Gun whatzit???..........

[Mike from MI]

The gun was found by a friend. It is about 9" long and I think made of lead. I could bend it with no trouble. Pretty sure it is not a letter opener. Any ideas?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

It is a stunningly well-detailed miniature replica of the US M1 rifle (and its bayonet), the primary firearm of the US Army Infantry in World War 2 and the Korean War.

Definitely not made of lead, because that's waaay too soft a metal for such an object.

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

Cool deal!!!

I'm not sure what it is - but, in my father's stuff, after he passed away - he had a whole little collection of rifles - about that size. It included one like yours (similar, not exactly), a Winchester rifle, and a few others - I have, maybe 9.

I know he had them since the 1950's, only because the one had a notation (in my dad's writing), of the name of the guy he had gotten the one from. If you find out - I'd really like to know.

Beth

ps - my dad's are all metal, and some have painted stocks.

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

http://www.waynedriskillminiatures.com/id6.html

 

[kenley]

It is a stunningly well-detailed miniature replica of the US M1 rifle (and its bayonet), the primary firearm of the US Army Infantry in World War 2 and the Korean War.

If it's well detailed, it is not a Garand. Garands don't have finger groves in the stock or blade frong sights.
I can't tell from the photo but maybe a 1903 A-3 Or 1917 Enfield with the bolt handle broken off. I lean toward the Enfield because of the rear "peep" sight.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Kenley wrote:
> Garands don't have finger grooves in the stock

You are correct. The miniature replica's stock does have the US Model-1917 Enfield stock's finger-groove. I was going mainly by the shape of the miniature's rifle-barrel breech, and rear sight, and the definite WW2-through-Korean-War bayonet. The miniature's barrel-assembly, the rear sight, and the bayonet are definitely M1 Garand ...not Enfield. (See the photos the end of this post.) This seems to be yet another case of a replica's Manufacturer screwing up by not getting every detail correct on the replica.

Because all of the details are correct for an M1 except the finger-groove, I think the Manufacturer's intention was show an M1.

You mentioned the front sight. In Mike-from-MI's photo of the miniature replica, its front sight is too small to certain about what type of sight it is. Here are the M1 Garand photos. Note particularly the shape of the barrel breech end on each, and rear sight form. I've included a closeup photo of the Enfield's breech, to show that it is not the miniature's breech.

 

[Mike from MI]

It is a stunningly well-detailed miniature replica of the US M1 rifle (and its bayonet), the primary firearm of the US Army Infantry in World War 2 and the Korean War.

Definitely not made of lead, because that's waaay too soft a metal for such an object.

When it was found the bayonet was bent about 30 degrees and it was easily bent back with two fingers. It is very heavy for it's size. The color is also about right for lead. It looks darker in the pic. Also if I put one finger on the tip and a thumb on the handle of the bayonet, I can bend it very easily.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Ah. Thank you for providing the clarifying info about your miniature replica's "flexibility." Instead of pure lead, it must be made of some sort of lead-alloy, similar to soldering-wire. Pure lead will bend, but it tends to crack when you bend and re-straighten it more than once or twice.