I am putting together a collection of each of the main battle rifles used by the major powers during World War II. I have been putting off acquiring a Garand mostly because of how expensive they are… I have seen them sell for as cheap as $900 and as expensive as $1800 in my area. :o(

In order to get my Garand, I just finished getting my paperwork in order for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. For those of you who do not know, the CMP is a U.S. government program that promotes firearms safety training and rifle practice. The main draw of the CMP is that members can purchase surplus rifles at very reasonable prices!

The CMP sells mostly M1 Garands, but they also occasionally offer M1903 Springfields, M1917 Enfields, M1 Carbines, U.S. Krag-Jørgensen rifles, and various .22 rifles… They also sell surplus ammo as well as accessories to the rifles I mentioned above.

Once you are qualified for the CMP, they offer you the option of mail-ordering a rifle. This can be convenient, but you are at the mercy of the person who picks your rifle off the rack for your order…

Instead of mail-ordering my rifle, I have decided to take the 8hr trip from New York to the CMP’s "North Store" in Ohio. The benefit of doing this is that I can literally choose between hundreds of rifles for a Garand that meets my specifications.

I will be looking for Garand that is a perfect shooter. I want it to be in overall good shape with wood that looks like it has seen field use. I also want a rifle that has a WWII vintage receiver. I will not mind at all if my rifle has been rearsenaled post WWII for use in Korea and beyond (For example, it had it’s worn out WWII vintage barrel taken off in favor a new barrel for use in the Korean War, etc.).

Do any of you fine fellows have any experience with the CMP? I’d love to hear your stories and tips/ tricks for picking out a rifle!

When I do finally make my trip to the CMP, I will be sure to post pictures here of my trip and of my rifle!