My M1 Garand from CMP finally arrived

[Perplexed]

I saw that CMP is coming back to the okc gun club in april....but there is no scheduled times for CMP sales on their itinerary on the CMP website. Anybody know for sure that they will or will not be selling their goodies at this event?

That's still a few months off; with the CMP's inventory being turned over in a big way to fill their backlog of orders, who knows what they'll have available in April. Most likely they WILL have firearms to sell, but maybe not as many or as varied as last year. It'd be a hoot if they brought some IHC's to the Games - for sure, elbows would be flying

 

[John6185]

I ordered two service grade today, if one waits, the price will increase because CMP is running out according to their website. I asked for WWII serial numbers so I'll see what I get. They are supposed to have International Harvester (IHC) sometime early this year and there will be a huge run on them.

 

[Perplexed]

The price increases on the M1's, if any, will not be due to the CMP running out of the rifles; at present, they still have "tens of thousands" of M1's to uncrate, clean, inspect, and grade before offering them for sale. The current lack of rifles in their Stores is because of the run of orders that were placed starting last summer/fall, and their supply of rifles ready to go was outpaced by the demand.

As for the WW2 rifle S/N request, at present people are reporting getting quite a few such rifles, but the story may change at the time your order comes up for fulfillment. It can't hurt to ask, though! I've got an order which should be filled in the next few weeks, and I'm hoping for a 1960s SA rebuild, though my sticky was for USGI wood. Any kind.

The release of the IHC's has been promised for over a year now; hopefully it won't be that long again before these rifles actually do come out. Even then, be prepared for a bunch of IHC/IHC postage stamp mixmasters, as the CMP will likely hold back the more rare iterations (gap letters, arrowheads, SA/IHC's, etc.) for auction. And yes, there will likely be a stampede of Store visitors and mail orders - unless the CMP prices the rifles at the current market value, which is out of reach of a lot of CMP customers, especially those just getting into the hobby. It can be hard to justify the $1000+ for a mixmaster IHC when a perfectly good SA M1 can be had for $625.

 

[John6185]

And the M1 Service Grade are really very nice! The innards on the one that I have are correct to the rifle and as I've said, it looks as good as the more expensive Service Special. And you're probably right on the IHC's, the best will be set aside for auction. I know they have thousands of rifles in crates waiting for grading and inspection but they are going to run out of them, they aren't making any more. If, IF Obama or his SOS would approve the Korean buy back we'd be standing in high cotton.

 

[Perplexed]

If, IF Obama or his SOS would approve the Korean buy back we'd be standing in high cotton.

There are two problems with this issue, though: first, if the rifles were allowed back into the US, the CMP would not get them because they wouldn't be part of the MAP loans. They'd have to be imported back into the US, so the receivers on these rifles would be marred with the billboard mark of the importer. People wouldn't want those as much as they'd want the unmarked rifles from the CMP; probably the biggest draw of these rifles would be for the rare parts they might contain.

Which brings us to Problem No. 2. Those who've seen samples of the Korean rifles have said that as a rule, the rifles are in poor condition, with worn-out barrels, pitting, and rust. That would have an effect on the desirability of these rifles, not only for the "as is" aspect, but also for their parting-out.

It's just not a good situation. Our best hope is for returns from another country - did you know that we recently got a batch of M1's back from Turkey? Reportedly, they're not in as good condition overall as the Greek returns, but there are some good rifles in the lot.