What grade M1 garand to get from CMP?

B

bllistc

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 1, 2019
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#1
I'm going to be getting an M1 from the CMP and need some help deciding which grade to get. I'm thinking either the service grade or one of the special grade ones. I plan to mostly just shoot for fun and maybe stretch it out to 500 yard or so which is why I'm leaning more toward the special grade with the new production criterion barrels.

Any insight or opinions? Also, does anyone know or have seen the difference between the special grades listed? Looks like the cheaper ones haven't had all parts refinished but I'm not sure how much of a detriment this is and whether its worth the extra cost to get the fully refinished rifle.


 
#2
Service grade is the best value.

The service grade will have some honest wear. The Special will have a new tube and all the metal components refinished... if that is your thing. The receiver may have visible pitting on the exterior. The refinish looks nothing like the original parkerization, Either one will get you where you want to go.

Getting to 500 yards with an M1 is easy. My service grade is a mid-war Springfield rebuilt for Korea and my primary shooter... my others are original guns and shoot them sparingly.
 
#3
I got one of the refurbished ones and it is beautiful. But, it's chambered in 7.62 NATO (built for the Navy in the '50s when transitioning to NATO standard) . There are Garand shoots around but since this is a NATO chambering - it doesn't qualify for those. So - I kinda wish I had gotten the standard '06 chambering. Just something to keep in mind.

 
#4
Thanks for the replies guys. Just found a guy on armslist selling one of the service grade ones for what he paid CMP. I think I'm going to go with that if its still available.
 
#5

Mine's a mix-master Service grade... Great rifle but as a mix-master it has no collectors value. In the past I've thought about sending back to the CMP to be refurbished to be pretty but had ultimately decided against it. Seeing that photo kinda makes me want to think about it some more.
 
#7
To me it's a historical battle weapon and as such should be left as is. IMO when folks rebarrel, repark, New stock etc. It takes away from its aura as a wartime relic. When all the restoration is done you have an M1 with an original receiver and pretty much that's all.
Each to his own. As far as .308 conversion I guess that's ok, I had one years ago and it never shot as good as Mr. J.C. Garand intended it to in 30.06.
Some things are better left alone IMO.
Get an unmolested Garand, hold it and let your mind wander and wonder if it could speak what it might tell you of its travels.
It along with our brave soldiers and marines saved the world not so long ago.
Rant over.
 
#8
All M1 garands that came through the CMP/DCM were undoubtedly refurbished in some way... Rare to see an unmolested one.. and no way to tell. You can find an “all correct” one but there are many correct parts that can be swapped out to make a correct one.
 
#9
I got a cmp special 30-06.

I looked at it this way - I want to shoot the rifle and enjoy shooting it, not sit it above the mantel to admire. So I got one with refurbished parts, a new barrel and a new stock. It is gorgeous, I’ve only shot it once, probably will shoot it after work this week, right now it’s tight, it doesn’t cycle the first two rounds (short stroke) but the next 6 work good. I’ve only shot 32 rounds though. I expect it to smooth out

FYI, the cmp shipped mine to me within 2 weeks of me mailing out the order form
 
#10
I'm aware of that. I started collecting M1s and researching them back in the early 1990s. At one time I owned 9 rifles, two were 100% original WWII era rifles, receivers, barrels, everything down to the stock cartouches. I went thru the whole phase of collecting, shooting matches, contacting Scott Duff, buying the books, talking to collector's etc. The whole trip. That lasted thru the mid 2000s then I became interested in M14s (M1As).
I had 4 of them but now only one is left, an all S.A. USGI parts rifle except the SA receiver.
I'm now into M40 rifles.
 
#11
Enjoy your Garand, shoot it, have fun. Nothing wrong with a parts rifle with new barrel, mismatched rebuilt parts. They are all historical one way or another. I had 3 family members who carried them in WWII, 2 in the Pacific, one in Europe.
When I see any of them I wonder if dad or uncle Ted or my father in law carried it.
Lots of connection for me with those rifles, a special place in my heart if you will.

Good luck with yours but be warned, they are addicting !
You will want another to keep that one company !
 
#12

That statement is factually correct now... in the past the CMP and the DCM sold original rifles that somehow avoided service use requiring rebuild. I have one DCM rifle that is an all original 1.86 and I have numerous Collector and Correct grade CMP rifles... and the only thing that prevented the Corrects from being graded as Collectors were the rack numbers the Greeks stamped on the buttstocks. I have 20 M1s... mostly WW2...and only 1 is a rebuild. There are "tells" to hedge your bets that a particular rifle is original, but you have to know what you are looking at.

Only got into M1s after it became difficult finding original unmolested pre war and WW1 M1903s.
 
#14

Not always... The Garand was my gateway into milsurp rifles and it was the only one I wanted. Fast forward a few years and I still only have that one Garand, which rarely gets shot, but I have multiple examples of a bunch of different bolt action rifles. Somehow they just call to me more... Much more.
 
#15

that’s good to know. I’m mailing mine out today. I want a shooter and having a refurbished one would be great for that but I also want one with the original Ak stock for the historical significance. I’m not a collector or anything. Just think it would be really cool. I’m going to get the special grade now because it looks like most of the service grade ones get shipped out with a new stock because of the condition the Philippine rifles came in. I’m hoping they get some more in that were better cared for and pick up a service grade on down the road.
 
#16
Service grade I got this fall. 3 weeks from my mailbox to gun at my front door.

FYI they no longer allow you to stop your package at a FedEx hub before initial delivery attempt.
 
#21

thanks,

it’s fun to let the mind wonder what things happened, especially when there are multiple like- markings in one spot.


At first I was a little disappointed I didn’t get new wood to make my own blemishes, but now I’m happy I got old wood.
 
#22

I think your rifle has a Springfield stock. HRA stocks have a bit of a shelf under the receiver heel. The two rifles on the left are HRA. The proof for HRA M1 rifles should be non-serif P in a circle
 
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#24
I got a Service Grade for my dad as a birthday/Father's Day gift 5 years ago to replace the one he sold to cover a mortgage payment 15years prior.

While the act of my receiving it will mean he has passed, I will be very happy to keep the old, dinged up war dog humming along with a healthy diet of 150gr handloads.
 
#26

Thank you, sir. The best part of me giving him that rifle was that I did so with my girlfriend, now wife and mother of our daughter, during a family link up vacation to Yellowstone. We drove up from Sierra Vista, grabbed my nephew in Phoenix, and met my parents along with my step aunt, uncle, and cousin who flew into Denver from London and rented an RV.

The year I gave him that rifle was the one where the National Parks allowed folks to pack heat. Thinking back on it, it's been more than 5 years since I gave him that rifle, haha. The days are long, but the years fly by....
 
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