CMP Garand - Do I want U.S. or Danish?

D

DougB

New member
I found out today that I qualify to order a Garand from CMP (the government-authorized program that let's you order them and have them shipped to your house without an FFL). Anyway, I am trying to decide if I should order a "Service Grade" U.S. rifle ($500), or a "Danish Issue" ($400). I want one for recreational shooting and historical interest. I understand that the Service Grade are rifles right out of U.S. military arsenal storage, so they would have an edge in historical interest for me (dad and uncles served during WWII), but I assume that the Danish rifles originally came from the U.S. military as well, so maybe there isn't much difference in that regard. Any idea which are in the best shape? Any tricks to getting a nice rifle from CMP? Is one type likely to run out first (I may very well order another rifle in a year or two)? Any advice or info will be appreciated.

Doug
 
My Danish re-import came with a brand-new (from the 1960's) Danish VAR barrel, and it shoots just fine. The stock looks like it was dragged on a gravel road. I don't know about the historical value of one over the other. I imagine the Danish ones were used in WWII in Europe. The Service Grades could have been used anywhere.

Check out http://www.jouster.com in the M1 area. This area will have no shortage of knowledge, opinion, etc about M1's and the CMP.
 
I ordered both a Danish and a Service Grade. The Danish was a Springfield built in January 1942 and had most of the original wood as well as a fairly worn barrel (haven't done the research to see if it is original yet). It was missing most of its park and was down to shiny metal on the buttstock, magazine, and practicaly any place else you might have expected it to be handled.

It had a Danish Navy acceptance stamp and that was about it. From what I can tell it is actually the more historical of the two rifles.

The Service Grade I got was an H&R post-war Garand. It had a dinged up stock with yellow arsenal number painted on it and a mix of parts. It had definitely been arsenal refinished at least once and had the type of wear I'd expect on a military rifle. It had better parkerizing than the Danish with scratches around the muzzle and some wear around the bolt and buttplate. The good news is that with no modifications whatsoever, I can do 2 MOA with it from a seated position using M2 ball. That's a lot better than I expected out of a 50yr. old GI surplus rifle.

That's my limited experience with CMP Garands - from what I understand it is pretty much luck of the draw what kind of rifle you get.
 
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