{"id":2366,"date":"2012-04-29T00:11:18","date_gmt":"2012-04-29T04:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=2366"},"modified":"2012-04-29T00:11:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T16:52:14","slug":"buying-m1-garands-from-the-us-government-cmp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/buying-m1-garands-from-the-us-government-cmp\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying M1 Garands from the US Government – CMP – Civilian Marksmanship Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Civilian Marksmanship Program Sales<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.thecmp.org\/sales.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Buying<\/a>Did you wish you bought real estate in 1999? What about gold in 2001? Well the same thing is happening right now with the rifle known as the M1 Garand, the primary battle rifle of the US throughout both WWII and Korea. On the consumer market Garands have already begun to rise in price, but what many people don’t know is that the US Government, or rather a quasi-governmental non-profit corporation who took it over from the US Army in 1996 called the Civilian Marksmanship Program, or CMP, is currently selling off what are probably the last batch of government Garands to the public. All you have to do is apply, supply the required documents, pay, and you can have a certified authentic M1 Garand shipped right to your door, in most states.<\/p>\n

\nThere were over 6 million Garands produced for the government over the life of its service. Some of these have been destroyed over the years (it takes an act of congress), and some are still in the hands of foreign governments that they were loaned or given to, but the majority are today either in the hands of shooters and collectors, or currently being sold by the CMP. And even though there may be a ton of Garands out there, the M1 Garand is the ultimate and most romanticized collector rifle of the last 100 years. Saving Private Ryan<\/em>, Band of Brothers<\/em>, and even Gran Torino<\/em>have spiked interest in, and ultimately the collector price of Garands. All it will take is one more blockbuster movie and the most classic rifle ever will be outside the range of its utility value, and outside the range of my average shooters on a budget.\n<\/p>\n

\"Buying<\/a>

The CMP has retail stores in both Ohio and Alabama, but if you can't get there, in most takes you can have an M1 Garand shpped right to your door.<\/p><\/div>\n

\nUnfortunately, in the consumer market of mildly collectable non-matching Garands, there is a mess of disinformation out on the web. Books abound, but many of them disagree, and there are, believe or not, fakes on the market, as well as re-welded previously de-milled rifles. Even for an expert, it is generally a crap shoot to buy any Garand without proof of what it is and where it came from. The reality is that nobody was watching the ship as Garands were taken out of service, some re-arsenaled, some not, some given away, some destroyed, some re-imported, with import marks, others without import marks. You can buy a stamp to reproduce the inspector signature (cartouche) on a Garand stock today on Ebay. Nobody could possible catalog all of the tricks, traps, and disguises that have fallen upon the M1 Garand over the last more than half a century, but thanks to the CMP, you don’t have to.\n<\/p>\n

\nHistorically, through experience with the 1903 Springfield, which used to be in plentiful supply at CMP like the Garand is today, the most collectable thing about a collectable US rifle can be that it has CMP paperwork accompanying it. When I rifle comes from CMP, it has never been in the consumer market before, and therefore it has to be 100% real, even if it is not 100% original as issued, and most aren’t. The important thing is, this was the condition of the rifle when the government last touched it, and as you’ll see from some of the rifles we ordered, the CMP itself is refurbishing Garands even themselves.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\nI discovered this secret about the CMP a few years ago, yet never bothered to order a rifle. Back then they had some 1903s to sell, as well as Garands, but none of the rifles seemed like they were in all that good a condition, and they weren’t exactly cheap. The CMP is a corporation, and they aren’t stupid. They know how much money you can sell their guns for as soon as they come to your door, on GunsAmerica (where dozens of CMP guns come and go every week), so they are priced somewhat competitively, to what the market will bear. But I decided for this article series that the time is going to come soon that they run out of Garands, and that I, as well as our GunsAmerica people, had better figure this CMP thing out before it is too late. Today CMP only gets a handful of 1903 Springfields now and then, generally sent back from veterans organizations that are now defunct, and the rifles are not that great. Is this going to be the case with Garands in two years? Who wants to take that chance?<\/p>\n

\"Buying<\/a>

This warning in the order form does make it sound like they send out incomplete and broken guns, but from a liability standpoint I doubt it, so we'll see. None of the CMP guns sold on GunsAmerica seem to have problems.<\/p><\/div>\n

\nTo start the process, I ordered six (6) rifles. You are limited to 12 per year, per person. If you look on the rifle sales page at https:\/\/www.thecmp.org\/Sales\/m1garand.htm<\/a>, these are the models I ordered.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. RM1WRAR – The least expensive model on the list, a Winchester Rack Grade, $595. Winchester was one of several manufacturers that supplied the M1 Garand to the government over the years. They are not as desirable as the Springfield Armory guns, today at least. Good luck finding any Garand for six hundred bucks today that works. We will see when it comes what you get for this kind of money, but if it looks ok and shoots, it is a steal by today’s standards I think.<\/li>\n
  2. RM1WRAF – The same Winchester in “Field Grade,” $695. We will see what the difference is.<\/li>\n
  3. RM1SASSP – “M1 Garand, Service Grade Springfield Special,” $950. Special Grade means refinished. The metal is “collector grade” and the stocks are brand new manufacture. None of the parts on any of these guns will be matching, so most likely these guns are put together from parts piles with new wood. If they look good and work good who cares? Eventually everything becomes collectable once it runs out, and these guns have CMP paperwork.<\/li>\n
  4. RM1SPECIAL – These $995 Garands were just introduced recently, and this was what got me to finally order some guns for this article series. This is a completely new gun, except for the receiver that is original USGI, and it has a Criterion barrel, so if you really want to shoot Service Rifle, this may be the best option. They are available in .30-06 and .308, but I would stick to the .30-06.<\/li>\n
  5. RM1CSB – The famous original M1 Garand sniper rifle, the M1C, $3,000. It was a stretch to order one of these for the articles, but if we risk the three grand, at least it’ll give all of you an idea of what you get for three grand. The M1C used a Griffin & Howe mount that is still made today believe it or not, and when this gun comes we will see just how much work it will require to bring it into service, and how good it shoots.<\/li>\n
  6. RM1DS – The M1D was the second sniper rifle made from the Garand, $1,500 at CMP while supplies last. At half the price of the M1C, there is no wonder that none of the original M1Ds were originally sniper rifles. Unlike the M1C that was send brand new from the Government to Griffin & Howe for a side scope mount, the M1D was created to be able to be converted by field teams. The mount is crude, and when this M1D gets here we will test the original mounts you can find around, as well as the reproduction mounts. The optic on most of these rifles was the M81\/82 and after WWII, the M84. These were Lyman Alaskan scopes, make in New Mexico, and we are going to be able to test an original Lyman, as well as a couple reproductions from Gun Parts Corp<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Buying<\/a>

    Ouch! Yes, this is an actual order, and in part 2 of this series we will take a look at what actually came for this kind of money. Nobody said a love affair with guns was cheap, but what love affair is?<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Not a bad rack of guns, and though they are all M1 Garands, they should be drastically different in fit, finish, and overall look and feel. Shipping is $24.95 per rifle, and the PDF of the order form, with fillable fields, is at https:\/\/www.thecmp.org\/Sales\/orderinginfo.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Requirements<\/h2>\n

    If you download the application, scroll through the pages and you will see a list of things you have to send to CMP with your order. Once this article hits there should be a flood of orders into CMP, so act quickly, but also make sure you get your stuff in correctly so they don’t have to contact you. I inadvertently forgot one thing myself but they don’t seem to be too backed up at present, and it was only about a week and a half before I got a personal email from a human requesting the thing I forgot. The full explanation of the eligibility proof is at https:\/\/www.thecmp.org\/Sales\/eligibility.htm<\/a>, and this is an overview of what you need.<\/p>\n