Armory Sponsor
Posted: 8/10/2025 11:18:05 PM EDT
[Last Edit: fishing_cabin][Edited]
|
Any idea on this Blue Sky M1 garand? Not a great picture But still in the box. Dad's a Korean vet. Was issued one, and bought this later. Had to open the safe today to move stuff. It's a Springfield receiver, 912xxx serial number. It's not seen light in 20 years. Attached File Attached File |
Member
Joined:
Jun 2022
Posts:
11403
EE: 100% (31)
TX, USA
| They were Korean Army surplus as were the Blue Sky Carbines. I think late 80’s to early 90’s is when they were imported back into the US. Some were completely shot out and they didn’t have a good reputation when they were readily available but I’ve seen a few that were actually in good condition and good shooters. |
When your state is shaped like a huge, droopy penis, you have to expect there to be some huge nuts as well.
Mech 2007
Mech 2007
|
Gonna need more info. Import stamp on barrel Date stamp on barrel Cartouche pics on stock Then it starts to get way in the weeds on the manufacturers number on each part. Looks like you at least have a springfield milled trigger guard. That's a good start. Serial number puts it manufacture in '42 some time |
|
Originally Posted By Boisestatefan: Gonna need more info. Import stamp on barrel where Date stamp on barrel where Cartouche pics on stock none that I have ever seen/removed It's part of a group of guns I moved over the weekend. I shot it growing up but that was years ago. Functions well from memory. As far as the above stamps how? where to find them? If they are under the forearm wood how do I remove it? |
|
Import markings will likely be on the side of the barrel between the rings of the gas cylinder. Barrel markings are likely hiding behind the operating rod handle. Lock the operating rod to the rear and the markings will likely be visible in the space between the bottom of the rear handguard and the top of the stock. |
|
Originally Posted By spmx7777: Wasn't Wayne LaPierre connected to Blue Sky Imports? I vaguely remember finding that out a long time ago. Anyway, my Blue Sky M1 didn't shoot worth a dang so I got rid of it. Supposedly a guy named Vos who lobbied for NRA ILA was the importer. As I recall the guys who owned a couple gun shops in Alexandria & Manassas ( Old Town Armory) back in the 80s/90s were also somehow also former NRA staffers/lobbyists and tied into the Blue Sky deal somehow. Did some searching in this rabbit hole and pulled this up from AI and it jives with what the owner of Old Town Armory told me years ago. "South Korean Arms Sales Probe A federal grand jury in Washington was investigating a $13 million arms deal between a South Korean company and Blue Sky Productions Inc., a Northern Virginia firm, in January 1988. The investigation sought to determine if Blue Sky had ties to the Old Town Armory, an Alexandria gun shop, and whether there were improper influences or payments involved in the transaction. A key witness in the probe, Rene Carlos Vos, died in a private plane crash in November 1987. The crash, which also killed flight instructor Gerda Ruhnke, was deemed unusual by aviation specialists due to the plane's high-speed, controlled descent into the ground without signs of mechanical failure or a stall-spin. The FBI was investigating the crash, considering possibilities including murder-suicide, sabotage, or accident, though no evidence of explosives or defective controls was found. Vos had been granted immunity to testify before the grand jury and had helped arrange the arms deal through Blue Sky, although he had sold his interest in the company before the contract was signed. The investigation also looked into potential connections between the two Northern Virginia firms, Blue Sky and the Old Town Armory, as well as the roles of individuals like former Congressman William Dickinson and former deputy assistant secretary of defense Anthony Speros Makris." |
|
Originally Posted By fishing_cabin: Barrel stamp https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/361493/IMG_20250811_092059824_jpg-3604698.JPG Import stamp https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/361493/IMG_20250811_092459613_jpg-3604699.JPG Looks pretty typical for a Blue Sky. I've seen lots of Blue Sky marked 1960's SA barrels. Some of the barrels were OK from a wear perspective, many that I've seen will take my muzzle wear gauge all the way to the knurling on the handle due to excessive muzzle wear. |
|
Originally Posted By nvcdl: Deeper into the rabbit hole: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/arms-dealer-tied-to-nrarsquos-lapierre-opened-door-to-military-rifles-in-civilian-market/ Thanks for digging deeper into the rabbit hole for us. |
|
Originally Posted By nvcdl: Supposedly a guy named Vos who lobbied for NRA ILA was the importer. As I recall the guys who owned a couple gun shops in Alexandria & Manassas ( Old Town Armory) back in the 80s/90s were also somehow also former NRA staffers/lobbyists and tied into the Blue Sky deal somehow. Did some searching in this rabbit hole and pulled this up from AI and it jives with what the owner of Old Town Armory told me years ago. "South Korean Arms Sales Probe A federal grand jury in Washington was investigating a $13 million arms deal between a South Korean company and Blue Sky Productions Inc., a Northern Virginia firm, in January 1988. The investigation sought to determine if Blue Sky had ties to the Old Town Armory, an Alexandria gun shop, and whether there were improper influences or payments involved in the transaction. A key witness in the probe, Rene Carlos Vos, died in a private plane crash in November 1987. The crash, which also killed flight instructor Gerda Ruhnke, was deemed unusual by aviation specialists due to the plane's high-speed, controlled descent into the ground without signs of mechanical failure or a stall-spin. The FBI was investigating the crash, considering possibilities including murder-suicide, sabotage, or accident, though no evidence of explosives or defective controls was found. Vos had been granted immunity to testify before the grand jury and had helped arrange the arms deal through Blue Sky, although he had sold his interest in the company before the contract was signed. The investigation also looked into potential connections between the two Northern Virginia firms, Blue Sky and the Old Town Armory, as well as the roles of individuals like former Congressman William Dickinson and former deputy assistant secretary of defense Anthony Speros Makris." I liked going to that store as a kid, their surplus selection was way better than what we had in Maryland at Atlantic and Gilbert (pretty much the only game in town back then) |
|
Keep it…. You will have to replace worn parts out but … With rebarrel of the rifle you will never know it was import. I had one that had a shot out barrel after 30 years of sitting in various closest I got it rebarreled, stock replaced the gas tube replaced and repacked never know it was import, Looks better than most of the pi guns cmp has now. |
Lead, follow, or get the flock out of the way
Joined:
Sep 2002
Posts:
25428
EE: 100% (452)
SC, USA
|
Originally Posted By zencarl: Were those the ones that had the importer stamped so hard that it warped the barrels? I've owned, handled, and shot a fair number of Blue Sky imports over the years, both carbine and garand. I have yet to see one with a deformed barrel. I still pick them up on occasion when I run into a good deal. This is a WRA I had a few years back.  This is a 44 Inland I picked up about a year ago.  Both are Blue Sky imports, both are good shooters. |
NorCal_LEO call sign: Armour
|
I have an early Nov’ 1942 M1 with receiver ser. # 911XXX. With the SA 8 ‘65 barrel, it could be an arsenal rebuild, as they used those 1960s SA barrels. My LEADs-rebuilt IHC sports a SA ‘65 barrel. OP, take the barreled action out of the wood and check the receiver leg on the right side for any etchings. |
|
Originally Posted By cviss: Keep it…. You will have to replace worn parts out but … With rebarrel of the rifle you will never know it was import. I had one that had a shot out barrel after 30 years of sitting in various closest I got it rebarreled, stock replaced the gas tube replaced and repacked never know it was import, Looks better than most of the pi guns cmp has now. It's probably going to sit in the closet in peace. Years ago it was easy to buy a bandolier of ball ammo. That and some 22 wasn't a bad time 30 years ago in the woods |
|
Looks ok , generally the earlier Blue Sky were in better condition wood/barrel wise. The Gorilla stamped import mark of the ones I shot didn't have much accuracy issue and Century arms did worse at times Many of the later Arlington ones were bottom of barrel worn out rifles with trashed barrels and were reparkerized by importer. The whole drama about getting them imported is a interesting read. Anti-gun Democrats where doing anything they could to stop it I think I paid $230 for my first Arlington. |
|
Originally Posted By nvcdl: Deeper into the rabbit hole: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/arms-dealer-tied-to-nrarsquos-lapierre-opened-door-to-military-rifles-in-civilian-market/ Thanks for sharing that. I've heard about the Blue Sky imports for years. Never seen one in person but the history is interesting to me. What a story. |
|
Originally Posted By vellnueve: I liked going to that store as a kid, their surplus selection was way better than what we had in Maryland at Atlantic and Gilbert (pretty much the only game in town back then) You are probably thinking of Potomac Arms - which was a few blocks away alongside the Potomac and had a surplus store (Full Metal Jacket) downstairs. One son of the owner ran the gun store and the other brother ran the surplus store. After the owner died circa 2004 the city bought the property on the river for a couple million $$$ and the surplus store relocated and is still in operation https://fullmetaljacket.com/ . I lived in Alexandria from 91 to 2005. At one point there were 4 different gun stores in the City back then - all gone now. |
|
I got a Blue Sky M1 around '92-'93. It was a decent shooter. Nothing to really brag about. Took it to Champions Choice in LaVergne, Tn as I lived in Murfreesboro at the time. Got a Wilson XX barrel for it for around $200 or so. Got Gene Barnett to rebarrel it. Barrel was in the white, so i parkerized the whole rifle. Refinished the stock. It became an absolute stellar shooter. Paid $280 or so for the rifle. $200 or so for the barrel. $150 or so for the rebarreling. It shot so good i ended up replacing the front sight that I could shave down to set the rifle up for 1000 yd matches. |
I hated going to weddings. All the grandmas would poke me and say "You're next". They stopped that when I started doing it to them at funerals.
Sic semper evello mortem tyrannis
Sic semper evello mortem tyrannis
| I still have my Blue Sky Garand. Bought it in 1987 for $100 and a Winchester 1200 defender shotgun. SA May 1945 with the 1965 barrel. However using it for re-enacting back in the 80s the cheap re-park they did to them wore off almost immediately. Took it to school and wire wheeled it then cold blue. Still in that finish to this day. I should get it re-parked someday. It also has the 7.62 barrel insert. 30.06 blanks were 10 cents. 7.62 blanks were free and I was poor. |
|
An easy solution to make it a “shooter” is to send it to Tim @ Shuff’s Parkerizing for re-barreling to .308 with a Criterion barrel. I did similar with a gunshop “rescue” M1 that had a shot-out, tomato stake tube. Once Tim re-barreled it to.308/7.62, the rifle became a super-tight shooter and I won a couple of local club matches with it. |
|
Blue Sky import rifles don't have the best reputation. Not worth "top dollar". But these days, any ratty old Garand more or less complete is granddaddie's rifle worth a mint.....or not. Check the bore from both ends with an erosion gauge. Check headspace. If you can find good quality springs, Wolff is one, replace at the very least the op rod spring, hammer spring. The others, as needed or keep as spares. |
|
Some of the Blue Sky imports were in excellent condition and early on they put the import stamp under the handguard where it didn't show. That worked until the ATF complained and said it had to be visible. On the other hand some of the Blue Sky imports looked like they were picked up off the battle field by graves registration and then stored complete with what looled suspiciously like decades old blood stains on the stocks. Many had clear signs of combat use such as the bullet marks on the side of the stocks from troops tapping the en block clips on the side of the rifle to ensure the .30-06 rounds were fully seated in the en bloc clip. I suspect a lot of those Blue Sky Korean war era imports were exactly that, left with the South Koreans when US troops were drawn down after 1953. Many of them also had severe bore erosion and it was not uncommon to find one counterbored back 2"-3" in an effort to get back to fairly clean rifling. throat erosion was just as bad and accuracy wasn't even remotely in the picture. I suspect most of those ended up being re-barreled by the owners if the owner planned to shoot them. Unfortunately the worst of them gave all of them a bad reputation. The important thing for you to keep in mind is that yours is what it is. It may be in very good condition with a good bore or it may have issues. Don't judge it just because its a blue sky import. And even if it is rough, it's rough because it has an impressive combat history, in most likely not just one but two wars. If those rifles could talk they would have a lot to say.... --- Regarding the 1965 and 1966 Springfield Armory replacement barrels, when the M1 was retired, those remaining in US inventory were arsenal rebuilt and any with questionable bores were rebarreled. They then ent straight into storage for future use. Many of those rifles were never exported and eventually went to DCM in freshly arsenal rebuilt condition. Others were given or sold to US allies. Some of those allies used them, others just continued to store them against possible need, or issued them to reserve units who used them very little. Many of them came back into the US in very good to excellent condition. Back when service rifle shooting was done under DCM with national match modifications allowed, I used to accurize M1 Garands for other competitors. In terms of accuracy barrel making improved a lot between WWII and 1965. For a casual competitor the SA 1965-66 barrels were very good and would shoot better than the guy shooting them. With the rest of the NM treatment, those rifle with the SA replacement barrels would easily shoot the 1.5 MOA needed to be competitive at leg matches. If the competitor was serious, then and only then did it make sense to install a better barrel like a Kreiger. In short, if the rifling looks good, there's no need to rebarrel it. |
|
Thank you! More good information. Long story short, the reason most of the guns I recently brought home was a couple of decades ago we put a large shelf in front of the gunsafes and just never really moved it to get to the rest of the firearms. I rather value it as a family firearm. Dad carried a garand in Korea around 66, but that would have been a US issue one, and I believe a 1911 as he served as paymaster during that time. The only other M1 is a carbine Universal, so commercial manufactured. Pics attached. Any clue where the serial number is? The number on the receiver is a patent number. Stored in same safe, functions well from memory, but I recall it has 2 recoil springs not one. Might be pre 68 and thus no serial number. Dad was on active until 72 at Benning after Korea. Doesn't remember when/where he got it. I'm guessing 70's maybe? could be wrong. Sorry about the dust on it. Edit, doesn't have the pin type bolt hold open. Attached File Attached File |
|
Originally Posted By HurstXJ: I believe the S/N should be in the stock "GI" location behind the rear sight. Thanks, went back and looked this morning. It's not under the rear sight physically, but so close it's obscured by the slight overhang of the rear sight. The military carbines I remember are farther back IIRC |
| For anyone looking for a Universal, RIAC has two early ones ending in a few hours along with a Plainfield and the prices are still reasonable. Just remember that shipping/auction fee/taxes will add about 30-33% to the price, so they're all sitting in about the $600 range but appear to be in nice shape. |
|
Your Garand looks like a typical Blue Sky Garand, Barrel is usually the only isdue, take a look down the barrel to check condition, any Garand is worth a nice sum these days! I picked up a Garand & a Carbine way back when they first were available, Garand & Carbine were both priced around $180. The Inland Carbine was perfect, the Springfield Garands metal was clean & in great shape except for the Sewer Pipe barrel, completely shot out, the stock was beat up & had hair & what looked like skin stuck in the buttplate, if that gun could only talk! Had the Garand rebarreled by Orion 7 & it shoots great! The Blue Sky imports were the best deal on M1 rifles & Carbines available in my lifetime! |
Armory Sponsor
Join the Community
Your next conversation starts here.
Create your free account to join discussions, share your experience, save topics, and connect with the AR15.COM community.
- Join discussions
- Follow topics and replies
- Connect with fellow enthusiasts
Already a member? Sign in
Stay informed by subscribing to our Newsletter