ok guys I need garand lessons.

I'd pass for $700 that's way to high. Spend a little more and buy one from CMP. I bought one from a GS a few years back in as is condition and I really did not expect it to work. I knew that going in though and I was looking for a project gun. I only paid $325 out the door added some new parts that I got at a very reduced rate, and by the time I was done I have a total of $650 into it. Starting out at $700 for a MI that is in questionable condition sounds to me like a bad move. Good Luck.

Too high!

I would not buy a used Garand from anyone unless I knew what I was looking at. There are so many worn out parts floating around. Sometimes it seems some guys whol collect or own several must put all their worn out parts on one gun and then trade it off.

I too would go to CMP so you know what you should be getting, and if there is a problem, they stand behind what they sold you.

Assuming it is serviceable, that actually seems like a decent price from a gun shop.

That said, gun shops charge way too much for Garands, IME. (Yes, I get that people buy them etc etc.)

Go with the CMP. You positively cannot go wrong with the CMP.

As said, you can do better getting a CMP Garand. For the condition you describe, particularly of the stock, it is priced a bit high.

The only serial number on a Garand is on the receiver. Numbers on other parts, including barrels are a drawing number, revision number and maybe a heat number. Barrels also usually have a month/year of manufacture on them.

Virtually all WWII vintage Garands have gone through at least one arsenal rebuild. While I do not remember if any new Winchester barrels were supplied for rebuilds, it is possible for a serviceable barrel to get reinstalled on another receiver somewhere along the line.

Since none of the parts were matched to a specific rifle, it is quite possible to find a mix of manufacturers' parts on a Garand. There are pictures of soldiers surrounded by piles of M1 parts assembling rifles from them.

Interchangeability of parts was one of the major advantages for the M1 Garand.

700 from a Gun Shop is not unreasonable at all, almost All Garands were Rebuilt, most of them more than twice, so parts were replaced at random, whatever was next in the Bin went on the Rifle, no one ever paid any attention to the Manufacturer of the Receiver, for Instance I had a DCM Rifle which had a Winchester Receiver which was the only remaining Winchester Part on the Rifle!

tahunua001 said:

I hear good things about CMP guns all the time but I've also heard that a number of them do have mismatched receivers and barrels and looking at their purchasing process it sounds really complicated.

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The process is not complicated at all and the requirements are considerable less stringent than several years ago. I will agree that it is not as simple as picking up the phone with credit card in hand.

Proof of age and citizenship are pretty easy.

Club membership can be accomplished several ways, but joining the Garand Collectors Association meets the requirement and is easy to do. Many local clubs are on CMP's list of member clubs.

The shooting activity may be the most difficult but a carry permit qualifies. There are many other ways to meet this requirement.

Fill out the forms, there are four, get it notarized and send it in.

Once in the system, it is even easier to make additional orders.

Once the order is received and the background check complete, for most states, the rifle is shipped to your door.

looking at their purchasing process it sounds really complicated.

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It isn't that bad. It certainly isn't as bad as most people think it is, at their first glance.

For instance, you can join a club online. IIRC, the VFW is one, should you already belong to that.

IIRC, for marksmanship, a DD214 will suffice, as will a hunters safety course that includes a live fire portion. Or, you can get a LEO or range master to watch you shoot, and fill out a form for you.

It does take some time though - I'm not sure how long orders are taking these days. But, for the wait, you will get a serviceable rifle from a place that stands behind it, all for a price that can very rarely be beat.

$700 from a reputable GS might not be to high but from a Pawn Shop that's way to high in my book. Most pawn shops do not know squat about M1 garands except that there is a fool born eveyday who will pay for what ever they ask for it. CMP might be a little hassle but it's not going to be half the hassle of trying to figure why your Garand doesn't work the way you expected it to.

Did the $700 Garand look as nice as this $625 CMP Service Grade Springfield I received last month? I'm guessing that it probably didn't, and that's why I thoroughly recommend ordering a rifle from the CMP. The paperwork is not hard to fill out, and the wait (27 days for me) was very much worth it.

As far as parts go don't forget that a lot of these M1s were rebuilt after the Korean war as well. Many M1s were put into moth balls for the intent of Foreign Military Sales, and then as time went by they were sold in bulk or put into the CMP program.
I don't think one would find a numbers matching Garand. Unless it was one that was brought home from WW2 by a GI that kept it.
$700 seems a to be a going rate for rough looking M1s around my area, which I think is a little high but so is the price of ARs these days.

Actually, $800-$900 is kind of the going gun show rate for M1s in East TN and they are at the low end of CMP Service Grade rating.

As long as CMP has rifles for sale, they are the deal where it comes to M1s.

My last CMP M1 took about 3 weeks from mailing the order to receiving the rifle. But, during 2009, wait times could be measured in months.

tahunua001 said:

hello all. my local pawnshop has a garand. the receiver is springfield with a mid 2 millions serial number but the barrel is a low 6 millions winchester. the stock is serviceable but the front portion and handguards do not look like they match the rear half.

they are asking 700 for it. is this a decent price?

was this gun slapped together in bubba's basement or did winchester do a lot of arsenol refits?

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PM sent

SG's are $625. Service grade specials are $950, the last time I checked. They increased a few months ago.

how in gods green earth did you get a 625 dollar M1 from CMP when they advertise service grade M1s at $1025-1250?

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Say what?

Check this out a bit closer.

Fishbed77 said:

Did the $700 Garand look as nice as this $625 CMP Service Grade Springfield I received last month? I'm guessing that it probably didn't, and that's why I thoroughly recommend ordering a rifle from the CMP. The paperwork is not hard to fill out, and the wait (27 days for me) was very much worth it.

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When did they start putting new walnut on Service Grades? I was under the impression that was reserved for SG specials and better.

You either hit a homerun or someone at CMP messed up.

I hear good things about CMP guns all the time but I've also heard that a number of them do have mismatched receivers and barrels and looking at their purchasing process it sounds really complicated.

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The one thing you can be certain of with a CMP rifle is that if it has a problem, you can send it back and an experienced Garand armorer will fix it or replace it.

At a minimum, that's enough backing to make it a better source than any face-to-face purchase of an M1.

That being said, what would the problem be with a "mismatched" barrel and receiver? Just because they're not original to each other, or even from the same manufacturer, doesn't imply a problem with function, precision, or accuracy by a long shot.

The CMP Service Grade is still, by a long shot, the best deal in milsurp rifle going.

I hear good things about CMP guns all the time but I've also heard that a number of them do have mismatched receivers and barrels and looking at their purchasing process it sounds really complicated.

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Serviceable parts.

bigdogpete said:

When did they start putting new walnut on Service Grades? I was under the impression that was reserved for SG specials and better.

You either hit a homerun or someone at CMP messed up.

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New stocks have been a possibility on Service Grade M1s for a while, but they used to be birch or something like that. They were not as attractive as GI issue or even the CMP replacement walnut stock.

Walnut stocks were supplied on the Service Grade Special and the CMP Special rifles as well as being available for purchase through the CMP e-store.

Maybe CMP has run out of those ugly stocks and are only purchasing the new walnut stocks these days.

I think the only reason the CMP birch stocks were 'ugly' was because of the horrific stains they put on them.

Arsenal orange birch stocks from the 60s are positively gorgeous on Garands.

tahunua001 said:

I buy milsurps for collectors value mostly. in most cases, a gun with a remington reciever, a springfield barrel, eddystone bolt, smith corona stock and winchester small parts does not have value as anything except a parts gun for people that would have all of those guns in an existing collection.
I am starting to get the picture that M1s were heavily mixed around but I guess it's that same little voice crawling around in the back of my head that tells me "springfield receiver with a winchester barrel equals, non factory correct configuration, not worth it".

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The Garands currently sold under the CMP as well as thousands of others are for the better part not quite collectors. Not as to a collector wanting everything to be absolutely correct as to the year of manufacture. Meaning if I have an M1 Garand of March 1945 manufacture by Springfield Armory, serial number 3,621,XXX the receiver drawing number should be D 28291-35 with a heat treat lot number of 085. The correct barrel side markings should be 1-S-A-3-45, and the bolt should be Drawing Number D28287-19SA with an A-8 heat treat lot number. The firing pin will be of the "Late design. The list continues. Every part must be correct for a perfect collector vintage Garand. Forget your thousand dollar guns. Just depends on what we choose to call a collectable.

The average person buys a Garand as a shooter. The very best shooters have been reworked anyway.

Additionally as to how picky things can get? The sling and sling keeper are also important for a collector high grade rifle.

Ron