http://cgi.ebay.com/M1-Garand-Recovered-Normandy-D-Day-Airborne-Rare_W0QQitemZ6597975669QQcategoryZ585QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Worth is in the eye of the beholder.  I think that it's a wonderful piece of American and WW2 history.  If money was not an object to me I'd buy it and put it in a shadow box along with the letter of authenticity and hang it on a wall in perhaps an office or gun room.

Who knows.

Just because someone says it is from Normandy beach does not necessarily mean it was. In fact, it would be impossible to verify wherever it came from. With the serial number gone and most other identifying numbers, who's to say.

What is interesting is that the seller does not say anything about any papers or notarized statement concerning who found it and where and to be honest, even with that it does not mean much. I have seen so called WWII "capture" papers faked to the point they looked legit.

Rebel: Thats what I wondered about when I read it. Thats a lot of money without any authentification! Greg

CMP for me.

Max

It certainly appears to have been submerged in water/mud/sand/etc for a very long time. it is intersting that it is not loaded. Seems hard to believe that a Garand found at Normandy would be unloaded with the bolt closed.  

Could be a new grade offering from a competor to CMP.

I beleive I would take the money and get a CMP service grade and shoot it out, but then I'm funny like that.

Quoted: It certainly appears to have been submerged in water/mud/sand/etc for a very long time. it is intersting that it is not loaded. Seems hard to believe that a Garand found at Normandy would be unloaded with the bolt closed.

There's no doubt that is has been submerged *somewhere*, but where? Anyone can say anything. It is also my understanding that removing relics such as this from battlefields such as France, Germany, etc. may also be illegal. I am not 100% certain, but this rings a bell for me.

Its still technically a firearm, so I wonder how he's gonna tranfer it. Probably won't care, I wouldn't-that bolts never gonna open again.

And I thought ebay was anti-gun.

Quoted: Quoted: It certainly appears to have been submerged in water/mud/sand/etc for a very long time. it is intersting that it is not loaded. Seems hard to believe that a Garand found at Normandy would be unloaded with the bolt closed.   There's no doubt that is has been submerged *somewhere*, but where? Anyone can say anything. It is also my understanding that removing relics such as this from battlefields such as France, Germany, etc. may also be illegal. I am not 100% certain, but this rings a bell for me.

This same question came up awile ago and the consesis was that is was one step up from grave robbing.

Hey! Can you all guess what part was made from stainless steel??  LOL

You're correct about the importance of provenance.  What's the saying, " buy the gun, not the story."?   It may be as he said but unless the guy who dug it up wrote something down at the time and signed it, I'd have to squint my eyes to believe it.

I DO have a Normandy +2 rifle but it's a K98.  The vet who brought it back has a note he gave his kids about where and when before he died last year.  Frankly, I have a hard time believeing that this guy hiked that bolt rifle for all that time but that's what he claims.  And yes, it's duffle cut and sat in the back of his closet for all this time only being taken out to show the "kids". The family claims that it had never been fired since he brought it home all those years ago. I was shocked to find that the barrel was mirror and all I had to do was clean the chamber.  It shot in the black at 100 yards the first time I put a round in it, first time in over 60 years.  

I've also got a very nice Arisaka T99 with vet bringback papers signed and sealed. Two copies, in fact.

Those rifles are worth more than the run-of-the-mill to be sure.  

Rome