The serial number recorded in the score book.

The serial number on the rifle.

A pretty amazing story.

Regards,

Charlie

 

 

[pzjgr]

Well, that's pretty damned cool.

[Rakkasan187]

That is an incredible story..

 

Thank you for sharing this with us..

 

Leigh

[David D]

Wow! That's incredible

[gomorgan]

That is incredible and what a story, now I wonder what happened to my old M-14?

[TLeo]

amazing story!

[BEAST]

Very cool story with an Indiana connection to boot!

[Fritz]

WOW!! Incredible

[silverplate]

Wow! What are the odds?

[bobgee]

Great & amazing story. Another indicator of how the Internet has reduced the size of our world.........for good stuff and also bad stuff!

[Brian Keith]

Excellent Story! The odds are probably as long as the odds for the powerball.

BKW

[huntssurplus]

Wow what a story! Amazing he got his grandpas rifle back! Thanks for sharing

 

Hunt

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Larry G.]

Great story.

[Garandomatic]

I met a gentleman at a car show and his grandfather, a marine in WWII, several years ago. Fella found out they had his rifle and bought it for him for Christmas. The reunion was both happy and sad for the marine. He said when he opened it "Where have you been all these years?" But he couldn't help but remember the other times, such as when they ambushed a Japanese patrol and he was a little shook by the family photos of the man he'd killed that he found when they went over the bodies.

[phantomfixer]

the stars were aligned!

[The Meatcan]

An astounding story! Neat to see at least one person who has finally found what they were looking for.

Terry

[Dogface72]

Sometimes I find it remarkable that they did not strip the lock bar sight off and sell them. Goes to show there are some pieces out there, I personally think this one survived because it was rough. Otherwise one could speculate it would have been sold. GREAT STORY, I would read these stories for years and not get bored at all. I wonder how many M1's are left at CMP. Waiting on the 1911's.

[Dirt Detective]

Great story..bummer it was cut up.