I just got an email from CMP, that they can ship an International Harvester M1 in a week, vs. waiting another 2-4 week for hopefully, a WWII serial Springfield although it is luck of the draw. It would be Service grade, but $1080 vs. $750. Are they that more desirable being a post war manufacture?

Sig4eva, I am no M1 expert, so I will defer to others that may come along. Personally I would prefer an IHC, you stand a better chance of getting closer to a pure IHC post WWII build vs a WWII era SA.
By that I mean that the WWII era M1's were all heavily arsenal refurbished and you get a mixed bag of parts, before the CMP checks and replaces parts further.
The IHC were also produced from '53-'55 so that is a pretty tight window of time. I think it would be a fine M1 to own.

I have a WWII era SA that I received from the DCM in '97 back when the wait was a year or more but they were ~$200 IIRC. My specimen was issued to me by Bill Clinton I like to think.

HK Ag

quote:

Service grade, but $1080 vs. $750.

which price are the IHC guns?

IHC is $1080.

do they come with all the cosmoline on them ?

quote:

Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
I just got an email from CMP, that they can ship an International Harvester M1 in a week, vs. waiting another 2-4 week for hopefully, a WWII serial Springfield although it is luck of the draw. It would be Service grade, but $1080 vs. $750. Are they that more desirable being a post war manufacture?

I went with the IHC for these reasons. First, they are slightly more unusual/rarer than the norm. Second, while they were not going to be WW2 stories, they were going to be in good shape and the Springfield wasn't going to be telling war stories either. Third, I could have it now rather than waiting (I mean, after all the waiting that I already did due to COVID) and have given money to a good cause. Finally, I like the story of the IHC guns and thought that was a neat thing to have. I hope to have my guns next week as the sale happened today (after I put my paperwork in February).

IHC is the least common USGI Garand manufacturer, but they still made 337,623, so they're not exactly "rare" in general.

However, the premium they commanded on the collectors' market stemmed mostly from their comparative lack of availability on the private market. Many/most of the IHC Garands were sent overseas as aid after Korea, and so they were even less commonly available for purchase than you'd expect from their production numbers.

But the last several batches of Garands returned from overseas (namely from Turkey) to the US military and turned over to the CMP for sale have included a larger than expected number of IHC rifles, so they're more commonly available nowadays than they used to be, and their rarity has waned a bit.

So in my opinion, unless you're a completionist who already had the other three USGI manufacturers in their collection and just need an IHC to complete the set, then IHCs aren't worth the $330 premium.

Save the money and wait a couple more weeks for a SA/HRA.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
IHC is the least common USGI Garand manufacturer, but they still made 337,623, so they're not exactly "rare" in general.

However, the premium they commanded on the collectors' market stemmed mostly from their comparative lack of availability on the private market. Many/most of the IHC Garands were sent overseas as aid after Korea, and so they were even less commonly available for purchase than you'd expect from their production numbers.

But the last several batches of Garands returned from overseas (namely from Turkey) to the US military and turned over to the CMP for sale have included a larger than expected number of IHC rifles, so they're more commonly available nowadays than they used to be, and their rarity has waned a bit.

So in my opinion, unless you're a completionist who already had the other three USGI manufacturers in their collection and just need an IHC to complete the set, then IHCs aren't worth the $330 premium.

Save the money and wait a couple more weeks for a SA/HRA.

Thank you Rogue! That's what I needed to hear. It's going to be a mix master no matter what, so the premium for the name alone doesn't make much sense. I guess I'll be waiting another month.

I'm only seeing Field Grade M1s available at this time.

I placed my order back on 3/26.

Thanks for the explanation. I need to order a Service Grade when they are back in action.

To piggyback on rogue, it has been suggested that the majority of international Harvester M1’s went directly to foreign aid and some of the biggest numbers went to countries like Iran ( back when under the shah) and Vietnam and we won’t ever see those rifles returned. There are a few pictures of troops in Iraq having captured M1’s ( which were probably captured by Iraq during the Iran Iraq wars) and pictures of old arms dumps in Vietnam with stacks of M1’s on the ground rusting away in the open

Did we ever see that big batch of M1's that came in a year or two ago?

With the normal gun market being abnormal as it is right now, I might turn my attention away from modern defensive pistols and rifles and look at stuff like the M1 I've always wanted/needed.

Are service grade due back in, or are we into slim pickings finally?

The CMP is just behind in unpacking and grading rifles, due to COVID restrictions. They still have plenty of rifles in the warehouse, awaiting processing. So they've temporarily halted new SG orders while slowly working through their backorders at their reduced rate.

They've received several large batches in recent years, most recently from the Philippines, and Turkey before that.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
The CMP is just behind in unpacking and grading rifles, due to COVID restrictions. They still have plenty of rifles in the warehouse, awaiting processing. So they've temporarily halted new SG orders while slowly working through their backorders at their reduced rate.

They've received several large batches in recent years, most recently from the Philippines, and Turkey before that.

Good to know. I am also looking to pick up a service grade Garand.

All I got to say to anyone contemplating buying a Garand is DO IT. I bought my first CMP rifle back in 2004 or so. Nothing beats the feeling of getting a genuine USGI battle rifle delivered straight to your door courtesy of the Red White And Blue (ok maybe it was Fed Ex).

I bought two SG Garands, both 1954's. A Springfield and an HRA. Besides the tractors (International Harvester) the HRA's were the least built quantity wise and some consider them the best quality. My HRA is gorgeous.

I love shooting them. I implore all of my buddies to get a CMP rifle before they are gone. Last time I was at MCLB Albany a few years ago we took a trip to ANAD and my friend got a beautiful field grade. I got to drive it back to Lejeune since he flew. It was a very nice field grade. I should have bought another for myself lol.

Own a piece of history. Support the CMP. Buy American.

Shooting my HRA at my buddies farm in southern Illinois. The HRA came with a crappy birch replacement stock (the Springfield had a great original stock) so I put on a CMP walnut stock I treated with Fairtrimmer's Military OX and Tom's 1/3rd Mix (AKA 'Gunny paste').

I just got the two I ordered in February after switching to the IHC. Happy and now I just need some ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
All I got to say to anyone contemplating buying a Garand is DO IT.

I implore all of my buddies to get a CMP rifle before they are gone.

Ditto.

Do the physical stores have service grades on the rack? I'm only a couple hours from the north store.

What is the website to order?