Giving a M1 Garand as a Christmas gift for dad - best way?

[wacki]

I've finally found myself at a nice cushy job and it wouldn't of been possible without all of the (sometimes drill sergeant like) support I received from my father. Since he's a WWII buff I want to show my appreciation by buying him a service grade M1 Garard. He's always wanted one anyway. The problem is that I don't know a lot about garands. Any advice here?

I have relatives 3 hours away from the cmp north store in Ohio. He would have a 4 hour drive. If I buy the rifle he may be up for the drive to Ohio to inspect and hand pick a gift. My question is, is it worth the drive? The CMP taies 45-90 days from order to delivery so I won't be able to get him his present before then anyway.

 

[mgkdrgn]

Wacki,

You likely won't get one shipped to you in time for xmas, so if you want to have one in your hands for xmas from CMP yer gonna have to go there.

First though, make sure you are -eligible- to purchase from CMP. Hate to see you waste the drive if you decide to go that route.

If you are eligible, and have time to make the drive, by all means go and hand pick your gift. If not, then do the mail order thing. For xmas, mabye get a couple of "care and feeding" manuals for an M1 (you should be able to get them by xmas I would think) and wrap them with an IOU from Santa for the M1.