M1D Value if altered

[Varelse]

I am seriously considering buying one of the rack grade M1Ds from CMP for a project rifle. I know how hard the barrels are to find and I will most likely need to replace the barrel from the sounds of it. My question is how will it affect the value of the rifle if I were to install a new barrel through Shuffs or end up doing it myself. I don't think I will be able to find a 555 barrel for a reasonable price if at all so the barrel will not have an M1D number on it. I am not too worried about the stock as I can find a GI stock much easier than a barrel and the rest of the rifle is the same as a regular M1 as far as I know. Will the fact that I have the CMP paperwork help keep the value of it being a real M1D and not a conversion or backyard build? I would keep the original barrel for authenticity.

Thanks for your help.

[Orlando]

I don't think it will hurt the value a lot as they don't really have any collector value as is
I strongly suggest you just buy a complete original M1D. By the time you replace barrel and piece one together you will have just about the same amount of money in it. What you put in your pieced together M1D you will probably never get it back out of it unless you sell it piece by piece.
If you still want to piece one together atleast buy a service grade , they come up for sale fairly often on the CMP forum
Just my opinion ,others may vary
Good luck

[RDS]

The quality of the repro barrel blocks and scope mounts are not on par with US GI mounts and barrel blocks. Repro barrel blocks and mounts have been made off shore for about 30 yrs now. Even M84 scopes are now produced off shore.

[Varelse]

Thanks for the replies. I thought the M1D and M1C had some decent values due to the production numbers being much lower and a large amount being destroyed or something. I know they were conversion rifles but I still see them over $3000 for clean ones.

Would I be able to cut the block off the original barrel and weld it on the new one? I've read some information about these rifles still shooting pretty well even with high TE and ME readings but do not have personal experience with them. This is why I am still considering a rack grade M1D.

I'm stuck between grabbing an M1D, a field grade WWII M1 with as much GI as possible or a service grade M1 from CMP for my first one. I am not looking for a museum piece and prefer stocks as close to original as possible even if they are beat, just not completely ruined. I love when rifles show their history and are not completely destroyed. If I wanted a super clean one I would probably just by a newer replica instead of hunting one down.

This will be my first M1 so that is why I am not very familiar with them, I'm probably going to order Scott Duffs book this week.

[Orlando]

They do have value , bottom of the barrel Rack Grade M1D's just not as much.

CMP M1D's will never bring the same money as a documented DCM rifle

At one time they were harder to come by and prices reflected it. Blocks are pinned in place and will not fit a standard barrel. Why are you set on buying a Rack Grade, is it the cost?

[Varelse]

Mainly the availability at the moment, when I talked to the lady at CMP, she said they haven't had anything above rack grade for a while and they seem few and far between. I was hoping to find one below $1600 by summer. I still have a few months to wait for Field or Service grade to become available at CMP. I'm planning on stopping by the south store in June or July so I could hand pick one. The M1Ds I have seen for sale have been bottom of the barrel like the rack grade or in really good shape at over $2500. I have a few other guns to buy in the near future so I can't blow my budget on this one. This is why I may just pick up a field or service grade M1 and wait another year or so to find a decent deal on an M1D. I don't mind taking on a project of some caliber but I don't want it to be near impossible to find good parts either. So if worse comes to worse I'll just hold off and buy one of the higher dollar ones in a year or so.

[RDS]

Do your research so you know what your buying. Save up your money and buy a good original M1D. A poor example or one made with repro parts will never be worth what an original nice example will be. Try posting a want to buy on this forum and see what replies you get. A word of caution on M84 scopes as there are US GI orginals, rebuilds. rebuilt demilled scopes and off shore made repros. Examine M84 scopes carefully. The rebuilt demilled scopes will show a brass braze ring around the body as two demilled tubes were brazed together. The better rebuilt M84 scopes will have a K stamped on the turret underneath the turret cover. The K was stamped by the gunsmith that rebuilt hundreds on M84 scopes. Then there are M84 scopes that were assembled in the 1990s from parts obtained from one of the orignal government contractors in Ohio. Of course the best are original US GI M84 scopes.

[Varelse]

Thanks for the help. I still have a few months to poke around and see what pops up. I saw the information about the scopes and the mount problems. Some of the originals I have found go for around $1200, the sad thing is my uncle used to have a bunch of them in his shop and nobody was interested in them in the 90's. I wouldn't mind getting a repro to use in the mean time while I piece stuff together. I plan on having a few M1s so I may just have to wait until I am willing to part with the big money on a DCM rifle. In the mean time my son is itching to go Hog hunting and my AR build is on the back burner to acquire some M1s and .22s for the kids.

[Orlando]

Have you put a request for what you are looking for on the CMP marketplace forum? Rifle prices are down, its a buyer market
You are better off buying once. You mentioned collector value, a pieced together M1D has no real collector value. If you cant afford it now save you money ,buy once

[Varelse]

I am still waiting on my admission to the CMP forum. I doesn't seem like they have an automated process for on-boarding new members. I have an email in to the moderators to see if they can give my account the go-ahead. I am also a little nervous about spending that kind of money on something without seeing it in person and not really knowing that much about it. I do not think I know enough about them to tell a really good replica over an original. I would have to rely on any documentation with matching numbers if they had it and that's about it, then I have to contemplate if the paperwork is authentic as well. I'm sure I'm just being paranoid but that is a lot of money to spend online from a seller that I do not personally know. That is why I am trying to wait for CMP to release some better grades. Then I would know it came from them with proper paperwork. If CMP has Field or Service grades in stock in June or July I should be able to go hand pick one as we plan on swinging by there on our way back from vacation. If not I'll hopefully be able to pick out a nice WWII M1, then take your advice and start saving my pennies for a complete M1D.

[RDS]

Good luck with the CMP forum. I joined back in Jan 2018. I still do not have authorization to post or contact buyers or sellers.

[Varelse]

Good luck with the CMP forum. I joined back in Jan 2018. I still do not have authorization to post or contact buyers or sellers.

I've seen a few people post about this problem, that is why I emailed them after about a week, still haven't heard back. I didn't think forums manually vetted new users anymore, I would have thought it would have been automated.

[Orlando]

You should be able to post here for access, http://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=86 if not contact Ghostinthemachine
They have to check each person trying to join the forum to keep out all the spammers and still some get through. If you still cant get a reply after doing the above PM me and I will forward your information for you

[Varelse]

You should be able to post here for access, http://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=86 if not contact Ghostinthemachine
They have to check each person trying to join the forum to keep out all the spammers and still some get through. If you still cant get a reply after doing the above PM me and I will forward your information for you

Thanks for the heads up, I probably would have been waiting forever. I just posted on their, we will see if they can get to it quickly.

[lapriester]

Screw with switching the barrel to a Shuff created repro M1D barrel and you will have nothing of value as an M1D. The value will be reduced to the level of the value of any bare Garand receiver and you'll essentially render the M1D COA useless and invalid.

And paying that much for a FG M1D that's likely to have a virtually worn out barrel, then considering spending the insane amount of $$ it will cost to correct it, borders on insanity.....or worse. In the end it would end up cheaper to buy a complete and correct one if you can find it.