The Official COTEP Garand picture Thread.

[Dave Waits]

At s' Bequest I'm starting this thread dedicated to great-looking M1 Garands.
My entry is a 5.66mill HRA Greek Air Force Return. Except for the stockset the rifle is virtually unfired and 100% correct.The stockset is a Semi-Fancy Walnut from DGR. Reason for claiming virtually unfired; When I purchased this rifle and tore it down(I bought it from a collector in Fla. who had purchased it from the CMP and stuck it in his safe without cleaning or firing), There was original packing grease on all the internals, The park was still slightly fuzzy and there was absolutely no usage wear anywhere on the rifle. The TE is .8 and the ME is .9. Indicates a new barrel.

What happened is this, The Greek Air Force was then a unit of twenty-thousand men total, They received over 40,000 M1 Garands from the United states gov't in 1954 under the MAP.They proceeded to issue rifles to all Greek AF personnel under the rank of Lt. This used up approximately 17,000 rifles.Almost all the rest were removed from the VCI shipping bags and put on racks. These were never issued, along with approximately 100 rifles that were still in the VCI bags. When they got ready to return them to the US they took them off the racks for inspection and parts got mixed up, mainly buttstocks as they only fieldstripped into the three main component parts for inspection prior to shipping. Mine was returned sporting a ratty, worn SA buttstock so, the CMP graded it a Service-grade.
so, here it is;