Can anyone recommend a few spare parts that I should have on hand for my M1...and also any recommended places to find these parts..thanks everybody!

To my experience most failures in Garands are not catastrophic and the gun will keep running to some degree. Id suggest an extractor, firing pin, and one of every spring. The Garand Guy or Bill Ricca in PA would be the best nearby sources.

Broken shell extractor too!

Dupage Trading, Ammogarand.com, and the already mentioned Orion 7 are all good sources of Garand parts. If you are qualified to buy from the CMP(Civilian marksmanship Program) you may want to pick up a bayonet and stock up on HXP .30/06 ammo as it is the best deal going unless you reload.

To my experience most failures in Garands are not catastrophic and the gun will keep running to some degree. Id suggest an extractor, firing pin, and one of every spring. The Garand Guy or Bill Ricca in PA would be the best nearby sources.

 

+1 that! Especially the extractor and firing pin. Only parts I've had to replace more than once (after 5000 rds or so). Plus the parts get harder to find every day. So if you find the unissued extractors (like the PBs), grab 'em. Every vendor mentioned is highly recomended.

 

Dumb one, but I have a bad habit of losing my front sling swivel screw...always seems to come loose. Doesn't affect shootting, but I keep a spare for the inevitable.

Spring kits from orion 7. Pin kits, firing pin, extractors. Over time your parts stash will get big enough to build a whole nother garand. Then you start building up the stash again