CMP M1 Garand

I am now thinking of making a Garand my next purchase. I just want a shooter, no collectors for me. They start at $495. My question is, exactly what can I expect from a $495 Garand?

$495 sound kind of low for quality Garand..................

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It's why the website says. They tell about the muzzle and bore guaging, but I don't know what that means. That's why I'm asking here.

Post the gauging data here so the Garand gurus can tell you "good or bad". Do they list the makes of the Garands? Beware of non-military Garands.

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Field grade: "bores will be generally good, but may be dark or have other minor imperfections; barrel muzzle or crown may be rough and muzzle may gauge more than 3 on a muzzle gauge."

Service grade: "bores will be generally good but may have minor imperfections; the barrel crown may be nicked, but the muzzle will gauge less than 3 and the throat erosion gauge less than 5.

I am thinking you want the Service Grade..............

IIRC... the smaller the muzzle gauge number, the better.

Both grades are shooters.

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If you are going the mail order route and you want a shooter ... order the Service Grade (SG). If you have no preference for manufacture, get the HRA Service Grade. Most of the SG HRAs I have seen lately were good looking and shooting guns.

Of course your best bet is to visit the CMP South Store at Anniston, AL and pick out your Garand. If you are lucky, you may find a field grade with a good barrel. A lot of the field grades I have seen have terrible crowns and accuracy can suffer big time. Just remember, a field grade gun would NOT be issued to the troops while a service grade gun would be.

As SGF stated above, the lower the muzzel and throat gages, the better. I have purchased my fair share of garnands from CMP in all grades ... I highly recommend the HRA Service Grade. If will cost you a $100 more but well worth it IIHO!!

Hopefully they are nice. My first one should be here this week (fingers crossed). I ordered a field grade Springfield. Most all of the comments on the CMP forum lately have been very positive. This is my "booby prize" for missing out on the last of the Carbines. I'll update when I get it.

I bought a Field Grade at Camp perry in July. The muzzle measured under 2 and the throat under 4. I was lucky enough to be able to pick my own. The muzzle measurement of over 3 is dismal to say the least. If the muzzle of a rifle is worn, it won't shoot well.

Doug

Exactly what are you measuring on the throat and muzzle? And, what does the number stand for?

The throat is measured by a throat erosion gauge. The numbers go from 0 to 10. Each number represents 1000 rounds of use. Such as a 5 is 5000 rounds fired. The service life of a Garand barrel is 8000 to 10000 rounds. I kept track of my M1 NM rifle's use and I got 9800 rounds out of a Springfield barrel before it lost target accuracy. The muzzle is a different matter. Most of the wear on a Garand barrel's muzzle is from cleaning rod friction. MY CMP service grade M1 rifle measures less than one at the muzzle. My Field grade M1 measures less than 2. It took me all day to find 3 M1 rifles with less than 2 on the Muzzle wear gauge and less that 5 on the throat erosion gauge.

Doctor Mann, the author of :"The Bullet's Flight" states a rifle can shoot well with a worn throat as long as it has a good muzzle. The last 2 inches of the rifle barrel are the most important. Our club has 2 M1 Rifles with a throat gauge of 7 and they shoot as well as rifles that have a throat measurement of 3 or 4. All the muzzles of our rifles are in VG condition because we always used rod guides on our cleaning rods when cleaning the rifles.

Doug

If I buy one and really enjoy shooting it, how much to replace the barrel?

Consider the service grade HRA.

It's a labor of love but it will need a really good cleaning. Then grease it up, Garands love grease.

Suggest, replacing all the springs.

I love all of mine.

jbpmidas wrote:If I buy one and really enjoy shooting it, how much to replace the barrel?

Barrel from the CMP about $170 + $100 labor. I have the tools.

Doug

I'm guessing there is more to it than changing an AR barrel.

jbpmidas wrote:I'm guessing there is more to it than changing an AR barrel.

Yep - a new barrel will have to have the chamber reamed ... and indexed.

The chambers are cut short, so the chamber can be deepened by a hand chambering reamer. The indexing is done by an adjustable level or two machinist rulers. The front sight has to be removed from the gas cylinder and an adjustable level used on the top of the gas cylinder and the flat behind the rear sight on the receiver. It can be tricky. I was taught how to replace an M1 or M1A barrel by a Sgt. Fischer from Rock Island Arsenal. He ran the Army repair trailer at the Camp Perry Matches, in the 1980's.

Doug

If you travel to Camp Perry or Anniston's CMP Stores, they will not have Service Grade rifles on display. They reserve them for mail order only. I picked my own Service Grade rifle but that was in 2008. The CMP feels the people getting them by mail order have no opportunity to select a rifle, so they should have the better grade rifle available to them. Personally I would not want new wood on my M1 and Service Grade rifles sometimes have new wood. The change of wood negates any collector value of the M1.

Doug

I am not particularly looking for a "collector." I want one to shoot and give to my son!

I still say HRA Service grade -- PM nonnieselman and ask him about his!!