Where would you buy a Garand for the best deal?

D

Don Gwinn

Staff Emeritus
I'm looking for an M1 Garand. I just want it bone stock and I absolutely do not care about collector value, but I do want a good bore, headspace, etc. IOW, a shooter but not a collector.

I see shooters built from mix n' match parts advertised for $400 and less--but are these really dependable shooters? Does it make a big difference from whom I buy? Who do you recommend? I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest, I'm looking for the best deal in terms of what I get for my money. I'd love to stay under $400, like to stay under $500 and really prefer to stay under $600 at most--if I can't get a decent Garand to shoot for less than $600 I'll turn my attention elsewhere until my salary situation improves. Anything else is going to take much longer to save up for. Thanks.
 
Don - Short answer: spend the $500.00 and buy one through the CMP (assuming you qualify / are willing to be qualified to purchase through them).

I'd stay clear of the $399.00 Garands you may have seen advertised in SGN or elsewhere. They use new manufactured receivers that don't precisely duplicate the geometry and tolerances of an original forged receiver. Fulton Armory did a test on one of them and it failed. The results are posted on their website.

When you figure that an original M1 receiver sells for $300.00 to $400.00 alone (assuming you can find one) the CMP is your most realistic option.

Not trying to rain on your parade and HTH.

Cliff
 
The best site I've found for Garand Talk is Culver's Shooting Page. The $500 CMP Garand is the best deal going, 100% USGI parts, a good shooter & a real piece of history. Stay away from the $400 cast receiver guns, they're not a good deal even at half that price. -- Kernel
 
Don,

Check out local gunshows. I see servicable Garands at every gun show for less than $500.

You might even find one for less than that, if it needs some work. And since parts fall into the "cheap" category, they are easily fixed up so that they are capable of some serious shooting.

They are still some of the best bargains in the wide world of fire-arms. If you get one, you are going to love it.

Good Luck

------------------
Audemus jura nostra defendere
 
Go with CMP. You avoid an aftermarket receiver which may be out of spec. But, if you should find at your dealer's a clean original GI for the same price, go with your dealer. No waiting hassle and you don't have to worry about worn parts. One of my CMP Garands had a significant ding on its muzzle (no biggie as I wanted to change barrels anyway).
 
Regarding gun show or dealer Garand offerings (maybe I'm straying somewhat OT, here), how would a newbie be able to make an accurate assessment of the rifle?

Basic concerns are proper head space and acceptable throat erosion and muzzle wear.

Having the knowledge to accurately identify whether the parts are all USGI opens another can of worms.

Case in point - my next long gun purchase will be an M1 Carbine. I've been reading like crazy, but still am not comfortable with my ability to separate the "wheat from the chaff" at my local gun show.

Just thinking out loud, here.

Cliff
 
I've had an almost sinful lust for the Garand for a year now. I finally saved the money to buy one, and sent off to CMP on Friday. Can't wait to get it. I'm not sure I want to shoot it right away, just hold, fondle and caress it (I'm just sick with anticipation). IMO the Garand is the most beautiful thing that goes boom. The M1 carbine will be the next thing on my list. They're handy as hell, and fairly rugged. While under-powered for big game, my dad uses his for deer, and has had good success. I just think every American should be issued the carbine at age 8, and the Garand at 13. We'd all be better off!
 
Can anyone tell me exactly what you have to do in order to get a Garand from CMP? Dont you have to be a member of a CMP affiliated club? Not just anyone can purchase them correct?
 
The $400 dollar cast receiver guns don't come with new parts, except for the receiver itself (which as noted elsewhere, is dimensionally incorrect). These receivers, I read, are actually cast in Spain (the Mexico of Europe), imported, and finished machined here in the States. For the most part these "new" M1s seem to be made up from old Danish VAR barrels, USGI lend-lease bolts, and the rest of the small parts are typically Italian made (M1s were made under license in Italy after WWII). These parts are all well used, though some I've seen were refinished, albeit poorly. Stocks are typically Danish surplus - European Beechwood, very hard but prone to splitting and doesn't take a stain very well.

On a tangent..... true "Danish Garand" is a legitimate variation of the M1 in it's own right. Collector interest isn't that high since they are so plentiful, inexpensive, and there is no standard configuration - they're all mixmasters of parts from various manufacturers. After WWII the Dane's received boat loads of surplus US Garands. Over time and after much hard use, they replace and rebuilt them with Italian (by then NATO Spec) parts and new barrels of Danish origin. If a stock broke they put a new one on of local manufacture. TTBOMK the Danes never made receivers or bought them from the Italians, all Danish M1s have American made receivers.

In the last few years the Danes downsized their stocks of M1s. Maybe 100,000 were given back to the US government. The Danes never paid for them in the first place, and they gave them back direct to Uncle Sam at no charge - that's how they got around the import restrictions. These are the rifles the CMP is selling for $400 apiece - US made forged receivers, mostly Danish barrels & Italian parts.

The cheap M1 parts kits you see advertised in SGN for $125 are from Danish Garands. On the civilian market the receivers can't be imported, so they take the receiver off and import everything else. This is where the POS cast receiver folks get there parts to make the $399 "new" M1s you see at gunshows and in SGN. The ironic thing is it actually cost the importers money to take the receivers off. It wasn't for the stupid US law we could all buy serviceable forged receiver re-imported M1s for around $125 (like they do in Canada). But that's a topic for another post. -- Kernel
 
While the qualifications for a CMP Garand may seem a little daunting, there is at least one easy way to do it.

If you shoot IPSC, USPSA is a qualifying club, and the CMP will accept pistol competition as fulfilling the requirement for participation in marksmanship activities. If this applies to you, no extra hoops to jump through.
 
Also..... if you are Active Duty Military or a Honorably Discharged Veteran the CMP waives the shooting requirement. I believe this is also true if you are a member, or retiree, of a recognized Law Enforcement Agency. However, you still have to show a Club Membership, and the NRA does not qualify. There are a number of Clubs you can join, your State NRA affiliate is one and all 50 States have one (we should all join these anyway). The Isaac Walton League is another you can join, and others, various shooting clubs and organizations, some with membership fees as low as $10 per year I think. My State org is $20.

You think it's complicated now. A few years back, before the National Instant Check System (NICS), you had to go down to your local Police Station and get finger printed! Then your app was sent off to the FBI for a background check and approval. It took about 18 months to get a rifle. Now I hear about guys getting rifles on their doorstep in less than 4 weeks from the time they send their app in. That's streamlining. -- Kernel
 
Wow, thanks for the response. 11xray, Cliff, I've argued both your sides to myself. In the end I side with Cliff--how will I know the difference between a new cast reciever and a "real USGI" version? I'm an utter newbie to rifles. I just happen to love the Garand.

OK, CMP it is. There's supposedly a local range participating, but nobody in the local gun businesses seems to know how to contact anybody and it's a rural route address. One of those "best-kept secret" type deals, I guess. I don't mind the requirements (hell, I'm gonna shoot either way, right?) I just thought if I could get the same quality rifle for $400 it would be silly to spend $530. And it would be, except that obviously it's not the same quality rifle. Thanks again, guys. I think I'll just stick with CMP (DCM?)
 
Go with CMP. If you are a veteran with DD214 you don't need to shoot anymore, just join a CMP affilated organization (for example http://www.vcdl.org ).

The Garands I see at Virginia gun shows are usually way overpriced. CMP is the way to go.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Don Gwinn:
Wow, thanks for the response. 11xray, Cliff, I've argued both your sides to myself. In the end I side with Cliff--how will I know the difference between a new cast reciever and a "real USGI" version? I'm an utter newbie to rifles. I just happen to love the Garand.

OK, CMP it is. There's supposedly a local range participating, but nobody in the local gun businesses seems to know how to contact anybody and it's a rural route address. One of those "best-kept secret" type deals, I guess. I don't mind the requirements (hell, I'm gonna shoot either way, right?) I just thought if I could get the same quality rifle for $400 it would be silly to spend $530. And it would be, except that obviously it's not the same quality rifle. Thanks again, guys. I think I'll just stick with CMP (DCM?)[/quote]



[This message has been edited by NVCDL (edited September 14, 2000).]
 
Kernel:
The "Danish Garands" are being sold here in Canada. I have a 100% Springfield Armory M1. The first batch that came in last year were pretty much original; mostly SA and Winchester.
The Danes DID use Italian-made M1's..Breda's and Beretta's. These were manufactured in Italy for the Danish Military, using Winchester machinery.
I have a 100% Breda M1. Many of the Beretta manufactured M1's had scope mounts welded to the left side of the receivers. Not pretty.
FWIW.
 
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