[trvlr905]

Oh, happy days. I just submitted my order for a service grade Danish Springfield M1. :D After years of drooling and dreaming, I finally ponied up the courage to send off the application to the CMP. Woo hoo! Pics to come when I get it. BTW, what should my next course of action be besides visiting Culver's shooting page?

[Steve in PA]

Get lots and lots and lots of ammo.

Learn how to disassemble the M1, what to look for, how to lube it and wait for the BWT.

I had sent in my paperwork for a USGI SA/SG and they got it on 2/6 and on 2/11 I missed the BWT.......but didn't miss it on 2/12!!

[45Badger]

Ok, what's a BWT?

[Steve in PA]

BWT = big white truck........also known as Fed Ex...the people who will be delivering your CMP rifle!!!!!!!!

[hps1]

Steve:
"I had sent in my paperwork for a USGI SA/SG and they got it on 2/6 and on 2/11 I missed the BWT.......but didn't miss it on 2/12!!"

I'm impressed! Sure an improvement over the 9-12 months it took back in the 80's to receive your rifle.

Trvlr:
In addition to the previous suggestion of lots of ammo, you might pick up a few spare parts while they are still available. The M1 is an extremely durable rifle, but in maintaining our club's DCM rifles over the years (thousands of rounds through 8 rifles), found that the following parts are the ones that wear out or break with heavy use: Extractor, firing pin, follower arm, op-rod spring, ejector/ejector spring, follower arm pin. Enjoy!

Regards,
hps

[Gewehr98]

1. lots of 8-round clips.
2. at least one SLED (Single Load Enhancement Device)
3. 2 and 5-round clip for John C. Garand matches or hunting.
4. Bronze muzzle guide for your cleaning rod, to prevent muzzle erosion.
5. Good M1907 leather or O.D. Green cotton web sling.
6. Issue buttstock cleaning kit, with grease pot.
7. Combo gas plug/cleaning tool.
8. Progressive reloader and all the supplies needed to crank out M2-equivalent ammo. Not a lot of commercial .30-06 is assembled for the fairly narrow range of gas port pressures that the M1 Garand needs to safely function.

That's a good start. Here's more stuff for your M1:

http://www.m1garandrifle.com/Garandparts.htm

But be darned careful, just because you have one M1 Garand doesn't mean another one won't follow you home. ;)

http://mauser98.com/stack10.jpg

[Carla]

Hey Gewehr98

A Springfield and 2 Garands. Niiiccce. I got my SA SG Garand from the CMP last week and its a real honey. Haven't got to fire it yet (been raining & now gotta work) but it has about 80% plus metal finish and pretty good wood with cartouches. I also got a 1903 Springfield the prior week from CMP. That fella is real nice too (I actually got to fire it on the range and its flat accurate though it shoots 14 inches high.

Trvlr905, look at Fulton Armory's web site

http://www.fulton-armory.com

They have a FAQ section that gives all kinds of Garand info. You might also consider buying Scott Duff's Garand books.

Best

Carla

[Art Eatman]

A buddy of mine was out here, yesterday, bringing his Danish Garand. He'd gotten it all cleaned up pretty. Shoots real good.

Per his comments, I suggest reading the Cosmoline thread that's been running here...:)

Art