M1 Garand serial number and price questions

[marktx]

Local dealer has a few M1 Garands on the shelf and I have been thinking about buying one. Most of them are in the 3 million range for serial number but one (and one of the better looking in my estimation) has a 1,42x,xxx serial number which from what I can figure was made in 1943. Asking price is ~950 for all of them, condition is good to very good in my estimation. I have also looked at the Civilian Marksmanship Program sells Garands for what seems to be a really good price. I don't know anything about purchasing from them though and am looking for pretty much any advice. Thanks

 

[kamagong]

Don't worry about ordering from the CMP. It's the best and cheapest way to get a Garand...if you can wait. I have a service grade on order with them. The process itself can be a bit annoying, but it's not all that troublesome. Well worth it considering that getting an M1 from the CMP saves you hundreds of dollars compared to getting it from a show or gun store.

 

[MutinousDoug]

Assuming these are all SA guns, there is no premium in any 3M WWII serno. I don't remember the serno range of the Winchester Garands but if the 1.4M gun is one of those, they have some collector value (having NOTHING to do with their use as a shooter). If you could take them apart and catalog the parts, one or another gun may stand out. WWII guns are going to be mostly mixmasters whether from the CMP or elsewhere. You need a friend who is familiar with them to determine individual value and shootability. I agree with kamagong above, so my 2 garands came from the CMP/DCM. Both needed smithing before they were satisfying to bring to the range, but either will shoot 2 MOA now.
I waited 15 months for my DCM Garand in 1995; the wait is not nearly that long now.

 

[lonegunman]

$950 seems kind of steep unless it is a very solid mostly original gun. Over the years nearly all Garands have been "arsenaled" and had parts replaced. It would take a little work to see how complete they are now.

If you have an idea of the date of the reciever, check the date on the barrel, if it matchs it may have the original barrel. The "dash" code on the parts indicates the revison and that tells you how close to correct they are. In the end, you would have to nearly field strip the gun and most dealers are not wild about that.

Winchesters go for a premium because they are Winchesters. If he had one with a correct Winchester bolt, trigger group and above all a barrel it would be well worth grabbing for that price. A SA Garand would be close and up to you. If by some chance they have the cartouche on the left side of the stock below the reciever heal that adds value as well. A well stamped correct stock can be worth a few hundred dollars all by itself, considerably more for Winchester or early SA stamps.

Try Jouster.com in the Garand forum.

 

[Nugilum]

Go the CMP route!

I just got my Garand from the CMP and it was easier than I thought it would be. Let me point you to the tread I started and see if this answers any questions you might have. It worked for me and might work well for you too.

If you still have questions, please ask us.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=330673

Good luck on finding one!

 

[Mojo-jo-jo]

A 1M serial number range Garand has probably been rebuilt several times by now, and is unlikely to be in "correct" configuration. Unless you can disassemble the rifle and verify the drawing numbers on all of the parts to certify that it is in "correct" configuration, I would not pay a premium for it. $950 is high, unless it is WWII production and has all matching parts. However, a WWII rifle with all matching parts is likely to be a poor shooter (very worn barrel by now).

You won't regret a service grade from the CMP. I recently purchased Springfield service grade from the CMP--it's a 1950's production in great shape for $595 + shipping.

The $595 CMP rifle is what you would expect to see in a store for about $750-$950. They don't send out beater rifles in service grade. It will show use, but not be a beater. A really worthwhile collector Garand will probably cost more than $950 anyway.

The CMP purchase qualifications look tough on paper, but it's really no problem to qualify. If you have a concealed weapons permit for your state, then you are already halfway there on qualifications (the marksmanship participation requirement). If you don't have a carry permit and don't want to shoot a match, get a Curio and Relic FFL ($30).

For the club membership requirement join the Revolutionary War Veterans Association for $20 or the Garand Collectors Association for $25.

If you are active or retired military your military documents qualify you on both requirements.

Get the order form notarized at your bank (usually free) and send it in. Your rifle will arrive at your door via Fedex in 60-90 days.

Additionally, if you live anywhere near Port Clinton, Ohio or Anniston, Alabama, you can go to the CMP store and pick out your rifle yourself.

 

[dmftoy1]

FWIW - I was shooting next to a guy on Saturday who had a bone stock CMP Service Grade and he was shooting really nice groups. I don't know what your intended purpose is, but if it's shooting then I'd pick up a CMP SG and invest the money you saved in Greek HXP ammo from CMP at about .25 per round and have a good time. It's probably the cheapest centerfire shooting you're going to find short of rolling your own with cast bullets.

 

[P-32]

You have been given good advice on going the CMP route. For $950.00 you can get a SA correct grade. From what I have read the correct grades will have a barrel in the same date range as the reciever along with same manf. parts. The barrels should have about the same wear as a service grade. I think the service grades are great deals myself. I have a service grade SA and a field grade SA. I picked out the Dannish return field grade at the north store and did not know what I had until I got it home. I knew it had a VAR barrel (the VAR's shoot like a match barrel) and a lock bar rear sight. What I didn't know is it also had a un-cut op rod. Un-cut op rods are getting hard to find because when the rifles went through US rework, the cut was made so the op rod would not break when firing rifle grenades. Subsequent op rods came with the cut. The stock needs to be replaced someday but never buy a M-1 based on the wood.

I have not wrug the field grade out yet it see how well it shoots. A clip full of L/C 69 looked like it wanted to group at a 100 yards from prone but this is as far as I got before the snow arrived.

The service grade M-1 has won money and I have won local John C. Garand matches with it. This summer at Camp Perry I was almost in the upper 10% of 1300+ competitors for the National John C. Garand match and ended up being 2 points out of a silver medal. I let sitting get away from me.

I don't like having a M-1 sit around doing nothing. I don't have M-1 safe queens. These old rifles are fun to shoot and I shoot as many JCG matches as I can.

 

[Dirtypacman]

Another vote to go with the CMP - I got a very fine Garand for less then 1/2 of what the OP posted as cost from another source.

 

[strat81]

+1 to the CMP. Here's my Service Grade:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=300131

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

+1 on the CMP the parts haven't been picked over by any preowners. It will be in your best interest to go with the CMP.