Sometime in the next 8 to 10 weeks I should be starting the process to get a Garand from the CMP.The particular rifle I'm eyeing is the Danish Issue Springfield Armory with the VAR Barrel. Anyone have any suggested reading on the Garand? Any tips or tricks for easy WECSOG modding? How do I avoidthe dreaded M1 Thumb ?

Quoted: How do I avoidthe dreaded M1 Thumb ?

Uhm, keep your thumb out of the action when releasing the bolt?  >gg<

There's several Garand books, both historical & informative. The two are NOT always inclusive. Look on the NRA web site on their catalog section for some. You may be able to do a search on Amazon.com as well.

I have a Garand that I had a Douglas NM barrel installed. Shoots @#$%^&* unbelievable groups with cheap mil-surp ammo!!!

You want to get Scott Duff's book, I think it's called the complete M1 Garand.

And don't get the Danish garand, spend a little extra and get their US service grade garand.  The danish have all sorts of weird parts and stamps on them.

I was just leafing through Duff's book a few hours ago.  Excellent work.

As a general rule:  If you want nostalgia (i.e. a gen-you-INE USGI Garand), go with the service grade.  The VAR Dane mixmasters tend to look like crap out of the box, but generally shoot very, very well.  As with any CMP rifle your mileage may vary, except for the Kimbers which are NIB.

If there's any way you can accelerate your qualification process you may want to do it.  With the release of the 1903s and the ordering change which allows you to specify the receiver and barrel you want, CMP has a very large backlog of orders.  Waits for common rifles are in the 60-90 day range.  Someone recently posted at www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/garand/garand.pl#PostMessage that they were told to expect to wait a year for a Danish Winchester with a VAR barrel.  A Springfield like you want would probably be quicker, but the sooner you get in line the better.  

The CMP is the way to go. I got an M1 on an auction, instead of the CMP.  I do plan on getting a couple through the CMP later on.  The Danish ones are pretty good.  Yes, some of the parts are Beretta or Berda, but they could easily be replaced with US parts later on.  The VAR barrels are hailed as some of the most accurate military barrels ever made.  I plan on getting a Dane with a VAR, and using it for JCG and Service Rifle matches.  Then one more to rebarrel in .308... and maybe put an M1D scope base on it... Fun Fun Fun... can't stop with just one!