just FYI
South Store Report 12/19/2019 - CMP Forums
The store will be closed from 12/22-1/8. It will reopen on 1/9....
Yahtch--one day to loiter on target. No worries, though--I only spent 2 or 3 hours in the North Store on my way out west, and I found a diamond in the rough, a correct postwar Garand in shitty Greek wood. Trust your luck, a couple hours in the racks and you'll find a beautiful Garand, even if it is not (yet) exactly the Garand you're looking for.
If nothing gets your pulse pounding, go get some lunch for an hour, and come back and have a look again. Don't be in too much of a hurry, unless you happen upon a total no-brainer "10" and it's love at first sight. Remember the story about the old bull and the young bull.
Service grade is probably your best value for the money overall--you have the best chance of original parts and the lowest overall wear.
Be friendly. Let the guys at the counter know that you've driven in from Boston/NH/wherever and that you're excited to be there, and tell them what exactly what you're looking for. He might just have seen something out back that fits your bill. You DO know what you're looking for, don't you? You've given it some thought? Do you want a WWII Garand? Do you want it to be a WWII serial number, but maybe rebarreled postwar (1950-1969-ish), so it will be a good shooter--or do you not care about muzzle wear, and instead want it to be "correct?", with all original parts, or as close as possible? Apparently the Philippine returns had lots of original WWII parts. How about patina? Do you want a battle-field pickup-looking rifle from the Korean War? Do you want a postwar rifle in mint condition, with very low muzzle wear to make into a match rifle?
OK, now--how about manufacturer? Springfield is a classic, but H&R was made in Worcester in the post-war period (think quality control/no wartime production pressures), and they're considered to be fine rifles made on good tooling. Some H&R rifles came with LMR barrels, and LMR barrels are generally real good shooters. Also, International Harvester didn't make a lot of rifles, so collectors love them. International Harvesters all came with LMR barrels. Mostly they got sent overseas, to fulfill contracts with our Cold War allies--I think I read somewhere that the Shah of Iran got a lot of the International Harvesters. I see they also have rebarrelled Winchesters in stock. Those would be interesting to look at.
Most people looking for a shooting Garand pay WAY too much attention to cosmetics like wood. Wood can be swapped out in ten minutes six months after your original purchase with EXACTLY what you want. Garand wood is like tits. Find a rifle that'll shoot, and then buy it some nice tits if you absolutely need to. For a shooting Garand, the barrel is the heart of the rifle. Walk the racks looking at the crowns. If the crown is good, check the year of manufacture of the barrel--lock back the operating rod; year of manufacture is located at the end of the string of numbers with a month and two-digit year. Bring a pair of cheater glasses and a flashlight if necessary. If the barrel is original to the rifle AND it has a low muzzle wear reading, you're probably looking at a low-mileage Garand. Second thing to look at is the gas cylinder. Does the approximate finish wear on the gas cylinder (and the gas cylinder lock screw and gas cylinder poppet valve), coincide with the approximate finish wear on the rest of the Garand? If so, that rifle might just have all correct parts. If the barrel is new and the gas cylinder is ghosted grey, that gas cylinder has some miles on it, and why is it on that rifle? Lastly--is the bolt original/correct? If all three of those coincide/agree, the rifle hasn't been parted out too far. Does the overall condition of the op rod match the rest of the rifle? Older? Newer? If the op rod is newly parked and tighter than shit in the receiver op rod channel, It has probably been rebuilt, and that just saved you $75. Steel wool it down so it matches the rest of the parts, or trade it off for an op rod that matches perfectly.
If you want a shooter--maybe have a look at the "Rack Grade Specials". They are cosmetically challenged receivers with a new Criterion barrel and mixmaster rack-grade parts for $650. That's actually a pretty good deal. The Criterion barrels shoot good. Check the op rod channel on the receiver for signs of excessive wear--if the op rod channel looks pretty good and the op rod doesn't have a lot of slop in it you might have a real good shooter in your hands.
When you first step through the door you'll probably be overwhelmed. So many choices, so many subtle variations. Get a good night's sleep the night before, so your mind is clear. Eat a good breakfast. Step through the door and know what you want, know exactly why you want it, and don't get distracted. Lastly--don't be frantic, trust your luck, and know that whatever you come home with, somebody would HAPPILY give you your money back for it. You could buy two extra rifles, swap parts and wood around, and sell the extra rifles for what you paid for them to friends and guys at your gun club at cost, and they'd be happy to have them for the price. You pretty much cannot lose.
All the best.
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