I eventually want to buy an M1 Garand rifle but don't understand the throat erosion guage numbers. Could someone please explain them to me?
What's better, higher or lower numbers?

What else is there to look for when buying an M1 Garand?
I want to get an accurate shooter but also one that looks good.


Thanks

The lower the better, 0 is no erosion.

Thanks SGB

At what number is the rifle considered unsafe to fire?
I've seen rifles selling with #'s as high as 4 and 4 1/2, what kind of service life do they have left?

I think that Uncle Sam rebarelled when throat erosion exceeded 5. Although I've heard of Garands with 5+ still shooting good groups.

The military considered a barrel to be unserviceable when the throat erosion reached 10.  Also, a new barrel could have a throat erosion of 0 to 1.  One of the biggest things that can affect accuracy in military rifles is poor muzzle condition due to careless cleaning with segmented cleaning rods.  There are gauges to measure muzzle erosion but an easy way is to take a ball cartridge and insert the bullet into the muzzle.  The more of the bullet that shows between the muzzle and the cartridge case the better.  Fulton Armory has a lot of good information on Garands.  See the link.

www.fultonarmory.com

Here is another good site for M1 info.
jouster.com/lanestips/

5 and below was considered "serviceable" for front-line combat units.

Above 5 to 10 was considered "serviceable" for training purposes.

Anything over 10 was re-barreled.