They are a wonderful addiction. The "hoops" are not that hard to fill, if you have a Permit to Carry you have the marksmanship requirement met, Garand Collector's Association is reasonable and issues a spectacular magazine every 3 months. They are issuing some good rifles in all grades now and just introduced a "CMP Special Rack Grade" - which gets you a serviceable M1 with a brand new Criterion barrel and new wood for $650 shipped to your door. She may not win the beauty queen contest, but she'd be a cheap date. They have online auctions for rarer or more unique items that go ridiculously high. I went to the North Store once in Camp Perry years ago and ended up getting a couple M1s, but it would have been fun just walking around handling 60 or so M1s. Beware though, once you get your first M1, you will want all four makers, then you will want a .308, then maybe you will want a M1C or M1D, then the International Harvester heelmark variations or a WWII AND Post-War Springfield, then maybe a 6 million Springfield, then maybe a 5 digit, etc. I will summarize that there are few rushes cooler than a white Fed Ex truck showing up in the morning to deliver a M1 Garand to your door and opening it and seeing what you got, with M1 prices now, you are pretty much guaranteed to get something worth more than what you paid for.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I thought that in order to purchase from them you had to belong to a club that was affiliated with the CMP

is that still the case?

I'd love to pick up a couple of rifles

Retired Military gets you automatic status without affiliation. Check out their website and see the list of organizations that get you status.

Finally, a thread I feel qualified to post in! I was just at the south store in Anniston last Friday.

I did my homework on the internet prior to flying into Birmingham and driving an hour to Anniston. I walked in the door the next morning at 0800 thinking I was going to buy one of the CMP specials (new Criterion barrel, new stock, average condition Springfield receiver) as a shooter. But before doing so, I decided to just enjoy being around Great Americans (men AND women) in the store and listen to their conversations with the very helpful CMP employees. I learned quite a bit about the various grades of weapons and why they are priced the way they are. It wasn't really too crowded on Friday morning, and the employees were more than willing to strip handguards and stocks off the rifles to give the potential purchaser a complete analysis of the rifle.

After about an hour of listening and looking I found a Field Grade marked M1 with matching wood, smooth action and almost new-looking barrel. The muzzle was graded as a 1 and the throat a 2. Something just felt right about this particular rifle.

I took it up to the CMP rep and asked him to tell me about the rifle. It's a Springfield Armory receiver manufactured in Jan 1944, but the barrel is an H&R from 1952 and is bright with good grooves. The stock has more than a few character marks but overall it's in great shape. It's obviously not from 1944, but it's certainly not new either. The CMP rep kept checking the tag and finally said "The armorer marked this as a Field Grade, so we have to sell it as such. But I would have marked it as Service Grade, so should you choose to buy it you will be getting a very good deal." That was enough for me to make the decision to purchase this particular rifle for $650.

After filling out the required paperwork, I had to wait around while the background checks were done, etc. Should you decide to visit one of the stores and purchase a rifle, be aware that this is a dangerously expensive time for your wallet. I first spied the box with 3 different types of bayonets and became interested. The CMP rep pointed out the American Fork & Hoe bayonet for $68 dollars would be a period-correct addition to my rifle. I never even thought about getting a bayonet, but what the heck right? (Turns out they can't be found on the internet for less than $100.)

Then I remembered to ask about the Enbloc clips. All CMP M1s come with only 1 clip, and they don't sell individual clips. I thought I wanted six or so, but they only sell them in boxes of 25 for $21 dollars. While doing the cost-benefit analysis in my head, the mind-reading CMP rep said "Sir, they sell for $3 to $5 apiece at the gun shows." Fine, add a box of 25 Enbloc clips to my order.

"Sir, were you interested in a sling?" (sigh) So I went over to the large display of slings. I wasn't too impressed with the condition vs. cost of the leather slings ($95 for a well-used one... and they went up from there). But they did have brand new-looking cotton slings for $10 which were marked with the month/date of manufacture. I overheard somebody state they were going to get a sling to match their birthday month & year. I thought that was pretty cool so I found one of those and added it to my order.

Finally I looked at the rack of shirts and decided I couldn't leave without a dark blue sweat-proof t-shirt with a big "CMP" logo on the front ($20).

Upon checkout I found out that Alabama tax is pretty damned high (10%), but I was happy to pay that to pick out the exact rifle I wanted. At least the shipping was free after I showed them my airline boarding pass (and yes, she checked the travel date). Overall, it was a Grail Trip for me to go to the store and pick out a shootable piece of real American history. The rifle arrived at my door yesterday in a pretty decent tan plastic case with a huge CMP logo on the sides. The rest of my stuff is still in transit.

One tidbit of info I heard but didn't see on the internet is that the CMP doesn't sell any rifle with a throat or muzzle gauge greater than a "5". For reference, the Army never replaced a barrel until it gauged a "9".

By the way, they had about a dozen 1903 rifles on the rack, so the CMP is not out of 1903s.

You should have cracked your wallet open a bit further and picked up a 1903 also. At $650 they are a great deal and are only available at the North and South Stores and only from time to time. They used to have one part time guy come in one day a month or something and only inspect 1903s and 1903a3s, so it took awhile for them to accumulate a rack of them to put out. Evidently they now have a dedicated armorer to do them so they are more frequently appearing. They are evidently returns from VFWs and American Legions for ceremonies. Unfortunately, some/many have lots of blanks fired through them without much cleaning in between and their barrels can be in not great shape (the tag will read "good bore" or "dark bore" etc). It sounds like you did well though with your purchases.

Tailhook, I can well imagine myself making that same pilgrimage. Just to imagine the history behind racks of M1’s brings goosebumps.

I have bought two Garands and three Carbines from the CMP. There is NOTHING better than getting a genuine US service rifle delivered straight to your door.

Their range facility in Talledega is nothing short of spectacular. Make the trip if you ever have the opportunity. Beautiful clubhouse with meeting facilities and electronic scoring on several ranges.

I don't get there often enough and its only 2 hours from me.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Tailhook, I can well imagine myself making that same pilgrimage. Just to imagine the history behind racks of M1’s brings goosebumps.

I had the same feeling. I know it sounds sappy, but it was humbling to see the long rack filled with tangible American history. It was an honor to hold the ones I picked up knowing that somebody else went before me, held that rifle, and used it to defend freedom.

This trip actually started out as just a trek to Marietta, GA for a good friend's 60th b-day party. I really didn't want to fly into ATL and then go through the brain damage of Atlanta traffic to get north. (Another guy did, and it took him 2.5 hours to make that drive on Friday evening.) After some homework I found it was almost as cheap to fly into B-ham and drive the rest of the way, and the route would take us through Anniston. I rented a Mustang in B-ham, and after the CMP visit the next day we went north through the hills of east AL and west GA (Piedmont-Cedartown-Rockmart-Marietta). The trees haven't started to turn yet, but it was a beautiful and fun drive. <Apologies for the thread drift, HRK>

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
Check out the Distinguished program. It's a long haul to leg out. Took me 5 years.
http://thecmp.org/competitions/distinguishedbadges/

That was interesting reading. I earned my Distinguished Pistol back in the 90's. One of the things I am most proud of.

My experience with CMP was very positive. First Service Grade I bought was a high six digit. When I opened the box the front sight had a very slightly bent ear. I called Anniston and was sent a replacement quickly. First range trip went well with the exception of a deep scar on about 3/4's of the cartridge neck on each ejected round.

So I called and was transferred to an armorer. I told him of the problem with the cartridge. In the conversation he asked about the bolt draw number to which I told him that it had been ground off. He then remarked that a Service Grade should never have had a bolt like that on it and that he was sending a FedEx call tag for the rifle and it would take about a month for the issues to be fixed including a new bolt. All at no charge to me.

It came home about two weeks later, new bolt, burr in the chamber removed and all gone over.

I ordered a second from this experience. Seven digit that put it about 1944 with a barrel dated a couple months later. Only negative of that gun is that there is still some of the Greek black paint on the barrel. Hey, part of it's life history I suppose.

And buying supports their sponsored shooting events and programs. And as another thing, at least around here gun show and shop Garands usually start at the 1000 range and go up. Last show I went to there were several on a table starting in the 1500 range. And they looked pretty rough though I did not pick any of them up to inspect them closely.