New guy from Florida

[Varelse]

Greetings, I'm a new member from Tampa (originally from Colorado) and stumbled across this forum in my search for information. My wife and I recently put our kids in our first Project Appleseed event and we are hooked, what a great group of guys with some great values. I'll be joining the next one along side my kids now that I know what it is all about. Long story short, the Shoot Boss brought out an M1 in amazing condition. M1s have always been on my list of guns to own but never really got around to snagging one due to life happening with kids and college. After realizing how much these are going for now days I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a couple when they were in the $300-$400 range.

I've decided to hold off on my planned AR build this year to hopefully grab an M1D from CMP. While brushing up on these rifles I fully realize the rabbit hole I'm about to step into and know that most likely this initial purchase will end up multiplying in our new gun safe(thats why I bought a bigger one right?) I believe my love for history and the history of this gun in particular calls to me.

My initial plan is to patiently (as patiently as possible) wait for CMP to post some Field or Service grade M1Ds as I have always wanted this model in particular. Depending on the price I may decide to stick with a regular WWII M1 for my first Garand. The prices they have for the M1C are a bit more than I look to spend and I am hoping the Ds won't be as high since they aren't as much of a collector item as the Cs are. I am looking for a shooter for some local hog/deer hunting and I'm also interested in some possible vintage sniper events. I do not have any experience with CMP so I do not know what to expect between the different grades. They have some Rack grade M1Ds at the moment but I am worried about the wear on the barrel which may be a problem due to the lack of D barrels available and the cost of the ones that are around. I've heard Service grade is what to hold out for but Field may be a good starting point as well.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I start this new addiction.

[m14brian]

Welcome from SoCal!
m14brian

[jak]

Welcome to the forum. Yes, the Appleseed events are a lot of fun. It has helped my shooting.

As for the M1D, you have a couple of options. You can wait for CMP to get service grades back in stock, but that's a big unknown.
A second option would buy a rack grade M1D and have Shuff's Parkerizing cut down a regular garand barrel and swap the M1D barrel block from the old barrel and install it on the new barrel. This option will be more expensive, but if you want a good barrel this would be the way to go. Shuff does excellent work.
http://shuffsparkerizing.com/service...-modification/

You will also have to buy a scope and mount for the M1D. CMP sell reproduction scopes, but I don't know about the quality. Stay away from the repo junk on ebay.

How far are you from Anniston ? 7or 8 hours ? You can always drive to the South Store and look at the rifles. Just check out the store reports before you plan a trip.

http://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=74

[Varelse]

Welcome to the forum. Yes, the Appleseed events are a lot of fun. It has helped my shooting.

As for the M1D, you have a couple of options. You can wait for CMP to get service grades back in stock, but that's a big unknown.
A second option would buy a rack grade M1D and have Shuff's Parkerizing cut down a regular garand barrel and swap the M1D barrel block from the old barrel and install it on the new barrel. This option will be more expensive, but if you want a good barrel this would be the way to go. Shuff does excellent work.
http://shuffsparkerizing.com/service...-modification/

You will also have to buy a scope and mount for the M1D. CMP sell reproduction scopes, but I don't know about the quality. Stay away from the repo junk on ebay.

How far are you from Anniston ? 7or 8 hours ? You can always drive to the South Store and look at the rifles. Just check out the store reports before you plan a trip.
http://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=74

I am about 8 hours from Anniston. I thought about making a detour this summer because we are planning on taking a trip to either TN or NC. I thought about the barrel too but I didn't know what it would do to the value of the rifle and if I were to go to a Garand match will they allow an "Altered" barrel? I have access to a full machine shop here at work and have a few great machinists. I can honestly have a block reproduced and put on a regular M1 to create and M1D replica but it wouldn't really be a M1D. I may contemplate doing that if it would still be accepted at matches, AFAIK the barrel is the only different between the M1 and the M1D is that correct? I may also try to find a good shooter M1 for the time being and keep my eyes out for the right M1D to come along.

[RDS]

Welcome to the forum.

[m14brian]

Good luck Sir on finding the rifle you are looking for.
m14brian