CLP
member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,397
A few months ago I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a CMP Special and Service grade. I already had one shooter and wanted another and the Special was intended to just stick in the safe. The CMP special arrive a little over a month later and was delivered to my office. I was pleased they accommodated me by delivering it to my office since I'm never at home during the daytime.
It was as advertised- essentially a "new" Garand with new stock (Boyd's?) and Criterion barrel. But no service rifle was delivered. I thought maybe I filled the order sheet incorrectly. Or perhaps they ran out (it was at this time the CMP listed all Service grades as 'sold out').
Incidentally, I took the money that was going to be spent on the Service grade and bought another GP100- the one with the walnut stocks and unfluted cylinder- I love it. Anyway, after another 6 weeks, I get a call that my credit card info needed to be updated (I used a Costco Amex that became invalid after they switched to Visa). I gave them the new CC info and received a tracking number the next day.
Then the oddest thing happened. I noticed the delivery address was a house I last lived at four years ago. I still have absolutely no idea how they obtained that address and why they delivered my Special to my office and the Service grade to my old address. It wasn't listed on the application. It wasn't listed on my CCW or Driver's license. It wasn't on any of the paperwork, and this was my first order from the CMP, so they couldn't have had it on file. I called FedEx to change the address and they wanted me to pay an additional fee for doing so or that it needed to go back to the CMP. I told them to just hold it at the distribution center and I went and picked it up after work and the pick up went smoothly.
I've read numerous descriptions of Service grades by other customers on many different threads. Often the caliber of quality was described as Special grade/excellent. This rifle, which I'm totally pleased with, is definitely Service grade quality, best described as in "good" condition. There's some minor wear on the parkerizing but no pitting, even under the receiver where it abuts the stock or on the pull tab of the op rod. Wood is walnut and matches in color and has no cracks or gouges anywhere. It has some minor dings and scratches. Unfortunately, the only visible cartouche is the P under the grip. Definitely a shooter with plenty of miles left on it and worth every penny.
So, during this time, my Dad was lucky enough to have attended one of the CMP classes where they build their own Garand. He told me the instructor had a bit of a difficult time finding enough good quality receivers for all the students. The rifles they built looked fantastic- even better quality than the CMP Special I received. I noticed my Dad's had the old style rear sight. He was telling me they had tons of parts that were still in original packaging. I thought that was pretty cool to be opening 50yr old components from their original sealed packaging. They assembled them with Criterion barrels and new wood (again, I'm only guessing they are Boyd's stocks).
The most interesting part of what my Dad was telling me was that during the tour of the facilities they observed- and let me preface this by saying my father doesn't ever embellish or exaggerate- tens of thousands of Garands still in crates. The CMP employee giving the tour stated that those rifles still belonged to various military units or gov't agencies but had not yet been officially turned over to the CMP. He also reported they had a large pile of Krags and the CMP guy said they might auction them if they get around to inspecting them or even offering a one time sale of them if they had enough to offer (like they did with the 1913s a couple of years ago).
Anyway, I got lucky with my Service Grade. I suspect they'll have additional rifles at some point in the future but that even if they do their supplies would be limited and likely sell out quickly. Or maybe they'll just resort to solely auctioning them if that's allowed. Sorry for the 2nd hand info but it's from my Dad and he's the single-most trustworthy man I know, so I take his word as Gospel. And I'll throw up some pics of my Special and Service grade later.
It was as advertised- essentially a "new" Garand with new stock (Boyd's?) and Criterion barrel. But no service rifle was delivered. I thought maybe I filled the order sheet incorrectly. Or perhaps they ran out (it was at this time the CMP listed all Service grades as 'sold out').
Incidentally, I took the money that was going to be spent on the Service grade and bought another GP100- the one with the walnut stocks and unfluted cylinder- I love it. Anyway, after another 6 weeks, I get a call that my credit card info needed to be updated (I used a Costco Amex that became invalid after they switched to Visa). I gave them the new CC info and received a tracking number the next day.
Then the oddest thing happened. I noticed the delivery address was a house I last lived at four years ago. I still have absolutely no idea how they obtained that address and why they delivered my Special to my office and the Service grade to my old address. It wasn't listed on the application. It wasn't listed on my CCW or Driver's license. It wasn't on any of the paperwork, and this was my first order from the CMP, so they couldn't have had it on file. I called FedEx to change the address and they wanted me to pay an additional fee for doing so or that it needed to go back to the CMP. I told them to just hold it at the distribution center and I went and picked it up after work and the pick up went smoothly.
I've read numerous descriptions of Service grades by other customers on many different threads. Often the caliber of quality was described as Special grade/excellent. This rifle, which I'm totally pleased with, is definitely Service grade quality, best described as in "good" condition. There's some minor wear on the parkerizing but no pitting, even under the receiver where it abuts the stock or on the pull tab of the op rod. Wood is walnut and matches in color and has no cracks or gouges anywhere. It has some minor dings and scratches. Unfortunately, the only visible cartouche is the P under the grip. Definitely a shooter with plenty of miles left on it and worth every penny.
So, during this time, my Dad was lucky enough to have attended one of the CMP classes where they build their own Garand. He told me the instructor had a bit of a difficult time finding enough good quality receivers for all the students. The rifles they built looked fantastic- even better quality than the CMP Special I received. I noticed my Dad's had the old style rear sight. He was telling me they had tons of parts that were still in original packaging. I thought that was pretty cool to be opening 50yr old components from their original sealed packaging. They assembled them with Criterion barrels and new wood (again, I'm only guessing they are Boyd's stocks).
The most interesting part of what my Dad was telling me was that during the tour of the facilities they observed- and let me preface this by saying my father doesn't ever embellish or exaggerate- tens of thousands of Garands still in crates. The CMP employee giving the tour stated that those rifles still belonged to various military units or gov't agencies but had not yet been officially turned over to the CMP. He also reported they had a large pile of Krags and the CMP guy said they might auction them if they get around to inspecting them or even offering a one time sale of them if they had enough to offer (like they did with the 1913s a couple of years ago).
Anyway, I got lucky with my Service Grade. I suspect they'll have additional rifles at some point in the future but that even if they do their supplies would be limited and likely sell out quickly. Or maybe they'll just resort to solely auctioning them if that's allowed. Sorry for the 2nd hand info but it's from my Dad and he's the single-most trustworthy man I know, so I take his word as Gospel. And I'll throw up some pics of my Special and Service grade later.
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RATS! First I've heard of that. Now I have to dispose of my 15 M1s. 
That ... is bizarre. It might be worth sending them an FYI, no-response-expected email about that so that they can determine what caused that ... in order to avoid any repeats.
