CMP Pricing on M1 Carbine

[Master Blaster]

Well I looked at the revised M1 page, and i have to say I lost interest in an M1 carbine, since the price is going to be $517 with shipping for a partially rebuilt much Used M1 carbine with no guarrantee and many non GI replacement parts, no magazines, and essentailly no warrantee. It seems I can get a new commercial one Auto Ordinance for the same price if I want a shooter and it comes with magazines and a warranty.

A couple of Months ago I had the opportunity to buy a LNIB Iver johnson with many USGI parts and 5 magazines for $260 OTD, and passed it up because of the opportunity to get a USGI one from CMP at a reasonable price. Now I regret my decision.

Perhaps I am wrong though What do the folks here on THR think about the price??

 

[pipboy]

agreed way to high for the quality

 

[iamkris]

Yes you can get a Auto Ord newly manufactured clone for a bit more money.

If you want a USGI, that seems to me to be about market price. There are those that value the USGI been-there-done-that type of carbine. If so, the market price seems to be in the $450-600 range in the "service grade" type of condition. Minty carbines go for as much or more than $1K.

I keep hearing the blowhards behind the counter of the local Bass Pro saying they can "buy 95% condition M1 Carbines all day long at $350-400 at gun shows". Apparently, they don't attend gun shows in the same state...or maybe the same century...that I do. I even offered one of the particularly annoying guys that I would give him $2000 if he would bring me back 5 very nice quality USGI, 90%+ carbines...I even said he could keep the change that he made. He didn't take me up on the offer.

I also find it funny that a lot of people quote that "it doesn't have a magazine...at that price I won't buy it without a magazine". Spend the $10 and get one at almost any gunshop, online shop, gun show out there.

 

[DMK]

I find it interesting how nobody complained about the Garands that were selling for that much. My $500 Service Grade CMP M1 that had ugly, mismatched, beat up wood and couldn't hold 6" at 100 yards before I sent it off to get rebuilt. The carbines at least look better and hopefully will shoot better.

As far as mags and sling. I picked up a box of carbine mags for about $7 each and a sling/oiler for less than $10. Not a huge bargaining point IMO.

 

[TexasRifleman]

3 years from now when you can't get any at all, it will sound like quite a bargain.

 

[HorseSoldier]

I personally think it's a pretty fair price. "Service grade" carbines should be in nicer overall condition than my two Field Grade Garands, and if so, they'll be quite a bit nicer than the $600 beaters I see at gun shows these days. The two I saw firsthand at the South Store last time I was there seemed to be in very good condition.

 

[Trebor]

The price is about $50 more then I hoped and $50 less then I feared.

$500 plus shipping is a fair price for a USGI gun these days. Any non-US parts will be Italian made, not commercial, and the Italian parts were made to U.S. specs and are every bit as good as USGI.

As far as "no warranty," the CMP has always stood by their products. If there is a problem, they'll work with you to fix it. You'll get better support from them then from your local gunshop. Does your local shop have a bunch of GI carbine bolts if you need a replacement bolt? Or extractors if the extractor is bad? Will they help you trouble-shoot the problem if you have one?

Based on the service experience the CMP has provided with the Garands, I say buy a CMP carbine with confidence.

Guys, M-1 Carbines aren't $250 or even $350 guns anymore. The rising collector interest in USGI WWII weapons has driven prices up and there's no sign that will stop anytime soon. The CMP "Inland" carbine prices will set a more-or-less stable market price for CMP carbines for as long as these last. Once the CMP is out of the $500 carbines, expect these to go for 30% more on the secondary market when people realize they missed out and look for a CMP gun.

 

[M2 Carbine]

$500 is about what I expected.
I would rather see $400 but I'll buy one at $500.

With luck it might even have a M2 slide and trigger housing.

 

[MechAg94]

The price is about $50 more then I hoped and $50 less then I feared.

This is pretty much how I felt. I was hoping it would stay under $500, but it only barely did.

I would much rather get a gun from the CMP rather than a new one. I really don't know if those copies are as good or as well made as the original. Yeah, I wish they are cheaper, but they aren't, and I really don't see the value in spending more money for a copy. If you want a nice pretty manicured wall-hanger, then get a copy if that is what you want. CMP does sell carbine stocks also.

 

[cuervo]

Around here, $500 is the typical price for a carbine that isn't anything special like an I-P or all correct parts or non-import. In this case, I wouldn't worry much about Italian replacement parts being non-GI. Italy, like with the M1 and Dane M1s, chose to make its own replacement parts instead of purchase them from the US. It's not like a Universal where the parts may or may not be interchangeable or not up to mil-spec standards.

A few years ago I passed on a Rockola for $375 that had some chromed parts and have been kicking myself ever since. Until .gov allows carbines back into the country, prices will keep climbing, just like with M1s.

 

[peyton]

Hello all
I recently purchased a M-1 carbine GM built in 1943 for 700.00 with about 200 rounds plus 10 magazines. My dad surprised me, I showed it to him and he dissasembled it in seconds. I stood in astonishement!!!! Then he said, "What do you think mechanics were issued in 1963???" We are looking forward to shooting a bunch this weekend!!!

 

[DMK]

Cool. I'll bet your dad will enjoy shooting the carbine again Peyton.

 

[alamo]

I keep hearing the blowhards behind the counter of the local Bass Pro saying they can "buy 95% condition M1 Carbines all day long at $350-400 at gun shows". Apparently, they don't attend gun shows in the same state...or maybe the same century...that I do. I even offered one of the particularly annoying guys that I would give him $2000 if he would bring me back 5 very nice quality USGI, 90%+ carbines...I even said he could keep the change that he made. He didn't take me up on the offer.

Some of those blowhards are on this forum and TFL. They claim they see M1 carbines all the time at gunshows or their local gun shop than are in much better condition than a CMP service grade "mixmaster" for less than $500.

$500 for a service grade condition seems like a fair price, not a bargain, but better than you can get at a lot of places.

 

[JNewell]

Some of those blowhards are on this forum and TFL. They claim they see M1 carbines all the time at gunshows or their local gun shop than are in much better condition than a CMP service grade "mixmaster" for less than $500.

I personally have seen those guns at gun shows in my state. The last time I did was five or six years ago, though...

 

[MechAg94]

I saw them 5 or 6 or 10 years ago also. I just don't see them now.

 

[st_albert]

Yeah, I agree. It's a ripoff. Why, I remember my Dad purchasing one thru the NRA for $30.00, which he eventually sold for a 100% profit. If I were you, I wouldn't bother. After all, .30 carbine bullets just bounce off anyway!

What's that? You already have one! Dang, that's tough. I'll help you out...

Send it to me!

Albert

 

[Eightball]

*sigh* Here we go again.

"I remember, back when I could get M1 Carbines out of a barrel for $60 apiece at a gun show."

Anyone remember the laws of supply and demand? Anyone? Anyone?

They were cheap because no one wanted them. Now, everyone does, so they'll charge more. Welcome to the wonders of a free-market economy.

Around my home, the ones at gunshows are about $550, the AO ones are about $750 (only one place gets them in, they charge what they can). Up here in college, I'm 2 hours from the store, and will jump at the oppertunity to get one minus S&H. YMMV, but I'm still buying one.

 

[Hoppy590]

Anyone remember the laws of supply and demand? Anyone? Anyone?

did you like, just finish an economics class or something. the last 2 posts iv seen from you tote this.

 

[Eightball]

did you like, just finish an economics class or something. the last 2 posts iv seen from you tote this.

It's a recurring theme I enjoy pointing out . Helps to explain why the "good ol' days" of pricing are dead and gone.

And yes, I did. How'd you guess?

 

[Ratzinger_p38]

I need to pick up an M1 Carbine for my 'ww2' collection - you guys think that price will last? I probably wont be able to pick mine up till next year.

And does CMP still have all the USMC 1941-44 dated Springfields they used to? I remember at one point they had alot of trainers that were never issued, but that was several years ago.

 

[swingset]

What many of you seem to lose perspective about, when talking about the CMP's pricing, is that it's outrageous to ask at or above market for what they're peddling. Not because the guns aren't worth it, but because they aren't supposed to be selling at gun-show prices.

The very REASON for the CMP rifle sales is what? To be a gun store? No, it was to sell surplus US weapons very cheaply so that ANYONE could afford to buy one, and learn what? Marksmanship. It was a service, for you and me to get a gun to learn rifle craft.

It wasn't meant to serve as a depot for collectors, or to fund your M1 Carbine collection.

The CMP is so very far from its origins as to be criminal.

That's what really rubs me wrong. It's nothing but an importer, a "jump through a hoop" Interordnance or Century. The only thing that differentiates the CMP from other private importers is that they have the market cornered on US arms, and they know it.

I won't buy any more from them, just on principle. And, despite what many say, if you're crafty you can still get a good carbine for $500. I picked up a very nice Saginaw (Korean-era) for $475 a few months ago. Not a mixed-up beater, either.

 

[jeff-10]

When and how did $500 become a high price for a firearm? $500 for a M1 Carbine seems like a very fair price to me.

 

[Hoppy590]

When and how did $500 become a high price for a firearm? $500 for a M1 Carbine seems like a very fair price to me.

500$ is a high price, because your parents or grand parents already paid for the gun.

these arnt new production. these were made for a war. we won the war. they were lent to out allies. they are no longer needed. so they return to the US. they are US property and as such. property of all taxpaying citizens. thier cost in Metal, wood, and labor has long since been payed for. they are basicly scrap now. and should be priced as such. the government stands to take no loss on items that have been paid for, circulated and now offered to the general public who initialy paid for them

 

[swingset]

When and how did $500 become a high price for a firearm? $500 for a M1 Carbine seems like a very fair price to me.

It's not a high price, unless you juxtapose it against a firearm made for combat like the SKS, which was made in fewer numbers. Even a pristine SKS when surplused out cost $100-$150 retail, I remember Chicoms cost $75 just a few years ago.

The M1's are not only more common, but were paid for once by our taxes, once by the government to suppliers, and a third time by the CMP who paid a pittance for them to be reimported....literally pennies on the pound.

So, the profit margin is to put it mildly, tiny compared to the SKS which costs 1/4 of what an M1 Carbine does.

The only difference is demand, but that doesn't change the fact that the CMP is gouging because they can. But should they, given their mission??

 

[Trebor]

The very REASON for the CMP rifle sales is what? To be a gun store? No, it was to sell surplus US weapons very cheaply so that ANYONE could afford to buy one, and learn what? Marksmanship.

If you honestly believe that, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the mission of the CMP and how it differs from the old DCM program it replaced.

The old DCM program was designed promote marksmanship. One way it did that was by selling surplus rifles from government stores. The guns were practically given away because the program was subsized by the government. That is no longer the case and hasn't been the case for about 10 years now.

Guys, the CMP is *not* a government organization and it is *not* government funded anymore. The old DCM program was privatized and turned into the *new CMP* in 1996. The only government support the CMP receives now is that they are given title to the various rifles that are deemed "surplus to requirements" and would otherwise be destroyed.

The new CMP's mission is to "promote marksmansnip" with an emphasis on "youth marksmanship." It's primary source of income is through the rifle sales program. If the CMP gave away the rifles at the same relative prices as the old DCM program, it would quickly go out of business as it wouldn't be able to even cover it's costs.

The CMP can't afford to give away these guns. Not and keep the doors open.

Heck, you could make an argument that pricing these rifles at near market value actually makes it more likely that they will get in the hands of someone who will shoot them instead of someone who will just resell them for a quick buck. If they were priced at say $300 each, which is well below current market value for a Carbine, how mahy would be bought up only to be resold at inflated prices?

Guys, the CMP is a program that promotes marksmanship and saves actual USGI rifles that would otherwise be destroyed and gets them in the hands of shooters. Heck, they even send them right to your door! I can't believe all the bitchin' I'm seeing about the pricing! Would you rather there was no CMP and these rifles were destroyed?