PSA all CMP rifles are a "mix master"

Here you are. They didn't give a freaking hoot which part went with what receiver.



The notion of a correct M1 rifle is a fallacy.

Let's see if this works. This is the one I was thinking about.

I personally feel like each arsenal rebuild (even at the CMP) adds to its history, but I could see why people would want the 'correct' guns and are willing to pay a premium for them. I'll happily get the cheaper mixmasters though

The DCM Garand I bought for $265 in 1993 was built in 1954 and never issued. Those rifles are long gone. Back then, it was one rifle in your lifetime.

When I worked at a gun shop, I had a guy come in to pick up a transfer, it was a international harvester Garand, this was right as the cmp got that huge lot back from turkey, I asked what he paid (he bought it from Simpsons in Illinois) he said 4500, I said you paid too much and that the cmp had harvesters for 1200! (I’m in Evansville and everyone wants a harvester!) he said “take a closer look”…so I looked and every visible part was marked ih…I said “never mind you got a bargain!”

shootersix said:

When I worked at a gun shop, I had a guy come in to pick up a transfer, it was a international harvester Garand, this was right as the cmp got that huge lot back from turkey, I asked what he paid (he bought it from Simpsons in Illinois) he said 4500, I said you paid too much and that the cmp had harvesters for 1200! (I’m in Evansville and everyone wants a harvester!) he said “take a closer look”…so I looked and every visible part was marked ih…I said “never mind you got a bargain!”

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Here's some "Gee Wiz" info. Not EVERY IH Garand was made in Evansville. SA had to make some of them, but were still IH marked. This because IH had massive production issues and SA had to step in.

Winamac said:

Here's some "Gee Wiz" info. Not EVERY IH Garand was made in Evansville. SA had to make some of them, but were still IH marked. This because IH had massive production issues and SA had to step in.

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The production issues were because Springfield was upset that they lost the contract, so Springfield “doctored” the equipment and plans that were sent to Evansville and thought that the government would pull the contract and send it back to Springfield

But no, the government had Springfield send people to Evansville to get the quality and production issues “straightened out”

Also after the contract was filled, the government asked harvester to bid on a contract extension to produce more garands, harvester said no they weren’t interested and declined, the government begged them and they still said no, H&R, Colt, smith, Springfield were all located close enough to each other that a few nuclear weapons could take out all of the United States small arm manufacturing capabilities! So they wanted to create distance and wanted harvester to manufacture m1 garands.

I’d love to have a harvester but I’ve got a h&r I know a guy who has 8, and is trying to make a complete 55, he found out that there’s a 6 month window either way (if the receiver was made in January of 55, all the other parts could be made between June 54 and July 55) and the only thing that he’s missing is the stock, he found a correct stock on eBay but it was 800 bucks so he was going to buy stamps and put the correct cartouches on his stock

My Garand is a mix, h&r receiver and barrel a Springfield bolt and op rod and trigger group with a cmp stock I looked up my serial number and found the next serial number, it was never issued, but re-arsenaled I have another friend who’s also a Garand nut and offered to swap parts to make it more correct, I politely declined if it was correct I’d be afraid to shoot it!

BigMoose said:

Here you are. They didn't give a freaking hoot which part went with what receiver.



The notion of a correct M1 rifle is a fallacy.

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Well, I have a correct one and the paper from the CMP that goes with it. It isn't a fallacy but it is extremely rare.

I'm not a museum. The thought of owning a truly "correct" as-it-came-from-the-factory rifle has no appeal to me. I'm glad some exist, but if one were to be in my possession, I'd be afraid to touch it, much less shoot it. It would be locked away in some padded box somewhere, and I'd be constantly worried about damage or theft. It's not just the cost, but also the idea that any damage sustained is altering a perfectly preserved piece of history...I don't need that on my conscience.

A regular old CMP Garand is a lot more fun. You can use it without guilt, and enjoy firing a rifle that likely served in combat with great men to protect this country from one of the greatest external threats ever imagined. Yeah, maybe all the pieces weren't together at that time, but they were somewhere, and the more it got arsenaled and rebuilt the more service it likely saw.

We have 3. My first one is a 1943 Springfield "Special Rack" with an IHC bolt, new production Criterion barrel, and CMP walnut stock. Far from "correct", I put National Match sights on it and it's a sweet shooter.

For my second I ordered a service grade, and ended up with a Springfield receiver from November 1941, so that thing was around since before Pearl Harbor. That one has a Winchester bolt and a barrel from 1954, so it's been around the block. I was hoping for an original stock on that one but got CMP walnut, which is hard to be mad about because it's so nice.

My 14 year-old son really wanted one of his own, and I figured by the time he was old enough to order it himself they might be gone (or at least WAY more expensive), so we ordered a rack grade for him (so technically it's mine, but one day it will become his). His is a 1945 Springfield that came with a beat up GI stock with no markings on it and a horrible lacquer finish that was peeling off. We spend 4 or 5 days stripping that stock and then treating it with linseed oil. It turned out pretty good, we made some good memories as a father and son doing it, and it's now even more "his" rifle due to the work he has invested in it. That's not something we would have gotten from a collector piece.

We shoot them all and enjoy doing it. The Garands actually kicked off an interest in milsurps as a whole, and we now own some Enfield's, a K31, Swedish Mauser, 1903A3, 1917, and a Krag. We've rebuilt several of those, developed handloads for them, shot steel and paper with all of them, and just generally enjoyed and profited from the experience. I don't care a hoot that they're mixmasters, I'm just happy to be able to put hands on them and actually use them with my son.

ETA: At one point I did consider trying to "force-correct" the service grade, but quickly abandoned the idea. At this point it will never be a truly correct rifle, and the parts that are on it now are a more accurate reflection of its history than anything I could do to it. The cost and effort to do that would be far more than it's worth, and while I can appreciate that some might enjoy the process (and if that's the case I encourage them to pursue it!), the rifle itself gains nothing as a result.