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Blue Sky Armory M1 Garand?


spagg
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I purchased this M1 Garand about 6 month ago. When I saw the stamping on the barrel I negotiated a much better deal for myself not knowing who this company was that re-barreled this M1 Garand,  I was able to get the weapon for under $500.00...I decided to do some research and found out that this was one of 200,000 purchased back from Korea to a Armory called Blue Sky located in Alexandria, VA. There was a huge scandal involving a US Congress with his connection to Sky Blue Armory back in 1984 thru 1986. Has anyone heard about this and are these weapons with this stamping on the barrel hard to come across. I'm not talking about monetary value just never seen this stamping before? My rifle is dated 1944/45 and a 6/53 re-barrel.

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Yes a importer. Blue Sky did not rebarrel weapons, only important refinish them. Many had the Blue Sky logo so deeply stamped the bore was damaged. They use to be used for parts and bases for building better rifles. Lots of carbines and M1s had that stamp, however time has allowed for lots of barrel swapping. 
I still have a horseshoe pit made with 2 Blue Sky barrels as the post. 

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They are not that uncommon, I think one of my M1 Garand and M1 carbine were imported by them. Generally these import marks are seen as hurting the value of the gun, and nearly makes some unshootable from what I have heard. I got lucky my carbine has one of the original ribbed barrels from ww2 and when the importers mark was stamped in the ribbing it was so light that it is nearly impossible to notice.

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I have shot this one few times already, gone through maybe 200 rounds or less with no problem. Shoots on target an cycles well.   Thanks for the info guys..

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I have a Blue Sky Rockola Carbine with the original barrel. It has that deeply struck marking. I couldn’t bring myself to take off the original barrel so I have learned to live with the importer’s mark. My Blue Sky Carbine is a decent, to okay shooter. 
 

I think you did well with you Garand!

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"are these weapons with this stamping on the barrel hard to come across."  They are in the sense that most times the import stamped barrel is removed and replaced by an unstamped one.  Generally, import marked firearms do not bring as much a cash as non-import variants.  

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I purchased one of these Garands when they were imported. I believe in 1989 or 90. Picked it up at a Woolworths Store. Don't hate me but I got it for $139.00.

Tim

 

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2 hours ago, Keystone said:

I purchased one of these Garands when they were imported. I believe in 1989 or 90. Picked it up at a Woolworths Store. Don't hate me but I got it for $139.00.

Tim

 

Tim, good deals back in the day. I remember my Uncle an Father saying they were able to buy surplus rifles out of a old Armory or from the Armory back in the late 50's and early 1960's.  If I remember correctly, my Father said you could buy non-imported M1 Garands, M1 Carbines for under $30.00.. They both served in WWII.

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I picked one of these imports up in the mid 90's, a 1954 SA.  Was a mixture of parts which was not unexpected for what I paid.  The barrel was shot out, and would keyhole targets past 50 meters.  I had it as a safe queen for years until I decided to re-barrel it and make it a shooter.  Two gunsmiths had a look, (one that even specialized in Garands), who tried to get it running, but could not as the receiver was just too worn out.  Sold it for parts and at least broke even on it.  The old barrel is a now tomato post in the garden.  The Blue Sky stamp was pretty severe, as I can remember, but I don't think that was the death knell for mine, just years of use and abuse overseas.

If it shoots, and shoots well, enjoy it for what it is - a remarkable rifle with an exceptional past.

 

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You can still get good deals if you get lucky.  I purchased my blue sky carbine 3 years ago at a gun shop for somewhere between 350-400, I cant really remember exactly. It came with a reproduction paratrooper stock I add if I ever want to remove the original one, 200 rounds of 30 carbine ammo, 4 original marked magazines (one is the 30 round for the M2 which I think is real but not 100% sure), and one repro mag.  I once added up the value of all the extras and figured that I really only paid around $50 for the gun.  The import mark on that one was so hidden I didn't even realize it was an import until about a year ago, but it is an amazing plinker.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm replacing this barrel with a period correct late WW2 1945 SA barrel dating 2/45 which I found that is in very good condition. My local Gunsmith checked the barrel and it's good to go.  The barrel is about 2 1/2 Months off from my M1 Garand's serial number. I feel fortunate to find a very good WW2 barrel that is straight with a good clean bore and TE-3 ME-3. My Gun Smith will have it back in about three weeks.

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My Blue Sky M1 Garand was purchased in the late 80s, but was marked on the gas tube, not the barrel. Changed the gas tube.  Now I have an "original" GI M1 rifle.

Marv

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4 hours ago, Misfit 45 said:

My Blue Sky M1 Garand was purchased in the late 80s, but was marked on the gas tube, not the barrel. Changed the gas tube.  Now I have an "original" GI M1 rifle.

Marv

Lucky guy.. wish they all had been 

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