M1 Garand Question

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Zip7

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I'm almost embarrassed to ask this, but about three years ago my Father died, and I inherited his guns. I've always been interested in guns too (though I'll admit to not knowing squat about military weapons), and so my dad and I talked all the time about them and went shooting together up until he died. So I know all the history of all his guns, with the exception of one or two that he picked up in his later years, that he showed me but I can't remember the details about...

One of these is an M1 Garand that is in good shape looks like it was packed all over Europe in WWII. I know he bought the gun through some sort of special deal offered to either veterans or NRA members, but I can't remember which.

Does anyone know what the special buy was or remember the details? This would have been in the 1990s if I'm not mistaken or possibly the early 2000's. I want to say it was a special pricing thing or something...

Anybody?
 
It's hard to say Zip7... There's a possibility that the rifle is from the CMP, or the DCM if it was prior to 1996. Also, in the past competitors at the national matches had the option of buying rifles that they were issued. However, that's not very recent. I'm not sure if the NRA offered any special M1 purchases, but they have done it before with 1903 rifles.

CMP/DCM rifles will have accompanying paperwork. You can also email them and for a small fee they will research the history of your rifle.

http://www.odcmp.com
 
Up until the program was changed by an act of Congress in the 1990's, the US government sold military surplus firearms and ammunition to civilians through the National Rifle Association.

This was known as The Director of Civilian Marksmanship Program.
It was administered by the US Army, with an Army officer assigned to head it, but with a civilian employee staff actually doing the work.

After completing the paperwork, NRA members could apply to buy an available firearm, and the firearms were shipped on a first come, first served basis, while supplies lasted.
Condition of the firearms was to be in "Serviceable condition", which meant the firearm was in safe, usable condition, but no guarantee as to whether it was in excellent or well used shape.
Condition was in "as-is" condition, with no returns unless it was defective.

NRA members were allowed to buy so many of each type of available firearms per year.
As example, you could buy one M1 Carbine per year while they were available for $20.00.
This was $17.50 for the Carbine and $2.50 for UPS shipping.
The rifles were shipped directly to the buyer.

During the DCM years, an NRA member was allowed to buy just ONE M1 Rifle per lifetime. Prices started off in the 1960's at around $95.00 and was at $165.00 near the end of the DCM program.
Over the years, the DCM sold almost every military firearm in the system.
This included:
The US Trapdoor Springfield.
The Krag.
The Mosin Nagant rifles built for Imperial Russian, but not allowed to be shipped after the Reds took over.
The 1903 and 1903-A3 Springfield.
The M1 Rifle.
The M1 Carbine.
The Colt and S&W Model 1917 revolvers.
The Model 1911 and 1911-A1 pistol, and other firearms.

In the 1990's, after Bill Clinton started having valuable military surplus weapons destroyed, the US Congress discontinued the DCM, and set up a new, US Government chartered company called the Civilian Marksmanship Program, or CMP.
The current CMP sells whatever US military arms and ammunition is available, and still sell the M1 Rifle, although usually not in as good of condition as the old DCM rifles were.

If you contact the CMP, they can tell you if your M1 Rifle was sold through the DCM and when:

http://www.odcmp.com/
 
Thanks guys - by the details dfariswheel provided, I'm sure this one came from the DCM prior to 1996. I think I remember my dad saying something about one per lifetime, and I'm fairly sure it was through the NRA because he was a very active NRA member.
 
To add a bit:

Currently, CMP is selling 'Service grade' M1 Garands for $595, plus about $23 shipping...

'Correct grade' rifles are generally about $995 +, with 'Collector grade' rifles running higher yet...

Since you have to meet a few requirements (check out their website for details) and they do the background check on you, they can ship the rifle directly to you...

Any CMP rifle, and DCM rifles before them, comes with paperwork 'proving' your ownership of the rifle, so your Dad's paperwork should be squirreled away somewhere...

Enjoy the Garand. They're great rifles...

Forrest

Again,

http://odcmp.com
 
so your Dad's paperwork should be squirreled away somewhere...
Click to expand...

If I know anything about my Dad and guns, it's...

He paid less than it's actually worth.... and

the paperwork is squirreled away somewhere.
 
Originally posted by Zip7

If I know anything about my Dad and guns, it's...

He paid less than it's actually worth.... and

the paperwork is squirreled away somewhere.
Click to expand...

Your Dad sounds like he was a man after my own heart...

I'm sorry that he's not around anymore for you to enjoy shooting 'his' M1 Garand with...

Forrest
 
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