CMP Rifles.......

ShannonHayes · May 2019

Do any of you guys have any experience with the rifles sold by the CMP? I've been thinking of buying one from them.

timc · May 2019

Got my Garand from them quite a few years back. Best money I ever spent on a gun!

BAMAAK · May 2019

I bought a special last fall rebarrled in .308 at the Anniston store. Love it. Not like buying a gun from a store, different requirements. Check the CMP website. Make sure you get some clips and a sling and maybe a bayonet with your order.

zorba · May 2019

My M1 Garand at last year's SE shoot, the day after I bought it at the CMP south store:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030353/uploads/editor/lo/yja32ivi1hse.jpg

How it looks today with the fugly brown paint removed from the stock, and a reparkerization:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030353/uploads/editor/t4/lon1dzozszry.jpg

jaywapti · May 2019

I got mine back in 88 - 89 only thing wrong was the stock was bleeding oil, called them and they sent me a new (mil) stock with all new hardware.

Converted it to a NM re-barreled to 7.62x51

JAY

zorba · May 2019

timc said:

Got my Garand from them quite a few years back. Best money I ever spent on a gun!

Is that a Birch stock? Looks really nice!

zorba · May 2019

BAMAAK said:

Make sure you get some clips and a sling and maybe a bayonet with your order.

The only reason to get a bayonet is to say "I have a bayonet" - so naturally I got one. You generally have to ask the store staff for one, they don't volunteer to sell you one so I ended up paying a bit more for mine somewhere else. Clips and a sling are going to be the cheapest you'll find as well, so get 'em while you're there.

wddodge · May 2019

I've bought 2 Garands and 4 Kimber 82g from them. My only regret is that I didn't get in when they were selling the 03s, 03a3s and Krags. Not to mention the Carbines.

Denny

ShannonHayes · May 2019

zorba said:

My M1 Garand at last year's SE shoot, the day after I bought it at the CMP south store:

How it looks today with the fugly brown paint removed from the stock, and a reparkerization:

Looking good!

timc · May 2019

zorba said:

timc said:

Got my Garand from them quite a few years back. Best money I ever spent on a gun!

Is that a Birch stock? Looks really nice!

Thank you, I always assumed it’s walnut but I’ve never really thought about it. This was a service grade rifle I bought from the CMP in 2001 for a whopping $400. Great shooting rifle.

zorba · May 2019

I know "some" Garand stocks are Birch - and it looks like my Birch Enfield stock. Much better looking than Walnut to my eye.

Pegasus · May 2019

Do remember that you have to qualify to be able to purchase a CMP rifle. One way of doing that is to attend a Garand match. The club will then issue you a certificate that enables you to buy a CMP rifle. I have a few of the certificates around somewhere. You should check the current requirements for obtaining a CMP rifle.

shotgunshooter3 · May 2019

There are some CMP naysayers (why is beyond me), but the CMP is still the best way to acquire a quality Garand.

As a huge plus, their profits go to support youth shooting programs such as JROTC marksmanship.

Gene L · May 2019

Never had a M1, never really wanted one. I do have a M1A, and recently looked for details on how to bed one. It's VERY complicated. Point being, he talked about beech (not birch) vs walnut for bedding purposes. The source I went to has bedded several M1As, which I assume are very similar to bedding an M1. Same principal at least. Further point, he said beech CAN be bedded, but (I inferred) isn't worth the effort because while it's strong, it doesn't resist compression as well. So the zero shifts, ever so slightly. Which is important in long range matches. So if you're going to bed a M1A and presumably an M1 wooden stock, go for walnut. He suggested beech for learning how to bed walnut because beech is cheaper.

I don't know how this relates to birch; he never mentioned it. I do know that bedding in any material is an extremely exacting job. He also had good things to say about JB Weld as a bedding agent.

His stock is a composite stock of polymer/kevlar.

zorba · May 2019

Crap. Now Gene has me thinking I may have confused Birch with Beech!

ShannonHayes · May 2019

Pegasus said:

Do remember that you have to qualify to be able to purchase a CMP rifle. One way of doing that is to attend a Garand match. The club will then issue you a certificate that enables you to buy a CMP rifle. I have a few of the certificates around somewhere. You should check the current requirements for obtaining a CMP rifle.

Thanks, Pegasus, I didn't know that. I figured since they sent an email about them, I wouldn't need anything special to buy one.

BAMAAK · May 2019

Cheapest way to qualify if you don't already is join the Garand Owners Association. you can do it online, 25 bucks.

ShannonHayes · May 2019

Thank you, BAMAAK

zorba · May 2019

Yes, the GCA is well worth joining - their magazine alone is worth the $25/yr.

Gene L · May 2019

You get what you pay for, or so I've observed. A lot of the lower grade rifles have aged barrels from unknown sources...short stocks which have been replaced with unusual and orthodox wood (sorry Zorba).Since the purchase of a M1 is likely to be a One of a Kind,, I'd tend to grt the highest grade in case you wqnt to sell it. That's just me, though.

zorba · May 2019

Gene L said:

...orthodox wood (sorry Zorba).

I think you mean UN-orthodox wood? In any event, nothing to be sorry about - the Hackberry stock on mine certainly isn't traditional! I generally like traditional stuff when it comes to firearms, but CMP's attempt to make Hackberry look like Walnut with that godawful paint/stain that just sat there on top of the wood was pretty much a dismal failure. So it was either refinish the non-traditional stock and embrace it for what it is, or replace it. I went with the former, many would choose the latter and no blame to them if they do!

I've noticed a few Hackberry re-finishes being discussed/shown on the CMP boards - its hard to get Hackberry to actually accept a stain, you need to use an alcohol based stain. I used a medium maple stain on mine and got a "faux Golden West Oak" look, which is as good as you're gonna get with this wood. Other refinishes look very similar to mine.

If I had chosen to replace it, I would have gone with Birch or Beech - rare but not unheard of on a Garand and far better looking than Walnut. Its probably blasphemy, but Walnut often isn't very pretty - exceptions exist of course.

But back to CMP Garands: Mine was a field grade - a 1943 SA receiver with a '53 LMR arsenal rebarrel. TE and ME were both 2, meaning essentially a brand new bbl, which was my first criteria. The CMP armorer told me that this one was probably designated field grade because the parkerizing was probably at about 5 percent, but otherwise it would have gotten a non-Hackberry stock and been designated service grade for another $100. None of the service grades on hand at the (south) store that day even came close with the ME/TE measurements. So I bought the rifle with the pristine bbl, refinished the stock, and had the metal re-parked. The shoot will be its first outing since all this work was done...

Gene L · May 2019

This is a matter of taste. My M1A has a walnut stock, not figured at all, but it looks a lot like the ones I toted in 1967. There were a couple of light-wood stocks in AIT, and some people liked them, perfectly good stocks. Big Red from Shotgun News used to sell Beech/Birch stocks but I don't know if he still is.

I haven't seen a figured beech/birch stock. The wood has little figure...not that it matters.

boltman13 · May 2019

Once you have an M1 you can purchase replacement barrels, stocks and other parts. Sadly there are very few gunsmiths who can bring the rifle up to competition standards remaining. There are however, several sources for restocking, rebarreling, and refurbishing an M1. James River Armory and CMP both do excellent work if you lack the time, tools or talent to do the work yourself.

Six-Gun · May 2019

I bought a “correct grade” M1 Garand from them about 13-14 years ago. The price at the time was $900, and I’d venture to guess it’s worth a good bit more now. The condition is great.