[polishshooter]

Well today I set my appointment at Camp Perry for Nov 21. Have my paperwork in order, they only do it by appointment at the North CMP store, and they allow one hour to select from any they have in stock, and the nice lady said they have a good selection of rack and service grades and some “specials.”

Why do I think it’s going to be like picking a puppy from a big litter where they all will be barking “pick me!”😎

 

[gdmoody]

Congratulations! I have gotten four rifles from the South store - two Garand's, one 1903 Mark 1, and one P17. I sure wish I had kept the Mark 1 and the P-17! Two were by mail order and two were picked up at the store.

 

[polishshooter]

It was funny, I was getting my paperwork in order and was getting ready to order one mail order, and while my wife and I were watching the election news on Wednesday night she suddenly said you need to go pick your Garand up NOW, you might not get one if Biden does actually win...

I once had a DCM Service Grade i paid $165 for delivered, I loved shooting it, decent match shooter nothing spectacular (never found out if it was the rifle or me causing the middle of the pack scores😎) all SA except a WRA trigger group and an IHC rear sight, always hung on the reload so it became automatic to slap the op rod handle each time which is a good habit anyway, no worse on time once you get used to it. Came with an ugly birch stock but I found a nice SA walnut at a show cheap...

Made my “Top 10 dumbest things I’ve done since I was 12 list” when I sold it with a bunch of accessories ammo and the cut down WW2 bayonet for $475 in 1991 to put a set of Hoosiers on my stock car🤨

 

[polishshooter]

I once was practicing to shoot 3 gun with it, a tricked out 870 and of course my IPSC .45 back in the late 80s, would’ve never won against the M1as and 1100s which were king back then...but now they have “old man” 3 gun matches....must use a .30 cal rifle, pump 12 shotgun and single stack .45😉. I might just give it a whirl with the Garand to see if I can still do it. I qualify as the “old man” at least...and while I do have another tricked out 870 I could always turn some heads if I used the ‘97...😎

 

[polishshooter]

Plus I still have a bandolier of LC 73 M2 ball on clips I DIDN’T sell with the DCM that I held on to “just in case” I ever got another one...😊

 

[ysacres]

Why do I think it’s going to be like picking a puppy from a big litter where they all will be barking “pick me!”😎

A needle in a haystack comes to mind.
One hour seems like enough time to find a keeper. 💎

 

[CCHolderinMaine]

Good for you!
I've gotten 7 Garands 1 carbine and 10's of thousands of rounds of ammo from the CMP.
It quickly becomes an addiction.

 

[polishshooter]

I guess one of the good things about mail order is what you get is what you get. Picking one from a bunch of them might be tougher than I thought it would be at first.

I really want one with a WRA receiver but I know I won’t find one in Service Grade, prefer SA, but was told I’d be better off with an H&R since they were built on newer machines...I was also told by a competition shooter the gauges they give you to check erosion are worn themselves so you can’t trust them...

So do I look for the best barrel regardless of the condition of the rest of the rifle and if it even was replaced? Or the best looking matching one (I know, not by numbers, but by manufacture) knowing I can always rebarrel II?

They supposedly have “Rack” grade ones with “only the receiver refinished,” with “some pitting above the wood” but with new Criterion barrels for $100 less than Service Grade...

I think I might need more than 1 hour🤔

Feel free to give me any advice on what I’m looking for...I owned a Service Grade DCM Garand 30 years ago and shot DCM matches about a half dozen times (I hit “Marksman,”) ( I know, one step above “Not Qualified”😎) And I know a lot of the history and technical stuff...BUT...

Any and all advice gratefully requested!!

 

[gdmoody]

One of the CMP Garands that I bought, in 2006, was something they called a "Woodless Dane", so called because it was just the metal and no wood. I bought a stock from Boyd's. If I remember right, it had some sort of Danish markings on the sight which was the only way you knew that it was returned to the US from Denmark. I have the receipt showing that I paid $295 for it at the South Store, and at the same time I bought a case of Greek ammo for $100.

I still have the receipts for the P-17 ($350 paid) and the 1903 Springfield Mark 1 ($400 paid). I sure wish the prices were the same now days and they still had some of them!!!!

 

[polishshooter]

CMP says they have bandoliers of M2 ball for $69.99 each...wow. I guess like anything else we can only sadly reminisce about the prices we used to pay...

...or during the old days when we were “advised” by the old timers to “always leave your windows down” if you showed up for a range work session...

Many times when you got in to go home you found that the “ammo fairy” had visited your floorboard or front seat and left a bando while you were working on the range😎

 

[polishshooter]

Just made my hotel reservations, good thing I had points for a free room. My wife and I are driving up Friday night, my appointment is 11:30 Saturday.

Anybody been to the North Store recently? I’m wondering how many Service Grades I’ll be able to choose from?

 

[CCHolderinMaine]

Just made my hotel reservations, good thing I had points for a free room. My wife and I are driving up Friday night, my appointment is 11:30 Saturday.

Anybody been to the North Store recently? I’m wondering how many Service Grades I’ll be able to choose from?

It's different every day

 

[CCHolderinMaine]

I guess one of the good things about mail order is what you get is what you get. Picking one from a bunch of them might be tougher than I thought it would be at first.

I really want one with a WRA receiver but I know I won’t find one in Service Grade, prefer SA, but was told I’d be better off with an H&R since they were built on newer machines...I was also told by a competition shooter the gauges they give you to check erosion are worn themselves so you can’t trust them...

So do I look for the best barrel regardless of the condition of the rest of the rifle and if it even was replaced? Or the best looking matching one (I know, not by numbers, but by manufacture) knowing I can always rebarrel II?

They supposedly have “Rack” grade ones with “only the receiver refinished,” with “some pitting above the wood” but with new Criterion barrels for $100 less than Service Grade...

I think I might need more than 1 hour🤔

Feel free to give me any advice on what I’m looking for...I owned a Service Grade DCM Garand 30 years ago and shot DCM matches about a half dozen times (I hit “Marksman,”) ( I know, one step above “Not Qualified”😎) And I know a lot of the history and technical stuff...BUT...

Any and all advice gratefully requested!!

I'd grab a service over a refinished racker any day...unless the rack had something special going for it.
You may have a better chance at a GI stock on a racker, but it's going to be ugly. Ugly with a desirable cartouch though is a win. So many service have CMP stocks now. Good thing about a store visit is you get to pick from stuff that doesn't go out mailorder because it's in between grades.

 

[polishshooter]

Does “in between grades” mean they will have other price points? It seems mail order all they have available basically are “Service Grade” SA or H&R at $750 and the rebuilt Rack Grades with different manufacturer refinished receivers, a new criterion barrel, the rest of the rifle unfinished for $650...

 

[polishshooter]

Everything in order, just praying Doofus Dewine doesn’t shut down Ohio before Saturday!😎