I went to order a CMP Garrand...

Well, I don't have a pic yet, but the field grades are a total crap-shoot. If you can at all possibly go in in person and get something that you measure with the gauges, you'll get a better rifle. I went with a buddy to the North Store, and he wound up getting a rack grade with better barrel than my field . All the field grades are roughly the same. In fact, every rifle there when I went in was a SA reciever. Once again, crap-shoot. If you get lucky, you get lucky; otherwise, they're decent looking, but the barrels range anywhere from 2.75-swallow gauge. The "Pitting" isn't near as bad as you'd imagine, at least in my experience.

Ammo-Greek=lots of the little clips, if you don't have them. Then Lake City=good.

Service grades are probably gone. So are 1903s--they had some left in the north store, but that was an "in person only" kinda deal. Keep in mind these things are WWII surplus, there's not an infinite supply. 1903's have been on the market for the past 103 years, are you really that surprised that they're out?

Practically speaking, i'm probably going to rebarrel mine with chrome (dunno if .308 or .30-06 will be the result), and a new stock. But, if you like a "shooter" garand, you can't go wrong with any of them--if you're wanting anything with any collector value, go elsewhere; don't expect any of the serials to match with the stock they have left.

Haven't even shot my rifle yet--every time I can, it's been raining . But man, am I glad I own it . Get 'em while you can.

My neighbor has a service grade that I am probably buying from him next week. I decided to jump on it while I had the chance to get one. He has a 1903 too that I am most likely going to get as well. They aren't going to get any easier to find, that's for sure.

I just bought one at a gun show that came with a ceritifcate from CMP dated 9/20/06, so I suspect it was a field grade.

It looks decent, with a few scrapes and one dent, but it shoots fine. I put 11 of 12 in 3 inches at 100 yds and had 1 flyer that opened the 12 rd group to 4.5 inches.

I am very happy with the purchase, and I am thinking of taking a gamble on ordering another direct from CMP. They ain't making any more of them.

I just bought one at a gun show that came with a ceritifcate from CMP dated 9/20/06

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Doesn't CMP have a rule against purchasing for resale?
That certificate is only 10 days old.

I bought two service grade Garands that were Greek get-backs, and I must have gotten them from two of the biggest rack-hounds in the Greek army.
Both were in near mint condition (as far as metal and barrels), with very good wood on the stocks.
Can't comment on the rack grade; however, I will say that getting a receiver (I got an H&R) and then getting a parts kit is another way to go (although you will not save any money, it let's you have more control on the quality of the parts).

My Greek service grade HRA had a nearly new stock although it was very, very grimy. Throat erosion was 3. The bolt had been replaced with one from SA, but the barrel was dated '54, same as the receiver so I assume it was original. Obviously shot very little. It will do 2 MOA (5 rounds, and more than once too, not some fluke). Don't fear those Greek returns.

Doesn't CMP have a rule against purchasing for resale?

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I don't know. The fellow who sold it me ordered two rifles, picked the best of the pair, and decided to sell the other one. It's not like he was running a gun store or a big resale operation.

I went to the North Store two weeks ago. There were two collector/professional buyer type guys there who helped me out. I ended up walking out with a Field Grade that had horrible, cracked, mismatching wood, but very little wear on the metal at all and measured 2 on the throat and ~1.5 on the muzzle.


I'm happy.


They're sold out of the guages at the store, though. You might call ahead and ask if you could borrow one while your there. You seriously want to go and pick your own, though, the guage readings and wear levels were all over the map when I was checking them out.

I have a field grade

Got it this spring. Lucked out with throat and muzzle erosion less than 2. Stock was servicable, but beat up. I put on a new Boyd's stock.

If you end up with a worn barrel, just shoot it until it won't hit the paper, and buy a new barrel.

That is my most recent SA Greek return field grade rifle. 5.7 million. TE=3.5 MW=3.

Finish was about 60%. Wood was pretty beat. I never shot it. The second I got it, I detailed stripped it, cleaned all the parts, and put them in bags into a storage box. I'm keeping this rifle for a future JCG match or service rifle .308 rebuild. I gave the fat Greek beech stock to my dad to recontour. He took one of my other Greek beech stocks and recontoured it quite nicely so he went at it on this one.

Anyway, the field grade should give you a decent shooter out of the box. Something you could use in a JCG match if you wanted to.

You could also do what I recommended to someone that was adamant about getting a Service Grade. Get the barrelled receivers sold by the CMP which is advertised as a SG barrel, but also get a rack grade. Swap the parts from the rack to the barrelled receiver and now you have a SG rifle. Then sell the rack grade barrelled receiver to me.

I bought two other field grades. One was a USGI SA field grade and the other a Greek HRA field grade. The SA came with a walnut stock and the Greek a birch/beech stock.

There's a good chance that the stock you'll get will be a non-walnut stock if you order a Greek return.

Here are pictures of the USGI SA field grade:

http://www.ocabj.net/gallery/2513821_before_dgr

Here are pictures of the Greek HRA field grade:





The Greek stocks are actually pretty nice if you recontour them. If you want a USGI style rifle, then definitely get an aftermarket walnut stock. But if you just want a nice shooting stock, there's nothing wrong with the Greek wood. Considering that the ones I've seen all fit tight on the rifles they were on, the stocks should be great for target shooting. I'm saving the pair that I had recontoured for future rifle builds.

What is the cost of the CMP Garands(a good one)

I am getting nervous with all the talk of not being able to find one once the CMP sells out, so I would like to find one soon... Any info would be appreciated. I would love to add a true,"battle rifle", to my collection of mag fed carbines...