This is sound advice
Here's my CMP Service Grade HRA:

dogbert556,
very nice HRA there.

I got my first M1 from CMP about 22 years ago, a SA service grade dated 1955. It was a bit fugly and a mix-master, so I had aood 'smith restock it in a laminated stock, krieger barrel, NM sights, etc for High Power matches about the time when the aAR15 was just starting to show promise in that game. I shot if at several matches for two years before loosing interest and it still is a fine accurate rifle.

Then I had a urge to get another and make it look stock a few years back. I visited the North Store and brought back a Greek Return, F ield grade, 1944 HRA. This one was kind of rough and the stock a hideous mixture of lumber (all ugly). I had some of the obvious wrong era parts swapped, got it re-parkerized and had a new fancy walnut stock fitted. It looks nice, but still not authentic.

As has been said here several times, IIf you are getting a M1 buy the highest grade you can afford because it will cost you way more to upgrad at a later date.

Dog1 thanks for the great post! It's VERY thourough. I was about to post a question about the correct shape/dimension of the operating rod, since I had heard that Greek surplus ammo is too hot and will bend them. And mine was loaned to them and what other ammo would they have used? The empty brass from my Greek ammo was showing signs of getting ready for a case-head separation too. But there along with all the links, is a COLOR diagram of all the M1s parts!!
Thanks again for the peace of mind.

M1G is correct-HXP is made for the M1.

tagged for later

I have yet to hear of an garand owner that was displeased. But if you plan on doing the CMP shooting a lot and they are legal for this, you may be better off with an AR15 due to the ammo costs being 1/2 as much.

They will let you use one of their MW gages if you leave your drivers license at the front desk. They will also check the throat erosion for you if you take them to the desk. Thats what I did on my first trip a few weeks ago. I have that stuff in transit so I will have my own next time. Hope your trip is good!

tag

The explanation of how to acquire an M1 was excellent. On another note: most local gun ranges sponsor CMP shooting matches. If you don't own an M1 you usually can rent one with ammo. I love shooting my AR.....but you will absolutely love shooting an M1 in a match. There is nothing like the FEEL of an M1 in your hands. It balances extremely well in all shooting positions. With a little practice you can keep your shots in the black on an NRA target out to 200 yards. It gets a lot tougher out at 300 and you really need to practice a ton to shoot 600 yards. The rack grade and service grade rifles shoot pretty well. For local competitions you may want to purchase a service grade rifle because they will gage well and should shoot 2" to 3" groups at 100-200 yards. Unless you are a collector and don't plan to shoot your rifle stay away from the all correct grade. They may be correct for year of build but probably will not shoot as good as the service grade rifles. I've been to CMP North several times and it's a real treat to pick out your own rifle. 9 times out of 10 the barrels on a service grade rifle will gage out at 2 or under in he throat area which is essentially a new barrel. also, for a 30-06 caliber rifle the M1 has very little recoil since the rifle weighs approx. 9 pounds.

I have 13 M1's.......... some collectable, some match conditioned and several unaltered shooters. At my club there are a few guys who like to shoot the old military rifles and it's a treat to see several of the guys on the line shooting their M1's.

Once you go M1..........it's hard to go back to your AR. Although, surplus ammo is getting hard to find and becooming quite expensive.

Good luck. PAT.

Concur. Go with CMP. Prices are great, you pretty well know what you're getting and the customer service is second to none. I bought a field grade 4 years ago. It was a Greek return, and the stock was pretty well beat up. It's an amazing shooter, though.

Happy to help.

You need to fill out forms. They are on the CMP website, you can print them off

You have several pages of forms to fill out Notarize etc
If in doubt contact customer service