M1 Garand I won at auction

[Rogerbutthead]

I know there are a lot of M1 Garand enthusiasts on this forum - and if they had the time - can they look at the auction pictures of this rifle and give me their opinions - ?

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1012899631

Specifically, what they would do with the rifle - ?

I own a few M1 Garands but I don't shoot them - not for years - as my supply of 30-06 has dwindled.

I had to look up what CMP Field Grade means - second from lowest - rack grade apparently is not what you want, then Field, and so on.

Do you guys only bid on Service Grade or better?

Just curious.

[golfish]

Oh my!

They really are a beautiful gun..

Congrats, brother

[beerman]

It a nice WWII M1. At today’s prices, you didn’t get hurt. Wish I still had the lockbars on my 6 digit S/A. Now you need to hunt ammo for it.

[sigstroker]

Now I'm curious to see if my old 1944 has lockbar sights, because it doesn't look updated very much. Almost curious enough to dig it out. Almost.

[toro1]

Nice field grade and it looks like a late WWII mixmaster including a CMP sourced gas tube. The stock is a post war stock and was on a rifle rebuilt in an arsenal, but its not clear if it was on a your rifle when it went thru the rebuild. It looks like it might be a RRAD rebuild marking which I think was Red River Arsenal.

The Garand is my favorite rifle I shoot all my Garands every chance I get, including my M1D. Garand Friendly 30-06 has come down to under a buck a round so if I was in your shoes, I would pick up a can and take it and his buddies to the range.

I'm sure one of the real experts will be by shortly to provide more insight.

[beerman]

Nice field grade and it looks like a late WWII mixmaster including a CMP sourced gas tube. The stock is a post war stock and was on a rifle rebuilt in an arsenal, but its not clear if it was on a your rifle when it went thru the rebuild. It looks like it might be a RRAD rebuild marking which I think was Red River Arsenal.

The Garand is my favorite rifle I shoot all my Garands every chance I get, including my M1D. Garand Friendly 30-06 has come down to under a buck a round so if I was in your shoes, I would pick up a can and take it and his buddies to the range.

I'm sure one of the real experts will be by shortly to provide more insight.

Your pretty spot on. Of all the rebuild facilities, RRA was the gold standard.(IMO)

[toro1]

Regarding the grades from The CMP- I have a couple of rack grades and the biggest problem with them was the lockup. There was some pitting below the woodline, but overall not bad. I purchased a service grade earlier this year from CMP and I would take your field grade in a heartbeat over the one I received. It was a WWII receiver but virtually everything else on was non USGI. Most parts were Berretta, but is also had a CMP stock. Its a good shooter, but I prefer the patina of USGI parts.

10 years ago, the service grades were excellent values and the field grades were solid. I think CMP is scraping the bottom these days building guns from parts and so some are great finds (like yours), but I have seen some real dogs posted on the CMP forums.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

As beerman said, you did alright on the price; i.e., as a point of reference, even 'beaters' are going for $1,500+ in my neck of the woods. The rack grades have been considered 'beaters' by many for a good while now.

If you want a 'shooter' and not a show piece, then service grade has been the place to start for awhile. You can get lucky with a field grade or even a rack grade, but if you count on it, you're likely to spend more time being disappointed than actually shooting. Well, at least that's been my understanding.

If you want a 'show piece,' then you have to decide what you're trying to show. In many cases, you no longer go to CMP for the show pieces. They simply haven't had access to those for quite awhile and I wouldn't count on too many Collector Grade rifles being made available as time ticks on.

My two CMP (and ODCM) rifles date back 25 and not quite 40 years respectively. As a result, it would be difficult to equate them with what is offered today; i.e., based on what I can tell from the photos, both are in better shape than the one you linked to and I paid substantially less for them. On today's market, both would bring more than the $1,325 listed on your linked auction. Let's say I'm glad I got 'em when I did. (Not long ago, I was offered $1,600 for the one and $2,150 for the other; substantially more than I paid for either. I turned the offers down as the one is promised to my nephew and the other goes to my brother when I pass. What they will do with them... )

[Striker62]

Depends what you want a M1 for, shooting or collecting. This may be a good shooter depending on lock up.

The original cost of a rack grade is $700 direct from CMP. This sold for almost double that in just over a month. Rack grades are available daily on CMP with case and certificate just like this, so not sure you got a great deal. Yes, it has a good DAS stock that may have been replaced from the original, but not unheard of to get a rack grade with a DAS stock.

Not seeing any pitting on the trigger, but do not remember if the receiver had a photo and what that looked like.

The other interesting thing is the hang tag shows the barrel was swapped as the first date was crossed out. Hopefully the barrel readings are correct for this barrel.

If you happy with the purchase, that is all that matters.

[BrokerB]

Always bugs me US Citizens don't get an ammo allotment per year. Its treasonous in some way that we can buy commie rifles/ammo for a 1/4 the costs.

[Rogerbutthead]

The only M1 Garands that I see on Gun Broker that go for under 1k are the ones people think are scams.

Been seeing them go for 12 to 18 hundred. The Beretta parts ones were going for 14 hundred. I wasn't looking at their CMP rating before, but will now.

[Dan_Eastvale]

Always bugs me US Citizens don't get an ammo allotment per year. Its treasonous in some way that we can buy commie rifles/ammo for a 1/4 the costs.

Would likely be a lot cheaper if Winchester, Remington, et al, made 30-06 in the old standard military ball. All that's available now are expensive hunting rounds. Has really old surplus dried up?