CMP Garand choices

[Caribouriver]

Is this rational thinking?:

HRA SG @ $625= Best bang for the buck. MW<3, TE<5. May have new wood.
HRA SGS or SA SGS @ $950= Collector grade metal, new walnut stock
RM1 Special @ $995= for $45 a completely refurbished rifle with new barrel.

Being unable to pick one out at the store, it seems that the RM1 Special would be the best looking, best functioning and least "collectable" of the offerings. Appreciation would likely be less (if at all) over the SG or SGS. But if a great shooter was all you wanted, I'm thinking the RM1 Special may be the way to go. To those of you that have bought all of these from the CMP, what do you think? Thanks

[russt]

hra sg is more than likely going to be an excellent shooter. mine is and its numbers were mw=1 te=1. it also had usgi wood.

[Eljay]

The service grades are a bit of a gamble but are usually really nice. The service grade specials are more of a sure thing. I got one back when the service grades were running mostly birch stocks (yech!). Now I'd probably gamble on a service grade... but then again the specials probably won't be around much longer and they're pretty much perfect if you don't mind not having an original stock.

The $995 specials make sense on paper, but not given how good the service grade specials are. Once the specials run out they'll make sense again.

[Orlando]

The is no gamble on a regular Servive Grade, they will show some use but will make great shooters. The money saved willbuy you a small stock pile of ammo
The Service Grades seem to be coming with mostly commercial walnut wood now

[pro-nra]

Generally all else being equal, the CMP Special will outshoot all the other grade due to the fact it has better CBI tube.

If you want a rifle to shoot matches, then the CMP Special is the way to go IMO.

[Garandimal]

CMP Mail-order Service Grade all the way.

Most likely very good to excellent metal, TE<3/ME<2, near new orig./arsenal Bbl., solid USGI/CMP walnut/birch stock.

In short, a rifle well inside the SG spec. - more like a mix-master Correct grade.

You can always get a few and keep the one(s) that sing to you.


I have received 5/5 keepers. all beautiful orig. park and TE<2/ME<1 Bbl.'s, Three in stamped USGI walnut stocks/Two in CMP birch.




GR

[TacoJockey]

my first Garand was a service grade Springfield that showed up with a very nice GI stock . I'm very happy with it. Now the 308 bug is biting so i just ordered a CMP special in 308. I could have built up one of their Navy barreled receivers but this way i know what i'm getting and the money is likely close to the same.

[Nihonto Chicken]

When the Greek return M1s first started being sold, a goodly number of Service Grade rifles were turning up with near pristine post-war GI walnut stocks. I got two SG HRAs with nearly new SA stocks, and then a SG WRA with a nearly new HRA stock. Should this happen, it would be a no-brainer to subsequently order a SGS with Collector Grade metal to match the stellar stock. I in fact ordered a SGS SA to mate with one of the nice SA stocks, moved the other SA stock to a fresh BA rebuild of an SA with great metal but crummy stock, and moved the HRA stock to my SG HRA with the more correct metal. Unfortunately the abundance of excellent GI walnut stocks seems now to have diminished. Still, I imagine some Service Grades may still come with quite excellent stocks that will make a subsequent order of a matching SGS worthwhile. Roll the dice!