Thursday, April 21, 2011

BAG Day Will Be Late This Year

I totally forgot to post this, but it will be a while before I can post any real pictures, anyway (besides stock photos).  For our BAG purchase, the diminutive but deadly Mrs. Graybeard and I put in an order for a couple of those rifles you have to order from CMP. 

You know - the ones General Patton called, "The greatest battle implement ever devised".  They look something like this.  Actually, they look very much like this:

8 comments:

  1. Nice. Are those older models that have been refinished? They look great.

    Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that Montana's gun laws are otherwise very good, a resident of a Oregon (which I legally remain at this time) cannot buy even a rifle or shotgun in MT. The law says they may sell to someone from a contiguous state, but Oregon is not contiguous.

    It is my understanding I could legally purchase from an individual, but I haven't verified that yet. Oregon is too far a drive to run off and buy a firearm.

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  2. Is that one of the Special Grade? Those have new wood, re-finish on the metal, and replacement of the barrel and all worn parts. I'm considering buying one of these and putting it up for the grandkids. I already have a Garand, but it's definitely seen service. One of my favorite guns to shoot.

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  3. Daddybear - that's a stock photo from the CMP webpage.. I think it's a special grade because the picture is right under the description for special grade. On the other hand it's just above the description for the "Correct grade" which is even more expensive.

    We ordered Service grade. We saw two at our Appleseed weekend that were service grade, and they were nice looking rifles.

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  4. Reg T - and anyone else interested - it's worth mentioning that the CMP works differently from any other place you can buy a gun from (acts of congress...). They will send the rifle to your door (FedEx, I think) without going through an FFL.

    There are a few things you need to qualify: be a member of an affiliated club, and have evidence of taken rifle marksmanship class. Both of those were fulfilled by our Appleseed weekend. If you ask, the Appleseed folks give you a certificate of training. They take your ID and run a NICS check on you, so you have to pass that, but that's pretty much like any other gun store.

    If you download the order form, the last page of the pdf has a checklist to help you sort out what to send.

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  5. Congratulations! CMP Garands are, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest firearms one can ever own. Not only are they superb examples of American craftsmanship but they embody the spirit of the men that carried them as they freed Europe and pushed back communism in Korea. Each one is a part of history, a piece of America as it used to be.

    Mine is a HRA service grade that dates to the late Korean war period. It came pretty loaded with cosmoline, but some time with a hair dryer and a rag took care of that (even the stock). A little work with some fine sandpaper and steel wool on the stock to strip away the years of crud and the wood underneath came out beautifully. You are going to love those rifles!

    Just be sure and get a set of dies for 30-06 - the HXP surplus stuff is decent but they'll shoot much better with carefully loaded rounds.

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  6. Also, I know they say 30-60 days on the Garand page, but it only took them a couple of weeks to process my order and get the rifle out to me. Hopefully your wait won't be long either!

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  7. Mine was a Service Grade, but back in '00 it was better than expected - what now goes as "special." It's all original 1944 except for the NM op-rod.
    And the CMP is great, this Californian got the statement notarized at MailBoxes Etc. and sent it in - six weeks later boom! On the doorstep!
    I wish now I had bought an International Harvester too though.

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  8. Leveraction - the .30-06 dies are in the shop! Off the top of my head, I think I have everything I need.

    DirtCrashr - thanks. From what I'm hearing, the current "service grade" rifles are Korean War era. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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