CMP Garand Questions

[alamo]

I'm a Garand & rifle newbie. My SG Springfield arrived yesterday - just 10 days after sending the order regular mail. Checked some of the websites referenced here - it was made in Nov 1944.

Seems to be in decent condition to an untrained eye. No cosmoline on it. There is a 3/4 inch "89" painted in yellow paint on top of the stock? (I think it's called the rear handguard) - just forward of the receiver. Not sure what that is all about. Any ideas?

Looks like someone put some brown shipping tape (the kind you moisten) on one side of the stock and pulled it off years later, bits of it still there.

Ammo - I did some searching here awhile back. Believe someone said American Eagle is a good choice for non-milsurp ammo, a local shop has some. Is this OK? Not in the market now for spending $230 for CMP mil-surp stuff, don't have time to shoot a lot right now.

Gunsmith Inspection - the manual recommends it. Necessary?

Other than reading the manual thoroughly, clean & lube, any suggestions for someone unfamiliar with these rifles?

Thanks!

 

[OEF_VET]

The yellow 89 on the stock was most likely put there to help identify which rifle belonged to which soldier, without having to look at the serial number. Imagine, if you will, a bunch of M-1's in a rifle rack, or set up in stack-arms. When the soldiers needed to get their rifles, they just grabbed number 89, rather than look for serial number 4,999,999 or whatever.

American Eagle is good ammo. You can also find Olympic (made in Greece) fairly inexpensively. I believe it cost me ~90 for 400 rounds. It's non-corrossive, but also non-reloadable. When you buy en bloc clips, look around first. You can pay anywhere from $0.50 to $2 a piece. Sportsmans Guide sells 10 for $4.97. They're also where I got my Olympic .30-06.

HTH,

Frank (who just got his first CMP Garand about two weeks ago)

 

[alamo]

Thanks for the clip suggestion. Heard I'll need a bunch of spares.

 

[Mac Attack]

Congrats on your CMP M1 Garand. I will be placing my first order for a Springfield Service Grade Garand this Monday. I can't wait to get it! How about some pics?

Mac