Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

I originally ordered a Springfield Armory Service Grade from CMP, But the Springfields Sold out before mine shipped, so they offered me a replacement from some limited rifles they had set aside.

Since I wanted a WWII Serial Number and I was not guaranteed to get one with the Springfield I choose the Winchester M1 because they were all WWII and a bit more rare.

Well It Arrived just in time before the Snow storm..
A September 1943 Winchester Repeating Arms (WRA) Walnut Stock with a Rock Island Arsenal rebuild in 1955 and replaced the Barrel with a Springfield. So there is a good chance this Rifle was used both in WWII and Korea.







There are three distinct markings on the stock. The first on the pistol grip was an O. This is a proofer's mark I believe, and next to it is a inspection mark of a crossed cannons used by Winchester. W.R.A. was Winchester Repeating Arms.



The second mark is an RIA-EB mark. This is the rebuild mark for the Rock Island Armory.
The "EB" marking represents Elmer Milton Bjerke. He went to work at Rock Island Arsenal on February 20, 1939 as a classified laborer assembling small arms. In September of 1940 he was promoted to Shop Inspector under the supervision of Frank Krack ("FK"). During WWII, Bjerke was one of many inspectors working at RIA. On January 6, 1947 Bjerke became Foreman of Small Arms Inspection and his "EB" cartouche began to be used. He held this position until 1958. Therefore, the "EB" marking indicates that the weapon was overhauled at Rock Island between 1947 and 1958.]

Cool


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I like it a lot !!!

Man, that looks sweet. I am happy for you man. It looks very clean.

Btw, did you convert a create into a glass-top display table?

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Nice looking rifle. At one time I was saving up money for a couple of Winchesters. One for me and one for my youngest son. A little before I got the money saved up, they stopped listing them and I just let it go. We've got SA's and H&R's so we're good to go as is. At least I keep telling myself that.

beautiful! How long was your wait?

Sweet, man!

MarcSpaz wrote:Man, that looks sweet. I am happy for you man. It looks very clean.

Btw, did you convert a create into a glass-top display table?

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Actually I built it from scratch, a full size crate would not fit in the room so I made one smaller to fit 4 to 6 rifles. the top is 1/2 inch Poly carbonate.

bryanrheem wrote:beautiful! How long was your wait?

I sent in the paperwork December 1st 2013 and received the rifle Feb 13, 2014.
I originally ordered the Springfield Service Grade but in January the went on backorder so they started offering people different rifles that they had limited stock of, and one was this Winny SG.

I am putting in another order for an HRA SG 50's era (Korean) and more Ball M2 Ammo.

Someone offered me 1000.00 today to buy it or he would trade a Scott Duff Winchester corrected for 1500.00 and my rifle, says he paid 3K for the Corrected Duff Winchester..
I took it to the range on saturday to try it out, and I really like how it shoots.

Updated pictures

Lookin' good brother! Those shots in the grass are pretty clean. The color of the wood just pops.

Interesting to see the pic of your 1943 WRA which allows me to compare it to my October 1943 SA. I can see a few difference which seems odd I though they were all the same except by generational changes. Is that the cast trigger guard that was so dreaded?

OK, had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. That display case is BOSS!!!

AdamG wrote:Interesting to see the pic of your 1943 WRA which allows me to compare it to my October 1943 SA. I can see a few difference which seems odd I though they were all the same except by generational changes. Is that the cast trigger guard that was so dreaded?

it's milled and the original WWII WRA was cast and the hole in the back was to use a 30-06 round as a tool to remove the guard.



This is correct for a 43, Mine is an October 8th 1943, the stock and gas cylinder are springfield, the Trigger assembly is 100% WRA and correct for a late 43 rifle.

Any pictures of yours?
Check out this site for great info on what parts were on production years.
http://usriflecal30m1.com/Parts/PartsMFG.aspx?mfg=WRA
Put your serial number in here and create a parts list
http://usriflecal30m1.com/Parts/PartsList.aspx?

The guard with the hole, commonly called a milled guard because it was machined, was the primary type used during WWII. This was an expensive little part and took time and money to produce so the guard with no hole, commonly called stamped because of the way it was manufactured, was developed later in the war. The stamped guard cut cost and manufacturing time by more than 50% and was the only type in production at the close of WWII. The hole was to aid in dis-assembly and the very early variations had concentric rings milled around the hole for a better grip. If you look very closely at the inner surface of the hole in a milled guard you will see that it has a bevel which will allow you to use the neck of a .30-06 Ball cartridge to open the guard. Milled guards were never slated for automatic replacement and if in good shape they were used on many post war rebuilds.




BTW these pictures are by Mark Christian

KaosDad wrote:OK, had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. That display case is BOSS!!!

thanks,
I built the case /coffee table from scratch, it has 1/2 inch poly carbonate inset into the lid, a 400 lb man could jump ontop and it will not crack

I will post pictures on the build

here are a couple more with items from 1943 including 1943 Steel penny's and silver nickles.
oh and the 30-06 ammo is also head stamped 43