i have a M 1 garand and would like to know if there is anyway to track the history of the rifle.who was it issued to ? was it in the pacific or europe ? etc. etc. it has ser # 736322 on it and it is stamped springfield. i bought it at an estate sale and the family had no idea where it came from. got it to honor my father in law who served at pearl harbor and gave me all the spoils he brought home from his service.
thanks for any help .

Take a look at the Garand Collectors site:

http://www.thegca.org/

Your Garand was probably made in July, 1942, per "The M1 Garand of World War II" by Scott Duff. There is little way today to find the field history of a M1, short of getting access to original Springfield documents and tracing the piece from there. A pricey operation at best. Some of the members of the Garand Collectors Association might be able to take you further along via information gleaned from any cartouches stamped on the stock of your Garand. That would terll you if and where the rifle underwent full overhauls. Something over a million Garands has probably been sold to the public via the Director of Civilian Marksmanship programs (DCM) and the subsequent Office of Director of Civilian Marksmanship Program (ODCMP).
LLS