The Truth about CMP Garands

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Ben Towe

New member
Thanks kraigwy. I see your point on the sales tax, but if I found my dream rifle I might just ante up the difference and take it with me. I'm impulsive like that (much to the detriment of my finances:p). Might make a good road trip for me. Any tips for choosing one? All this talk of muzzle grades and barrel grades has me a bit confused.
 
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AK103K

New member
I got my rifle in '81-82 from then DCM. They didnt offer grades, they sent what ever rifle that was next in the sales rack.
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My wife and I each got our DCM M1's at about the same time. I believe they were $165 ea at the time.

My wifes gun, while somewhat rough, was fine. Mine on the other hand, wasnt to bad.

Unfortunately, it slamfired on me during the first match I shot with it, and turned hand grenade. I was lucky enough to have been shooting slow fire and didnt have the rifle in my shoulder at the time it went. The bolt came back hard enough to blow the rear of the receiver off at the serial number, and it was never found. The stock was was cracked and had a big chunk blown off at the rear of the receiver. The op rod handle tore my right palm up good and left a 1"x1" tear in it in an "L" shape requiring about a dozen stitches. You could pretty much make out the headstamp of the case in reverse burned on my palm too. The piece of the case found, was about 1.5" long from the base, the rest was gone.

Scary part was, and it didnt really occur to me until all the brass was recovered later and we found a couple of cases with the case necks blown out. The gun had doubled a couple of times during the rapid fire strings and while I normally dont have that problem, I had just figured it was a new gun and just me. It appears it was firing out of battery at different levels all along.

I called the DCM the next week and they asked for it back. They sent me a brand new, H&R, and it was "brand new/never issued". I called back later to see what they thought the problem was, but never would give me a specific answer.

My only suggestion if you do get an M1 from the CMP is, if you are not familiar with the rifle, take the time to learn how to properly load them, what ammo is appropriate, and if you reload, what you need to pay attention to so you can avoid problems. They are great guns, but they can have issues, and can be unforgiving if youre not paying attention.
 
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kraigwy

New member
could you explain the throat erosion levels and muzzle levels?
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The Throat erosion gage (bottom) has marks 0-10. As any rifle fires the hot gas burns away the throat. This gage measures that erosion. Military Rifles are suppose to be deadlines if they reach 10. To use it, lock the bolt open and stick the gage in the chamber as far as it will go. Read the corresponding number to get the amount of erosion.

The Muzzle gages measures the muzzle wear, mostly caused by improper cleaning. Jointed cleaning rods, or coated cleaning rods (they get embedded with carbon, dirt, etc. and make like a file on the muzzle). The Muzzle gage (Top) has marks going to "2". That's where they should be deadlined.
To use, stick the pointed end into the muzzle and read the results. You can also do this with a M-2 Ball cartridge, stick the bullet in the barrel. How far it goes in determines the amount of erosion. Measure the muzzle to the mouth of the case. 1/4 inch means its a good barrel. 3/16 means you have 75% of the muzzle left, 1/8 = 50%, 1/16 means 25%.

Often Military Surplus rifles are counter bored to get passed the wear with greatly increases the accuracy of the rifle.

I want to caution you here. Take this as a grain of thought. If you only use the gun for GSM Vintage Rifle Matches, the target (10-X) is a bit over 6 inches so if your gun shoots 3 MOA, Don't worry about it. Mine should be shot out (Throat erosion is "8", and muzzle wear is just short of "2" and it will keep the rounds inside the 10-X ring ( I can't but it can).

Hope this helps.

GEDC2471.JPG
 
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bamaranger

New member
learned more

Since my purchase of the LMR rifle in the late 90's, I've bought two CMP M1's as well, both Springfields. One came in with a lock bar rear sight, the other had the upgraded rear, but and "uncut" op rod.

I sold the lock bar rifle, to a buddy that just had to have it. I kept the uncut rod rifle, cleaned it up, and have not shot it much. Both had GI, war-era bbls, so dated. The gun shop, LMR rifle has done so well as a shooter that the rifle with the uncut rod lives as a safe queen. But........

Both the CMP rifles shot well........, even with war era GI bbls, in keeping w/ the intent of Kraigs OP. My experience with the gunshop LMR was plain dumb luck.

The Garands took me to another level on loading and shooting. Prior, I had no concept of headspace on rifle reloads. The Garands taught me about that. I learned about primer pocket uniforming, and flash hole deburring. I had no idea on muzzle wear and throat erosion, cut and uncut op rods, NM op rods, suitable propellants and pressure curves for M1 reloads, teak and mahogany v. real walnut, and the quality of LMR bbls. Hopefully, I'm still learning.

Get a Garand, as the saying goes, while you can. CMP takes much of the guess work out. By all means though, read and study, before and after.

Again, my gunshop LMR was a lucky break.
 
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greentick

New member
Got a service grade through CMP a few yrs ago when they were $450. My expectations were for a decent rifle for shooting purposes rather than collection. I was shocked at what great shape the metal was in. In fact, except for the barrel itself everything looked brand new. Best part is that it appears to shoot much better than me. I probably would have been happy with a field grade. Bought a M1 carbine from them a few years later.
 
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