school me oh wise m1/m1a nuts!  I'm looking at joining the glock shooting foundation or whatever so I can buy one from the CMP (the glock discount looks nice too). Now, there are too  many decisions.  I know that I should spend the extra cash for service grade rather than a field grade, right?  Next, what manufacturer should I get?  Winchester seems to be sold out and/or more expensive, so they're not in the equation.  Give me guidance between the HRA and the Springfield...

I'm sure its been discussed to death be gentle

Check out the CMP forums and there is a ton of information on the rifles currently being sent out.

Simple solution is this:
Buy the Springfield Armory Service Grade. Chances are they send you a late model Springfield in really good shape.
The barrel, internal parts and wood will be in good condition and not require any work to make it run right.

The Winchester rifles are higher in price due to the fact they were only made during WWII and has brand name. The receivers were rougher in finish than others.

The late 1950's Garands are the best bang for your buck. That was near the end of production and usually have the latest modifications. Springfield Armory, HRA, IHC then Winchester......in that order for a good solid rifle.

After you are given a customer number from the CMP, get on the website and order the cheap M2 ball ammo to feed your rifle. Stack it tall and deep

Forget the Winchesters  as more than likely the only part that will be Winchester is the receiver and chances are real good that it will have a ugly birch commercial stock. Way overpriced
As already stated go for a service grade, either SA or HRA will be fine

Not sure where you are in GA but the South store is in  Anniston, AL. I would recommend going to the store and picking one out versus ordering one.

I went to the North store a few weeks ago with the intent to buy a Springfield service grade. Instead I found a field grade with muzzle erosion of <1 and a fair condition USGI stock.

Well worth the couple hour drive to pick one out in person IMO.

All good points already posted.  I've been a CMP customer for 5 years or so and have bought a few rifles and made one trip to the North store.

- a trip to the store where you can select your own rifle is the best as you can avoid all sorts of things that you don't like;  commercial stocks, worn barrels, black greek finish, stock loose or heavily dinged.  You can save money if you're moderately lucky,  shop the field grade racks for a rifle that meets service grade bore wear.  Instant $100 savings.  If you're going to mail order then you definitely need to order service grade.

-the winchesters,  you would definitely want to hand select these as the ones I saw in the N store were almost all greek black park with brand new commercial stocks and showed a lot of wear under the repark.  Even some of the new stocks were heavily dinged in shipment.  Sad that that happened.  Personally there were no winchesters that I liked in that condition and the field grades looked extremely rough.  If you must have a winchester buy one from an individual that still looks authentic without the black park and new stock.  

-best rifle for shooters;  A service grade SA (late manufacture in the 5 million sn range) or the HRA's of the same vintage.  In fact I think HRA made as good a rifle then or maybe even better.  There are some nice rifles on the racks and shipping from CMP mailorder now.  A great time to buy.

-There are some very nice service grade rebuilds too if you must have a WWII serial number for the historic connection.   97% chance you'll get t a rebarrel.  I got one field grade with an origianal 10-41 barrel and the muzzle wear was really bad and I probably should have sent it back due to the lack of rifling in the last inch of the bore.  

Just to repeat, if you're in GA, I'd drive and pick out a rifle at the Anniston store.  Make a road trip out of it with a buddy or two.  That's what I did with a friend coming from NY.  Had been wanting to do that for 5 years!  Got a really nice HRA with LMR barrel.

Good luck!

I have had extremely good luck with ordering AS service grade CMP rifles.  The two I ordered came in nearly all matching sans bolts,both were 5.8s.  The ME was less than one and both had TE less than 1.5.  They were shiny and new.  One had a commercail stock and the other had an open box SA cartouche with an RA stamp.  Stocks had a few dings but no gouges with matchng color.