M1 Garand Reference Books - What Would You Buy

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  • BowHunt!
    • Jan 2013
    • 200

    M1 Garand Reference Books - What Would You Buy

    I'd like to buy a book or books on the M1. I have three guns but no books. I guess what I'm looking for are any books with production dates and help in identifying correct parts with production dates. Information on stocks, cartouches, and proofs would be neat too. Does anybody have a recommendation?
  • oldwxman
    • Apr 2014
    • 195

    #2
    Most informational M1 book at the moment.
    http://estore.thecmp.org/Store/catal...note5=&max=500
    CMSgt, USAF (Ret)
    1971 - 1995
    Weather - a non-prophet career field

    Comment

    • JoeW2111
      • Oct 2009
      • 3516

      #3
      Tried and true http://www.scott-duff.com/
      Click on "BOOKS" upper left. IMHO still

      Comment

      • MyTurn
        • Jun 2012
        • 2707

        #4
        Originally posted by oldwxman View Post
        Most informational M1 book at the moment.
        http://estore.thecmp.org/Store/catal...note5=&max=500
        +1. By far the best, especially if you are only going to get one.

        Comment

        • jimthompson502002
          • Nov 2009
          • 3188

          #5
          Shooter? Collector?

          Both?

          Huge difference. Industrial histories are not especially useful to shooters, and "practicum" isn't for collectors.
          No good deed goes unpunished!

          Comment

          • yoteman
            • Jul 2012
            • 1256

            #6
            I have both Duff's and Canfield's book and I look in Duff's a lot more because it is so easy to find what you are looking for. Canfield's book is a practice of going back and forth and trying to find what you are looking for. Almost too much information.

            The best part of Canfield's book is that it covers the Garands from start to finish where Duff's red book is wonderful for the early and WWII garands, but his blue book does not do as good a job with the post war rifles as this red book did with the war time ones.

            Both are good, one is $100 packed with all kinds of info, the other is $35 with the info in a more logical order.

            Just my two cents worth.

            Comment

            • tmark
              • Oct 2010
              • 3406

              #7
              I get as many books from varying authors as I can. Some books are better than others but all books make contributions. In other words, I learn from all of them.

              Comment

              • Roadkingtrax
                • Oct 2009
                • 8721

                #8
                As a scholar of the M1?

                Duff (Behind in presentation, and lacking in post-war)
                Canfield (newest, #1 to me. It fleshes out the story of the Man, the rifle and how it was made and used.)
                Hatcher's Notebook of the Garand
                Precision Shooting with the M1 Garand (R. Baumgardner)
                Last edited by Roadkingtrax; 07-24-2014, 09:38 PM.

                Comment

                • jimthompson502002
                  • Nov 2009
                  • 3188

                  #9
                  New cover on mine, and apparently most of the internal upgrades were folded in, too.

                  https://www.flickr.com/photos/156311...in/photostream


                  Of course, they're not intended to be industrial histories. There are things for collectors, including practicum, but they're intended to be useful for those who want to know rifles that actually EXIST and are OBTAINABLE.

                  They're practical, describe the Italian rifles, including shooting and reloading information, and actual marketplace data.
                  Last edited by jimthompson502002; 02-13-2019, 05:05 PM. Reason: completion
                  No good deed goes unpunished!

                  Comment

                  • Random Guy
                    • May 2011
                    • 1898

                    #10
                    I guess what I'm looking for are any books with production dates and help in identifying correct parts with production dates. Information on stocks, cartouches, and proofs would be neat too
                    Bruce Canfield's huge 872 page on the M1 Garand is what you are seeking. Its the only book on the M1 Garand that is filled with hundreds of color pictures, and it has very specific production date information on parts and cartouches - including a list of the exact day that serial numbers were stamped on WRA receivers during WWII(!). I got this book a year ago for Christmas, and its probably the last book I'll buy on the M1 Garand.
                    Last edited by Random Guy; 01-09-2015, 05:34 PM.

                    Comment

                    • The Garandster
                      • Aug 2011
                      • 160

                      #11
                      Originally posted by tmark View Post
                      I get as many books from varying authors as I can. Some books are better than others but all books make contributions. In other words, I learn from all of them.
                      Couldn't agree more. I have several M1 Garand books, including several by Bruce Canfield and the Scott Duff series. I think that each is good in their own way, but no one book (or author) completely encompasses ALL of the relevant material (particularly from a collector's point of view), although Canfield's latest work ("The M1 Garand Rifle") is closer than others.

                      "The M1 Garand, 1936-1957" by Joe Poyer and Craig Riesch (Collector Grade Publications) is also a good reference to have (and easier to carry when you're at a gun show, CMP store, etc.), and I consider Jerry Kuhnhausen's "The U.S. .30 Caliber Gas Operated Service Rifles: A Shop Manual, Volumes I & II" essential when taking apart or (particularly) assembling a Garand piece by piece.

                      On the other hand, I think most collectors here would find Leroy Thompson's "The M1 Garand" to be a disappointment - it is a much more general interest work. In addition, although the E.J. Hoffschmidt series of "Know Your..." books (in this case, "Know Your M-1 Garand Rifles") were not bad 30-40 years ago (when they were first published), time (and other authors) has passed them by.

                      Just my opinion...

                      Comment

                      • jimthompson502002
                        • Nov 2009
                        • 3188

                        #12
                        "I guess what I'm looking for are any books with production dates and help in identifying correct parts with production dates. Information on stocks, cartouches, and proofs would be neat too."

                        You definitely need an industrial history for all that minute detail. Bear in mind, of course, those dates are cdd (contract delivery dates) and if they were ironclad, most of the "undisturbed" rifles would be curious anomalies.

                        Duff is superb. The line drawings in Harrison's stuff are generally preferable to photography for many purposes, since reflectivity and color balance are not issues, but he makes so many errors. Oddly, there are a lot of fake parts out there that were--ahem!--made "correct" by folks who took his stuff too literally, and some of that was VERY hard to track down.

                        Had a weird event transpire with some WIN-13 rifles, supposedly undisturbed, two of them featuring the so-called "original" stamped "WRA" trigger guard. Re-examining those rifles again recently, put the "tabs" or catches under 30x magnification, and realized they were modified to conform to Harrison's drawing by a rather talented welder, then refinished...never committed the revisions to print, but I briefly thought Harrison was right. It is probable the same hands are behind the "uncut" 65 and 77 series operating rods, parts which never left the doors of any of the original manufacturers.

                        There are collectors out there reconfiguring rifles to "correct" configurations that were actually "correct" when they got them!!

                        Still, I wish I had not let my Harrison with all the notes and inserts slip out of my hands. Line drawings are far more objective than photography, and despite the errors, I used the volume much more than the others. That objectivity, by the way, is why manufacturers use dimensioned, drafted DRAWINGS rather than even edited or line photography.

                        If some self-sacrificing scholar were to acquire the rights from Harrison's heirs (he has apparently passed on) rectified versions of his missives would be very handy indeed. Should you contemplate such a project, though, bear in mind: there is no money in such a venture, and even less satisfaction. Plus, the hate mail is, shall we say, startling!!
                        Last edited by jimthompson502002; 02-13-2019, 05:07 PM. Reason: omission
                        No good deed goes unpunished!

                        Comment

                        • chopperjock22
                          • Nov 2014
                          • 426

                          #13
                          M1 Books

                          The Wife has asked me for some gift ideas, and I figured some books on the M1 would be nice. I've been wanting the Scott Duff "red" and "blue" books for awhile now, but I've now come across a book by Bruce Canfield called "The M1 Garand Rifle." As I bet most of you already know, it's several hundred pages long, and costs almost $100.

                          Question is: is the book worth it? I can get BOTH of Duff's books for about $45 total. Any other "must have" books for the library? Any advice is appreciated!

                          Comment

                          • dnmccoy
                            • Apr 2011
                            • 3977

                            #14
                            I have both the Duff books and the Canfield book. I consider them all essential. Also look into Larry Babcocks book on the M1, it helps with part identification

                            Comment

                            • Orlando
                              • Oct 2009
                              • 11967

                              #15
                              IMO I would not spend the $$$ for Babcocks. It has very good pictures but alot of incorrect info. What good is pictures when they are labled wrong?
                              You might consider the "Garand Stand Report" Its a quarterly publication that IMO is a well worth reading
                              "I am the master of my unspoken words, and a slave to those that should have remained unspoken. ...

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