M1 Garand rifle manufactured by the Springfield Armory c. 1958 for the 1959 National Matches. The 1959 M1 National Match (NM) rifle was an intermediate design fitted with specially selected "NM" marked barrel, gas cylinder, front sight, rear sight base, windage knob and rear sight aperture. Due to a shortage of Springfield Armory barrels that met National Match specifications a few 1959 NM rifles were fitted with specially selected Harrington & Richardson (HRA) barrels. The 1959 NM rifles lacked the fiberglass bedded stock and glued front handguard that were fitted to 1960-63 "Type II" NM rifles. With the exception of the several hundred rifles sold by the DCM to qualified target shooters in Fiscal Year 1959, all the 1959 NM rifles were re-barreled and modified to incorporate the glass-bedded stocks and other features introduced between 1960 and 1963 and lost the distinctive 1959 NM characteristics. This rifle has the black-green parkerized finish that is typical of post-WWII Springfield Armory M1 rifles. The barrel chamber is bright. The receiver heel is roll-stamped: "U.S. RIFLE/CAL. .30M1/SPRINGFIELD/ARMORY/5816234" in five lines. The left side of the barrel is stamped "NM" mid-way between the front sight base and the rear of the gas cylinder. The right side of the barrel chamber is stamped with an inverted "T" followed by the two Greek Cross markings used to designated National Match barrels in 1959. The Greek Cross NM marks are followed by "HRA D6535448 4-52 RS" which indicate that the barrel was manufactured by Harrington & Richardson in April 1952. The HRA markings are followed by a "P" proofmark, "M", an Ordnance "Shell & Flame" mark and a "P" with a punch mark. The right side of the front sight base is stamped "NM/062". The tab on the gas port behind the sling swivel is stamped "NM". The windage knob is stamped with a "DRC" code and "NM". The right side of the rear sight base is stamped "NM". The rear sight aperture has the rarely seen insert and is stamped "NM/595" ahead of the eyepiece. The bolt is stamped with the drawing number "6528287-SA/A15" and the operating rod is marked "6535382 SA".. The trigger housing has a stamped trigger guard and is marked with the drawing number "6528290 SA". All of the trigger components and other parts have the correct "SA" markings and drawing numbers. The stock and forearm are carefully matched straight grain, oil finished walnut. The left side of the stock is stamped with boxed "National Defense Eagle" final inspection mark, and the inside of the stock wrist is stamped with an encircled, seirfed "P" proofmark. The stock and trigger housing are correctly not marked with the rifle serial numbers Serial numbers were marked on the stock and trigger housing after fiberglass bedding was adopted in 1960.

Excellent plus. This rifle has all the original NM components and remains in the original 1959 NM configuration. The metal components retain 98-99% of the original parkerized finish with almost no handling wear. There are crisp edges on the muzzle crown. The NM markings on the left side of the barrel and date codes on the right side of the barrel chamber are sharp. The stock and handguards are in excellent condition and have all of the original oil finish. The stock has a crisp National Defense inspection mark and "P" proofmark. The only significant wear is a shallow dent on the top of the lower handguard approximately one-inch long. The 1959 NM rifles were unique rifles because they incorporated most of the special "NM" marked components utilized in the 1960-1963 Type II NM rifles but lacked the fiber-glass bedding found on the '60-'63 NM Rifles. The use of HRA barrels on a few 1959 rifles, such as this example, was a rare exception to the Springfield Armory barrels utilized on M1 NM rifles between 1955 and 1963. Very few 1959 production survived in un-altered condition. This is an outstanding example of a scarce, unaltered, 1959 production, M1 NM rifle that would be very difficult to upgrade.