Civilian Marksmanship Program?
- Thread starter Dr45ACP
- Start date
By far the easiest way is to go to the horses mouth. Here is the CMP site, check it out.
http://www.odcmp.com/
http://www.odcmp.com/
John Marshall
New member
Hey, Nukem, are those the strike anywhere kind? Do they come in a nice box? 
Destructo6
New member
I bought two from the CMP about a year ago and they were exactly as advertised: USGI in good, serviceable condition. They've functioned flawlessly so far.
Or, consider the CMP's price leader.... a Danish Garand. $420 delivered! Technically they're not an import since they were never exported in the first place. We just gave them to the Danes after WWII once we were done usin' them to kick the Krauts' butts.
I got my second Dane last week, pretty nice. Late WWII SA receiver, SA op rod & trigger group. Some Italian stock metal & gas nut and a c.'66 Danish VAR barrel with 3.0 throat erosion (considered by most the best G.I. Garand barrel ever made). Stock & handguards are European but look walnut, stock s/n'd to the receiver and has hardly a ding in it. Cosmetically the best out-of-the-box stock I've ever seen on a CMP Grand and I've seen dozens (my last Danish stock looked like it had been dragged down a gravel road from Alborg to Esbjerg behind a speeding Volvo).
Now I got talk the wife into taking the kids to visiting her Mom for a weekend so I can have some time to do a detail clean and refinish the wood. I think I may have found my "new" Wisconsin deer rifle. -- Kernel
I got my second Dane last week, pretty nice. Late WWII SA receiver, SA op rod & trigger group. Some Italian stock metal & gas nut and a c.'66 Danish VAR barrel with 3.0 throat erosion (considered by most the best G.I. Garand barrel ever made). Stock & handguards are European but look walnut, stock s/n'd to the receiver and has hardly a ding in it. Cosmetically the best out-of-the-box stock I've ever seen on a CMP Grand and I've seen dozens (my last Danish stock looked like it had been dragged down a gravel road from Alborg to Esbjerg behind a speeding Volvo).
Now I got talk the wife into taking the kids to visiting her Mom for a weekend so I can have some time to do a detail clean and refinish the wood. I think I may have found my "new" Wisconsin deer rifle. -- Kernel
Guys,
Just got my first Danish from CMP last week (already had a Service Grade). It's a 1943 Winchester, Danish VAR barrel from 1957, and original GI walnut stock & front handguard, birch upper. Only has a couple Beretta parts in the internals, mostly all GI.
Pulled from the box, about what I expected... literally COVERED in grease from stem to stern and a stock that matches Kernel's description.
Took about an hour with a roll of paper towels & a gallon of mineral spirits to clean up everything. All metal is nice. I'm well pleased.
Yesterday I tried the dishwasher trick (that all the guys on Culver's page talk about) on the buttstock, just cause I thought it was junk & I had nothing to lose by doing so.
It worked like a charm. Stripped off most of the old finish, raised the grain, and the hot water steamed out all the dents. It flattened out 2 huge bruises as well.
After that I spent about an hour with some 100 & 150 grit sandpaper smoothing it up a bit. Next step was a good wipedown with mineral spirits. Let dry for a bit, then put on a good coat of Boiled Linseed Oil.
WOW!!! What came to me last week as a "junk" piece of wood that looked used & abused has turned out to be one ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS piece of fine American walnut. Nice dark grain stripes & even a bit of fine figureing in the butt.
What I'd originally bought just for the purpose of getting a "clunker-shooter" has me now thinking about making into a show piece. I'm picking up a walnut upper handguard from a friend today, then refinishing it and the front HG to match the stock.
If this baby will shoot half as good as it already looks, I'll be so totally pleased with my $419.95 buy you can't believe it......... Can't wait to get to the range.
Later guys,
Swampy
Just got my first Danish from CMP last week (already had a Service Grade). It's a 1943 Winchester, Danish VAR barrel from 1957, and original GI walnut stock & front handguard, birch upper. Only has a couple Beretta parts in the internals, mostly all GI.
Pulled from the box, about what I expected... literally COVERED in grease from stem to stern and a stock that matches Kernel's description.
Took about an hour with a roll of paper towels & a gallon of mineral spirits to clean up everything. All metal is nice. I'm well pleased.
Yesterday I tried the dishwasher trick (that all the guys on Culver's page talk about) on the buttstock, just cause I thought it was junk & I had nothing to lose by doing so.
It worked like a charm. Stripped off most of the old finish, raised the grain, and the hot water steamed out all the dents. It flattened out 2 huge bruises as well.
After that I spent about an hour with some 100 & 150 grit sandpaper smoothing it up a bit. Next step was a good wipedown with mineral spirits. Let dry for a bit, then put on a good coat of Boiled Linseed Oil.
WOW!!! What came to me last week as a "junk" piece of wood that looked used & abused has turned out to be one ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS piece of fine American walnut. Nice dark grain stripes & even a bit of fine figureing in the butt.
What I'd originally bought just for the purpose of getting a "clunker-shooter" has me now thinking about making into a show piece. I'm picking up a walnut upper handguard from a friend today, then refinishing it and the front HG to match the stock.
If this baby will shoot half as good as it already looks, I'll be so totally pleased with my $419.95 buy you can't believe it......... Can't wait to get to the range.
Later guys,
Swampy
Definitely get yourself a CMP Garand. I got mine during the previous administration's rein. I have to admit that I got a perverse sense of joy going to the post officer to pick up my rifle, knowing that, in effect, it was Bill Clinton's administration that was sending me my very own Garand. (The CMP is a public/private corporation, chartered by the govt.)
M1911
M1911
4v50 Gary,
No problem with the dishwasher. Normal dishwashing detergent cuts all the grease & oils from the stock just fine. I had already cleaned the grease off with mineral spirits before doing the dishwasher trick anyway....
The stock came out clean & so did the dishwasher.
The only word of caution I can give is to NOT, rpt. NOT use the normal heat dry cycle. This could cause the stock to crack. Set the drying stage to "economy air dry"....
Swampy
No problem with the dishwasher. Normal dishwashing detergent cuts all the grease & oils from the stock just fine. I had already cleaned the grease off with mineral spirits before doing the dishwasher trick anyway....
The stock came out clean & so did the dishwasher.
The only word of caution I can give is to NOT, rpt. NOT use the normal heat dry cycle. This could cause the stock to crack. Set the drying stage to "economy air dry"....
Swampy
Swampy,
I'm gonna try that dishwasher trick myself. Most of these CMP Garands are jewels in the rough, it's fun to put a little work into them and watch them transform into nice looking rifles.
One thing I'd recommend instead of BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil) use pure Tung Oil. Tung Oil is what the Garands were finished with at the factory when they were new. BLO was only issued for maintenance. Though more expensive there are several advantages to Tung Oil the main one being it makes the wood harder. BLO will actually make it softer.
The only place I've found pure Tung Oil is from http://www.brownells.com , the stuff you see at hardware stores contains varnishes which will result in a glossy unmilitary finish. Brownells also sells a alcohol based military stock stain (Chestnut Ridge I think it's called) that comes real close to the original arsenal reddish brown. -- Kernel
I'm gonna try that dishwasher trick myself. Most of these CMP Garands are jewels in the rough, it's fun to put a little work into them and watch them transform into nice looking rifles.
One thing I'd recommend instead of BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil) use pure Tung Oil. Tung Oil is what the Garands were finished with at the factory when they were new. BLO was only issued for maintenance. Though more expensive there are several advantages to Tung Oil the main one being it makes the wood harder. BLO will actually make it softer.
The only place I've found pure Tung Oil is from http://www.brownells.com , the stuff you see at hardware stores contains varnishes which will result in a glossy unmilitary finish. Brownells also sells a alcohol based military stock stain (Chestnut Ridge I think it's called) that comes real close to the original arsenal reddish brown. -- Kernel