CMP is like Santa....

[ndbullet500]

I ordered my 1st Garand through the CMP just before Christmas, and it showed shipped today. It kinda shocked me to realize that I have been feeling exactly the same anticipation/impatience that I recall from being a kid waiting for Christmas. Exactly. It's really odd to feel something that has been literally decades since last experiencing. It brought back memories like a smell from long ago. Just to have that one more time makes me feel like I'm already doing ok with the M1.

I was also pleased to see the Serial No. is 1.5 mil. It's not a super fancy Garand (but the best CMP had), a Field Grade Springfield GR. A quick check shows that to be May 1943 production. Of course, that's just the receiver, but that's the heart of the rifle.

Now the nail biting waiting for FedEx to come in the morning. :nailbiting: Figures that I have to go out of town during the day tomorrow, but hopefully I can pick it up at the terminal after I get back. And then clean it, and replace springs, and inspect and hug it... :hearts:

[Bushbacker]

It's a real thrill to open it up. I got a service grade M1 from the CMP a little over a year ago.

[thisaway]

Like Forrest Gump says: "You never know what you're gonna git." :banana:

[ndbullet500]

The FedEx truck visited today.....eventually. At 1:00 pm, when I wasn't home because of the "snow". Roads were clear by 9:00, but ooooookkkkkkkkk. So I got to go to the airport.

Now I have to wait until my little one goes to bed to really examine it, but it looks pretty decent. One 1"x1/4" gouge out of the right side of the stock, not too bad.

First things I noticed, before looking more closely:
1. The receiver is filled with powder. I exaggerate, but it has a lot of granular powder. More than a .22, less than a .45 would contain. Maybe a grain of powder. Weird. How the hell did that happen?

2. Handguard of stock is stamped "BLANK" in front of receiver. Not up on my Garand stock markings, but why would a stock be stamped "BLANK". The wood looks nice...well the not greasy handguard portion.

3. Metal is worn, but honest wear.

I haven't examined the bore yet, but a glance down the muzzle shows a lot of wear. About what I would expect, but more than I would wish. Oh, well, it's a field grade.

[kastiron]

Congrats! I also ordered my first M1 Garand, also a Greek Field Grade, along with a pair of the 40x target .22's in the mad rush for them.

Santa is about right in description of the anticipation, I have been wearing out the e-store awaiting the "shipped" notification on my order..

Any chance of you posting some pics for those of us still waiting?

[ndbullet500]

Originally posted by kastiron


Any chance of you posting some pics for those of us still waiting?

Yep, as soon as my little one hits the sack in about an hour. My order posted on 1/6, was mailed 12/22, just to give you a frame of reference.

[kastiron]

Thanks for the point of reference on the dates.. Mine was overnighted on 1/2, credit card charged on 1/13, been listed as "processing" since.

I am hopeful to have my packages in a couple weeks or so.

[ndbullet500]

Here are a couple quick photos. The quality isn't the greatest, all of the lights in my house are compact fluorescent, great for saving energy and lasting forever, no so great for photos at night.

This is the packaging as I received it, minus a couple of papers like receipt and CMP certificate.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/connell10/garandinbox1.jpg

The receiver filled with loose powder. Still trying to figure that out. As you can see, it does not have the dark Greek repark finish. Either would have been fine with me, but I very slightly prefer the patina of age.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/connell10/garandpowderrec.jpg

And the ummmmmm, character mark. It looks a lot worse in the photo. In person it is probably 20% as noticeable, I think the flash accentuates the edges. This is a Danish Beech stock, there was a Danish tag marked 1972 when I field stripped it. The hadguards are much nicer wood, but don't match. Of course, I've seen Garands new in wrapper with mismatched wood, but the Dane Beech is obvious. I suspect the stock REALLY sucked when it came home from Greece, so it got a Dane stock at CMP. Fit is good, but I have a replacement CMP stock on backorder, so I'm not too bothered by it, and probably won't even replace the stock for a while. If it was Service grade I would be slightly annoyed, but even then not much.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/connell10/garandinbox.jpg

A quick field strip and examination didn't reveal anything seriously amiss. I have a set of new springs that I'll probably change out, but nothing seemed broken or in obvious need of replacement. There are a couple small places of very light surface corrosion on the receiver, but it's really nothing.

The barrel is a SA 1952 replacement. I think throat erosion gets over emphasized, but I looked at the muzzle ASAP. Although at first glance I was a little concerned over wear, when I got out a light, the bore is much better than I expected. Nice and shiny and sharp, good lands, crown ok. But there is a lot of wear at the muzzle. I don't have a gauge, so I can't measure it, but it looks to be from shooting, not cleaning, as the rifling sort of gradually fades as it nears the muzzle. Much better, IMHO, as the wear is uniform, and while it certainly won't help accuracy, from eyeballing it I doubt it will kill accuracy either. A trip to the range will be the only way to answer than, and I can't make it for at least a week. :sad:

All in all, it's about what I expected. And I feel like I could have done MUCH worse. Without the option of Service Grade, I don't know how much better I could have done.

EDITED FOR CLARITY RE: BARREL.

[kastiron]

THANKS for the pics and the initial review! Now, I am MUCH more excited to see the Fedex truck.

[cessnastud]

My buddy's last name is Blank. I'll have to tell him to order his own personalized Garand. I know CMP is selling 'em like hotcakes, so I always ask myself why the heck haven't I ordered one yet.

[ndbullet500]

I posted this photo on another thread, but this is a post-clean-up photo of the Garand, before any parts changes. So this is all as received from the CMP . Oh, and the sling was added, obviously.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/connell10/M1cleaned.jpg

The boo-boo looks better too, but it will leave a character mark.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j12/connell10/M1badsidecleaned.jpg

[kastiron]

Mine arrived on Tuesday, it took me this long to get a picture to post.

I thought using the flag I bought on 9-11-01 as a backdrop was appropriate.



http://www.hunt101.com/img/468741.JPG :patriot:

[qarl]

I had my 1903 Springfield show up today. Nice clean gun, with correct 1921 barrel and C-stock. Very little grease!

I have an M1-C Garand Sniper coming from CMP very soon. :)

[ndbullet500]

Kastiron, your M1 looks noticably better out of the box than mine, although it's a little hard to make out details on the photo. Looks like the Greek reparkerized your metal, which although I consider a wash vs. the original finish with wear, certainly looks nicer. The wood looks better on yours too, especially the stock. Makes me want to order another....:)

I wonder how the metal compares. I was very pleased with the barrel on mine, yes, there is muzzle erosion, but the bore is almost flawless otherwise. Without having a guage, the "bullet test" using M2 ball was showing about 3/16" above the brass. A trip to the range tomorrow will be more revealing.

I've had a new CMP stock ordered since last year, hopefully it will come in soon. That will make a HUGE improvement in the appearance of mine. If the wood looked as good as your seems to, I woulnd't bother.

Qarl, where did the M1C come from, auction? SOunds like you did well with the '03, as well.

[kastiron]

Thanks! The upper stock piece is not matching, it is a new unfinished piece. No real damage though on the main section, with a nice pattern.

The receiver was re-parked by the Greeks. The barrel exterior looks great, but I nearly bottomed out to the brass on the "bullet test". I used a 150gr FMJ from American Eagle for the test as I don't have any milsurp on hand yet. There is still plenty of rifling in the 1951 barrel though. (Receiver is a 1943)

[ndbullet500]

Originally posted by kastiron
I nearly bottomed out to the brass on the "bullet test". I used a 150gr FMJ from American Eagle for the test as I don't have any milsurp on hand yet. There is still plenty of rifling in the 1951 barrel though. (Receiver is a 1943)

I'd reserve judgment using the bullet test. It isn't a very accurate measure anyway, and using commercial ammo takes away the somewhat consistent common dimension of everyone using M2 ball.

Interesting:
Yours - 1943 receiver, 1951 barrel.
Mine - 1943 receiver (1.58mil), 1952 barrel.

EDIT: to fix serial #

[Stud Duck]

After you guys take em to the range, let us know what kind of accuracy you got.....I've got the itch real bad.

If you could check out the thread below and answer some of my questions.

http://www.glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=647127

Thanks.

[kastiron]

Originally posted by ndbullet500
I'd reserve judgment using the bullet test. It isn't a very accurate measure anyway, and using commercial ammo takes away the somewhat consistant common dimension of everyone using M2 ball.

Interesting:
Yours - 1943 receiver, 1951 barrel.
Mine - 1943 receiver (1.8mil), 1952 barrel.

Thanks on the info on the bullet type used. 1.9mil on mine, they must have been chucking them out fast in '43.

For something that I just added to the order in case they were out of the .22's I wanted, I sure like this one.