just looking for feedback.  

i just purchased a winchester garand in the 130XXX serial range which appears to be in good shape.  i'm wondering if anyone here has had good/bad/indifferent luck with cmp?  i know they support the group i shoot with, and i'm about to get back into nra matches again (ergo, the m1) and wanted to know what y'all thought about their efforts, or has anyone had dealings with 'em.

thanks.

Quoted: just looking for feedback.   i just purchased a winchester garand in the 130XXX serial range which appears to be in good shape.  i'm wondering if anyone here has had good/bad/indifferent luck with cmp?  i know they support the group i shoot with, and i'm about to get back into nra matches again (ergo, the m1) and wanted to know what y'all thought about their efforts, or has anyone had dealings with 'em. thanks.

You won't get very far with a Garand for NRA matches...

Use your AR, like everyone else...

tommy,

Welcome back to the HP game....

Re Garands, CMP, and HP....

The CMP is a CLASS outfit.  The customer service of every gun dealer out there should be so good.   Just about every member of our local CMP club has bought one or numerous rifles from the CMP.  They are the only way to go for getting a good shootable M1 at a below the open market price.

Beware though, that M1's from the CMP are USGI issue grade rifles.  These are just fine for what the M1 is.... a military rifle.  In the form in which you recieve them, however, they are suitable for match shooting only in the CMP's "John C. Garand" events.  THe JCG events REQUIRE an "out of the box" issue grade rifle with no "match grade" modifications.

When shooting in an Across the Course (200-300-600 yds) NRA or CMP-EIC Service Rifle event you will need a rifle that qualifies as a US Service Rifle (M1, M14, or M16 type) that has been "Match improved" to the top of it's accuracy potential.  For the M1 this means that it will need (most likely) a match grade barrel, trigger job, match sights, fully bedded stock, unitized front end.... etc.

All this is not cheap to do on an M1 and get it done right.  There are some things the home gunsmith can do to improve an M1 but to get it done RIGHT you need to find a good M1 armorer.  Fulton Armory, Ronnie Morris of Match Service Works, Dean at DGR, and Clayton Smith of West Tex Ord come to mind.  By the time a good M1 armorer is done you will have close to or above $1K in the cost of turning an M1 into a "Match Grade" rifle.  THis is ABOVE the original cost of the rifle.

Back to CMP for a moment.....     IF you plan to shoot an unmodified M1 in John C. Garand matches, then buy a Service Grade M1 for sure.  This gives you the best chance for a good solid rifle with good wood and a barrel with limits on the amount of wear allowed in the grading.  If you plan to have a Match Grade M1 built up then you can save some money on the original rifle by getting a Rack Grade M1.  These are graded to have less than desirable wood and-or barrels.  Since the wood and tube are going to be replaced anyway during the Match build why spend the extra for the Service Grade.

If you (like me) just are in love with the M1, then by all means get a Match Grade Garand built up for you.  They are GREAT... and fun to shoot.

If you are wanting to shoot Across the Course matches with the best of them and don't really care if you are shooting an M1 or not, then the M16 (AR15) is the way to go.  You can buy a fully competitive AR for X-Course matches for much less than the $1K that it would take just to modify a Garand to the same level.  The AR is currently king of NRA and CMP X-course Service Rifle events.  The accuracy of the AR's and the lack of recoil during the rapid fire events make them the top choice at any event you go to. Anymore, less than 10% of HP shooters will show on the line with a .30 cal rifle (M1 or M14)..... and very seldom does a .30 shooter end up in the top of the field.  It happens, but it's rare these days.

If you love M1's like I do, definitely give the CMP a serious chance.  I've bought several rifles from them and have been happy with all of them.  You can see some of my CMP M1's and my Match Grade M1 on my website:    Swampy's STUFF pages

Enjoy and best of luck...

Swampy

Garands forever

Swampy,  VERY nice collection you have there.  Just recently got my first Garand from CMP.  Haven't even shot it yet. Hope it shoots as well as it looks.

I bought my first M1 through the DCM in 1994 when you had to shoot two matches and send in the scores to qualify to buy one.  Got a 1944 SA Service grade.  It was good solid rifle but stock was fugly, so I gad the NM thing done but retained the SA 9-44 barrel as it shoots well after recrown.  Had it glasbedded in a laminated Fajen stock and Metacol finish by Arrington Accuracy back then and it still shoots well.

Got a Greek return rack grade this past July HRA 1955 receiver and fair 3-55 barrel.  Stock is nasty European Beech.  I decided to redo this one as well.  Having it reparked and a presentation grade stock is in works.

This is an addicting habit and what I'd like next is a decent Winchester M1 in a GI walnut stock to leave original.  This may take some time as these are getting costly in decent condition.  Any leads?

Swampy, that is a great collection you have, thanks for sharing!

EDITED TO ADD:
I enjoy my M1's for several reasons;

They are a fine piece of American history,
They are great shooting rifle,
They seem to balance right to me.

The M1 is now not the top rifle for winning Hi-Power game, but it is still fun to own, shoot and collect, enjoy it!  I carried my laminate stock M1 Elk hunting last Fall, unfortunately the Elk didn't show up, but it felt good to have it in the woods.