Got my e-mail today stating that they'd verified my order info, and the charges hit my card...how long did yours take to ship after that?

Only a few days and it should be at your door. It will come FEDEX and must have adult signature.

So it arrived today...after some Fedex scheduling shenanigans, I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.

I mailed my order form to the CMP on Friday, Oct 18. Gun arrived today on the 31st...not bad wait time at all. Communications were great from the CMP, and very professional with a good order tracking system that was updated promptly.

The gun itself is better than I could ever have imagined. Last year my buddy and I went to the North Store hoping to buy, and came away disappointed with what we found. They only had a few field grades that were extremely rough, and everything else was well over $1000, and many of those weren't that nice. This gun is nothing like those at all.

It's a CMP Special Rack, so a refinished receiver with a new Criterion Barrel and new CMP stock. The receiver is an SA, as are all serialized parts except for the bolt, which is an IHC. The serial # is in the 900,000 range, and my research tells me manufactured in Nov 1942. I was not expecting to get a WWII gun, so that was a huge bonus. Even though I know it's just a rebuilt parts gun with little collectible value, the fact that that receiver likely saw use during the war is pretty cool in my book.

Condition was way better than I expected. You can see some pitting under the parkerizing on the receiver, and the finish on the gas tube is a little rough, but fit is excellent and everything seems to function as it should. The op rod and the trigger group show a little patina, but I didn't find any rust anywhere. The trigger pull is very crisp and surprisingly light. I can't wait to shoot this thing. If I'd known this is what I could expect from the CMP, I'd have ordered one years ago.

Without further ado, here are the photos:

Nice, I should shoot GREAT. Congrats! You can't beat the price for a nice garand.

Very nice!

Tony.

Well, I took it out and shot it yesterday. I had a couple of failure to feeds, which is probably more a result of my difficulty in properly loading the enbloc clips than any reflection on the rifle. I only had the one that came with the rifle since my order for more had not arrived yet, so I had to keep reloading that one. It's still not my favorite pastime, but I'm getting better at it.

The bigger issue is that it doubled on me a couple of times. As I mentioned before, the trigger is REALLY light...I was shooting prone off of a rest, so I think I may have been unintentionally bump firing it. I also did some research and discovered that I should not have lubricated the hammer and sear engagement parts.

I hosed the trigger group off with brake cleaner and made sure all of the lube was out of that area. I also functioned checked it out of the gun, and the hammer hooks appear to be engaging the sear as they should, both for the reset and for the trigger pull. I plan to shoot it again now that I have all the lube cleaned off and focus on my trigger technique...hopefully we don't see any more doubling.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Well, I took it out and shot it yesterday. I had a couple of failure to feeds, which is probably more a result of my difficulty in properly loading the enbloc clips than any reflection on the rifle. I only had the one that came with the rifle since my order for more had not arrived yet, so I had to keep reloading that one. It's still not my favorite pastime, but I'm getting better at it.

The bigger issue is that it doubled on me a couple of times. As I mentioned before, the trigger is REALLY light...I was shooting prone off of a rest, so I think I may have been unintentionally bump firing it. I also did some research and discovered that I should not have lubricated the hammer and sear engagement parts.

I hosed the trigger group off with brake cleaner and made sure all of the lube was out of that area. I also functioned checked it out of the gun, and the hammer hooks appear to be engaging the sear as they should, both for the reset and for the trigger pull. I plan to shoot it again now that I have all the lube cleaned off and focus on my trigger technique...hopefully we don't see any more doubling.

How light is the trigger, do you have a gauge?

Does your trigger still have two stages?

It is not unheard of for the Garand to double when being fired from the bench if not being held tightly into the shoulder and/or milking the trigger.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: M1Garandy,

quote:

How light is the trigger, do you have a gauge

Does your trigger still have two stages

I do not have a gauge. It's much lighter than any AR mil-spec trigger I've ever fired, and lighter than the trigger on my mini-14 as well.

As to is it two stage or not...kind of. The only thing I have to compare it to is the Larue MBT in my AR. It has smooth takeup (not slop) similar to the first stage of my AR trigger, but the travel is quite short before the break. It then breaks without any perceptible wall...it kind of feels like a two stage trigger with no second stage, if that makes any sense.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

How light is the trigger, do you have a gauge?

Does your trigger still have two stages?

I do not have a gauge. It's much lighter than any AR mil-spec trigger I've ever fired, and lighter than the trigger on my mini-14 as well.

As to is it two stage or not...kind of. The only thing I have to compare it to is the Larue MBT in my AR. It has smooth takeup (not slop) similar to the first stage of my AR trigger, but the travel is quite short before the break. It then breaks without any perceptible wall...it kind of feels like a two stage trigger with no second stage, if that makes any sense.

Are you comfortable taking the trigger group apart and reassembling it?

If you are, please post pictures of the hammer hooks, trigger and sear and measure the length of the hammer spring. Also check that the window in the hammer spring housing is facing in towards the safety, not out. Also take a good look at the trigger pin to make sure it is dead straight and does not appear worn.

If not, pics the hammer hooks and trigger and sear will still be helpful.

Also, does the trigger pull feel different when the rifle is assembled vs. removed from the rifle?

In other news, I got a new keyboard so I can punctuate again!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: M1Garandy,

Congrats on the new keyboard ! Thanks for taking the time to help me out with this.

I got on youtube and figured out how to disassemble the trigger group.

Trigger Spring is 2.110" uncompressed. Window in housing is oriented towards the safety. Pins appear straight.

The trigger pull feels exactly the same with the trigger group in and out of the rifle. Makes no difference.

I took a ton of pictures...rather than post them here and clutter the thread, I'll just link just you out to my flikr photostream ( https://www.flickr.com/gp/153209593@N04/P6B0U1). The Garand photos should be right at the top...flikr didn't keep them in the same order I had them, so you may have to jump around a bit to follow the progression.

There is some side-to-side slop in the disconnector when it's out of the housing...I tried to take photos of that at both extremes. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, but it's not really noticeable when the trigger group is assembled and under spring pressure.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Congrats on the new keyboard ! Thanks for taking the time to help me out with this.

I got on youtube and figured out how to disassemble the trigger group.

Trigger Spring is 2.110" uncompressed. Window in housing is oriented towards the safety. Pins appear straight.

The trigger pull feels exactly the same with the trigger group in and out of the rifle. Makes no difference.

I took a ton of pictures...rather than post them here and clutter the thread, I'll just link just you out to my flikr photostream ( https://www.flickr.com/gp/153209593@N04/P6B0U1). The Garand photos should be right at the top...flikr didn't keep them in the same order I had them, so you may have to jump around a bit to follow the progression.

There is some side-to-side slop in the disconnector when it's out of the housing...I tried to take photos of that at both extremes. I'm not sure if that's normal or not, but it's not really noticeable when the trigger group is assembled and under spring pressure.

I looked at your pics.

Then I dug out 14-15 spare Garand trigger groups to play with.

Upon comparative inspection of your pictures vs. my trigger groups, I note that the engagement of the front hammer hooks to the trigger on your group seems quite poor compared to even my most worn and abused trigger group. It does not look like the right hook of your hammer is making any contact on the bottom of the trigger engagement surface at all which is not good.

From the pics of your trigger, it appears that the hammer might be dragging on the trigger in the left side of the slot. Any chance your trigger is slightly bent?

As an FYI, per FM 23-5, the trigger pull should be between 5.5 and 7.5 pounds in service trim. NM triggers go down to about 4.5 pounds. Anything below that is generally not regarded as safe for the M1/M14. I threw a fish scale on several of mine and other than the match prepped one that broke at 5 pounds, the rest broke over 6.

Your hammer spring is pretty close to the spec of .215" free length.

As for the sear being loose on the trigger when the trigger is removed, that's normal. Once installed with the two nubs on the front of the sear engaged in the corresponding divots in the hammer spring housing, things firm up.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: M1Garandy,

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, is this the picture you're referring to in regards to the hammer hook to trigger engagement?



Or this one?



In the first photo I was purposely holding the trigger back to demonstrate the position of the engagement surfaces during reset when the hammer transitions from the disconnector to the sear.

The second photo is the hammer in it's normal position against the sear after the trigger is released.

As to the hammer dragging on the trigger, I guess it's possible. I can see the wear in the photos that could indicate that. I'd have to pull the trigger group out again and look at it assembled. I'm at work all night, so I won't be able to do that until tomorrow.

Again, thanks for your help...I'm starting out with pretty much no knowledge here, so I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, is this the picture you're referring to in regards to the hammer hook to trigger engagement?



Or this one?



In the first photo I was purposely holding the trigger back to demonstrate the position of the engagement surfaces during reset when the hammer transitions from the disconnector to the sear.

The second photo is the hammer in it's normal position against the sear after the trigger is released.

As to the hammer dragging on the trigger, I guess it's possible. I can see the wear in the photos that could indicate that. I'd have to pull the trigger group out again and look at it assembled. I'm at work all night, so I won't be able to do that until tomorrow.

Again, thanks for your help...I'm starting out with pretty much no knowledge here, so I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

I'm referring to the second picture.

Happy to help.

If you want, send me an email and I'll send you a picture of what I'd expect the front hammer hook to trigger engagement to look like.

Out of curiosity, with the trigger pulled and held back, cock the hammer. Then release the trigger as slow as you can. Does the trigger catch the hammer or does the hammer fall?

I have done what you described...if I slowly release the trigger forward, the hammer hooks will catch the sear every time provided there is no rearward motion of the trigger. But if I rock the trigger rearward mid-travel (as might be induced by recoil), I can cause the hammer hooks to miss the sear entirely and the hammer will fall.

I would be interested to see your pictures...email inbound.

Well, I took it out today and put 40 rounds through it. Only changes I made were all of the oil was cleaned off the hammer and sear engagement surfaces, and I got rid of the rear bag to facilitate a better shoulder-weld. It shot great...no doubling and was surprisingly accurate. I'll need to shoot it some more to be sure, but I'm thinking my problems were at least primarily caused by my technique.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
Well, I took it out today and put 40 rounds through it. Only changes I made were all of the oil was cleaned off the hammer and sear engagement surfaces, and I got rid of the rear bag to facilitate a better shoulder-weld. It shot great...no doubling and was surprisingly accurate. I'll need to shoot it some more to be sure, but I'm thinking my problems were at least primarily caused by my technique.

Sounds like good news!

I've been itching to pick up one for the collection and after perusing their webpage I might have to "reward" myself for surviving Christmas with the in-laws.

Living south of Birmingham puts the South store only a hour from my door. Sounds like its time for a road trip.

Well, you guys have gone and done it - I just sent off my order for a CMP Service Grade Garand!

I have a Quality Hardware Mfg Corp M1 Carbine, and I've spent the last month restoring the stock on my grandfather's Smith-Corona 1903A3. (Once I have a nice day of sunshine I'll take some pictures and start a new thread to show that one off.) In doing all the research for that project, I've been bitten by the mil-surp rifle bug BAD! Countless hours surfing The CMP Forums, watching YouTube videos, hemming and hawing over which grade of M1 to order...Service Grade or CMP Special Rack.

I decided on the Service Grade with a sticky note on the order form that reads, "My first M1, make it a shooter, please! (GI stock, if possible). Thank you!" We'll see they pick out for me. If the stock turns out to be an ugly stick, I have the confidence now that I'd be able to refinish it. If I end up with a repro- CMP stock, so be it. I'm not a heavy rifle shooter, so the new Criterion barrel wasn't hugely important to me. I'm hoping the Service grade and my sticky note returns a decent enough barrel for my occasional recreational purposes.

And now the wait begins!

Great news Brywards! We demand before and after pics.

Judging by 92fstech’s post above, the wait should be too bad. Mine a few years back were a couple months. I’ve picked up a pair of Garands and a couple of Carbines. I grew up with my Dad as a woodworker, so I really enjoyed refinishing the stocks. You made the right choice!

brywards, you're going to love it. Both of my younger brothers ordered a special rack for themselves after seeing mine over Christmas break. The first to order placed his order the end of December, and received his rifle around the end of January. His got a 1943 Springfield.

My other brother ordered his about a week ago, and just received it today. Crazy fast turnaround time. He got a 1944 Springfield.

I've not seen either rifle in person, and don't think either of them has had a chance to shoot theirs yet, but from the photos they both look pretty nice...pretty much on par with mine.

I've had a chance to work up some loads for mine, and finally got a chance to shoot it at 100 yards a couple of weeks ago. I put up several 8-shot groups in a row under 2.5" with it, which I'm quite happy with. I'm sure the limitation there is still more me than the gun.

ETA: Wanted to put out there that I did end up having to replace the hammer and trigger on mine because of the issues I detailed above (they recurred on a range trip after I thought I had the problem resolved). I compared my trigger group to a pair from a buddy's rifles, and my hammer hooks were worn past the point of properly engaging the disconnector. I also think M1Garandy was right, and my trigger was slightly bent. It cost me about $75 in parts, but everything is working as intended now.