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Allen,
Jack gave you very good information, as usual, and I can only add a few small items of info:
Yes, there were various Garand manufacturers and all years were "good" years of production. Good sources of information are W.H.B. Smith's book, "Small Arms of the World" and Bruce Canfield's book, "U.S. Infantry Weapons of World War II."
The Garand is compatible with G.I. Ball, AP and Tracer Ammo. If you handload, use bullets in the 150 to 165 grain range and powders in the range of IMR4895.
If you happen upon an International Harvester, Harrington & Richardson or Winchester Garand, be prepared to pay a premium over a run-of-the-mill Springfield Armory Garand, although all are servicable arms. Bruce Canfield, in his book, states that all Garands went through at least one rebuild in their military career. That is not a bad thing because arsenal rebuilds merely means the Garand was given proper "factory through repair."
The CMP has various grades of Garands and is my choice of where I would buy a Garand these days. At gun shows, you may find a "parts gun" assembled from GI parts and not an arsenal rebuild or a CMP quality Garand.
Hope this helps.
Adam
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Adam Helmer
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