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Posted: 4/2/2007 8:07:24 AM EDT
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Help me out a bit here, guys. I just attended a marksmanship class with my AR-15 over the weekend. I had fun, but there were so many beautiful Garands there, including the guy I partnered with for ball and dummy exercises, I left with an overwhelming desire to buy one. I can't afford a new one, or even a really nice used one from Gunbroker.com, but I'm eligible to get one from the Civilian Marksmanship program, and since a lot of guys at the class got theirs from the CMP, it seems like a great idea. All they have left is Rack grade reimports from Greece. What I'd like to ask is: 1). Rack Grade - what exactly am I getting? The description says to expect them to be in "poor to fair condition". That doesn't sound like something that could be salvaged, is it? 2). Are there any good guides for what to do with the rifle once I have it? I mean, how to break it down, clean it, figure out what's worth keeping and what needs to be replaced, clean and refinish the wood, etc? How much work is this likely to be? Can a passable job of restoring it be done by someone who can barely fingerpaint and can't color in the lines with his daughter's crayons? |
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CMP does not sell complete rifles that are unshootable. If it's complete, then they've checked it for safety. The weapons they receive from the Army that are unserviceable get broken down for spare parts. Rack grades have more wear than others and might have some cosmetic issues, but they'll be good to go for the range. I would, however, get it into 5th gear because they'll be running out pretty soon due to the much greater demand. Word is out that they re not getting any more fro the Army, so what they have in stock might be it. |
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First off CMP is a great program, and tends to undergrade their firearms. A rack grade from greece will still be a shootable Garand. The wood may be mismatched and beat up but you can always buy new or different wood and it won't break the bank. The finish on the rifle may be lacking but no biggy there. The biggest factor for rack grading is often barrel wear. CMP grades them at the muzzle and throat if they are over a certain threshold usually 5 at the throat or muzzle they will get sent to the Rack grade pile. What this means is the barrel is seen quite a few rounds. Don't expect a tack driver at this point but many are often surprised at what they get here. Its still a Garand and a piece of history and many many a racker have been restored and tuned up very well. If you happen to draw a complete dog have no fear. You can replace the wood for anywhere from 35-100 bucks or just refinish whats there. If the finish is gone and you decide down the road that the barrel is shot out you can send it to Springfield for a repark and rebarrel for right around $300. Or you can put on a new match barrel from many a reputable manufacuters for garand matches and such. Don't forget that the CMP is also the best place to get surplus non-corrosive ammo to feed your garand with. There are plenty of articles and stickes around here on Garand maintenance. Check surplusrifle.com for step by step picure directions. Its very very easy to maintain an Garand. Bottom line get one while you can. A 9.5lb wood and steel Garand feels totally different in your hands from the light AR's You'll enjoy the *ping* too. |
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Get one. If you can get to Alabama and pick one of the rack so much the better. At times they have better grades there in small numbers (too small to bother advertising on the web site). finish can be restored by reparking. can be had for around 100 bucks stocks can be replaced for less than 160 bucks if you want to stain and seal yourself much better barrels can be had and installed for less than 300 bucks springfield armory inc I beleive will repark and rebarrel for around 300. So buy the rack grade, you get all the parts, and can work on it as you can afford it. And you can shoot the rack grade as soon as you clean it and give it the basic inspection. SoS |
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don't be discouraged by CMP's characteristic underestimating of the quality of their rifles. every rack grade rifle is still supposed to be a functioning shooter, and if it is not for some reason, CMP has excellent customer service to make it right in terms of getting you spare parts and what-have-you. Right out of the box, after a good cleaning, a rack grade rifle will be minute of paper plate accurate out to 200-300 yards if you do your part. no, it won't be a tack driver, but it will be more than enough to get you started (and craving more garands!) Simply replacing the barrel with a good new production barrel (the Criterions available from CMP are excellent) will drastically improve your rifle to a 1-2MOA shooter, depending on the fit of the rest of the rifle. Putting the rifle in a new stock set (get a Wenig set from DGR for $150 or so) and you will have a rifle that looks good, shoots well and didnt break the bank too bad. Taking a rack grade rifle and making it look and function like new will still cost you comfortably below $1000. |
Is replacing the barrel and wood easy to do? How difficult in general is it to replace any of the worn out parts on an M1?
$1000 - does that include the original cost of the rifle, or is it $400 for the rack grade rifle plus $1000 in replacement parts? What do you end up keeping? Just the receiver? |
$395 for the rifle, $165 for the barrel, $645 for DGR to do the rest, including the smith work required to attach, time and headspace your new barrel, repark the whole thing, and fit and finish a brand new Wenig stock to your rifle. It could be less for the DGR work if you feel your stock is salvagable and just have him refinish it, so I guess I lied when I did the raw math in my head, you end up $1205 for finished product, plus some various shipping charges. You would use all the parts that came with the rifle unless they are for some reason out of spec/unservicable, but that should be taken care of with the CMP before the rifle goes to DGR. The only things that would be replaced are the barrel and the stock, if you even choose to get a new one. Finished product is nothing short of amazng. check out DGR's website for pics of his work. |
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I have 5 (all but 1 from CMP) WWII Springfields, 2 H&Rs, and 1 IHC. One of the H&Rs and 2 of the Springfields are Rack Grades, but I went and picked them out myself. All 3 gauge like Service Grades, they just looked rough. I have not done anything to any of them and will not. Even though all of them (except the Correct Grade H&R) have gone through armory rebuilds, but they are all USGI or have Greek or Danish replacement parts and they will all stay that way. My Field Grade IHC gauges like a Service Grade and I really don't know why it's not a Service Grade, but I am not gonna complain.  I might get some of them reparked, but I doubt it as that only improves their appearance and I don't care about that. They are all about history to me. The barrels on the ones I have are all just fine and even if one gauged badly, I would still shoot it as is. |
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