Value guides · military surplus rifles
What is my M1 Garand worth?
The American service rifle of the Second World War and Korea, and the surplus rifle most often found in an estate with a story attached. What decides the value is whether the parts still match and whether anybody has sporterized it.
Made 1936–1957.
No page can price your gun, and one that offers to is guessing. What this does is show you which one you have — because that is where the money is.
How to tell which one you have
- Read the maker's name on the receiver heel. Several manufacturers produced them and they are not equally common.
- Check whether the parts carry matching or correct-for-period markings — receiver, barrel, bolt, trigger housing and op rod.
- Establish whether the stock is full military configuration or has been cut down.
- Look for import marks on the barrel, which affect value on some rifles.
The versions that change the number
| Version | What it means for value |
|---|---|
| Springfield Armory | The largest producer. The baseline against which others are compared. |
| Winchester | Wartime production in smaller numbers, and priced above Springfield production in comparable condition. |
| Post-war production | Later manufacturers produced rifles after the war. A distinct market from wartime guns. |
| Sporterized rifles | Cut down for hunting, which was normal and sensible in 1955. Worth real money as a shooter and little as a collectible. |
What actually drives the price
- Whether the rifle is all-matching or assembled from mixed arsenal-rebuild parts.
- The maker, and whether the parts are correct for the period.
- Whether the stock is original military and the receiver undrilled.
- Documentation, where it exists — paperwork beats a family story every time.
And the two that apply to every gun on this site: do not clean it, and keep the box and papers. Removing original finish is permanent, and on the right gun the packaging is a real part of the total.
"Grandad brought it back from the war, so it is valuable"
It is true of an enormous number of rifles and it adds nothing on its own. A story is not provenance. What adds value is documentation — capture papers, unit paperwork, a photograph of the man with the rifle — and in its absence the number is set by condition, matching parts and whether the rifle is still configured as it was issued.
It has been sporterized. Is it worth anything?
Yes, as a shooting rifle rather than a collectible, and that is a real number rather than nothing. Do not spend money putting military parts back on it: reproduction parts rarely recover the value, and it is generally worth more sold honestly as what it now is.
Getting a number for yours
Send photographs and we will tell you what we will pay for it. We buy nationwide — a single firearm ships to us prepaid and insured, and for a collection we come to you. More on what separates one military surplus rifles from another.
Other military surplus rifles models
M1 Carbine · Mauser K98k · Mosin-Nagant · M1903 Springfield · Luger P08