I want to get a Garand but I don't want to spend a lot of money. I've been thinking about getting a rack-grade Garand from CMP. I know these are in the worst shape out of all the Garands that CMP sells, but exactly how bad are they?  Will it be so bad accuracy-wise that I won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn with one? Will it still be a decent shooter, just externally corroded? Do they still work reliably? I don't care too much about accuracy, I'm just interested in owning a Garand to plink with. Are the rack grade Garands good for somebody like me who just wants a reliable weapon for plinking, or should I spend a bit more and go for a field grade or service grade?

Thanks,
Nick

I asked pretty much these same questions a couple months ago on here.  After receiving a handful of varying responses, I decided to pay the extra $50 for a field grade.  I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but it was in better shape than I expected, and the stock cleaned up fairly well.  The rear sight was very loose (spring cover) and the gas cylinder lock was worn, both of which one of the CMP armorers offered to replace on an exchange basis.  No corrosion anywhere, but the parkerizing was fairly worn on the receiver.  Not a bad deal all in all.  Is it worth another $50 over a racker?  Who knows, but $400 for it was money well spent to me.  

The only thing that CMP rifles are graded on is throat and muzzle wear.  Everything else such as finish, wear, wood, and what have you is luck of the draw.  You cold possibly get a rack grade that looks fairly new but doesn't that well, or you can get a service grade that completely looks like crap but shoots very well.

I think the only time this doesn't hold true is when you get a collector grade.  Those are the best you can get.  Then again, many people have purchased correct grades and swore they got a collector grade.

I bought a Dane less wood a few months ago and stuck it in a stock I found online for about $35. I put a couple of new handguards on it until I can pick up some used that match better. I have about $350 in it right now.







It really is a throw of the dice with the rack grades. The ones I ordered when the Greeks first showed up had terrible wood but decent metal, and so-so barrels.

i was in the north store back in august , and bought a dane no wood,  each variety (or grade) of garand was a total mixed bag, some great, some crap, a lot of inbetween,
basically it's the luck of the draw
but still a good deal

Thanks for the info, everyone. I think I'm gonna go for a rack grade.

I bought 2 rack grades last year.  they are both good shooters.
You can always have new barrels installed or have them reparked later if you want.

They also make good candidates for a .308 conversion if the barrels are shot out.









The one on the bottom now looks like this and is a favorite range companion.