Well, in actual practice, the CMP had to place a limit on Garands and Carbines because that's precisely what was happening and caused the Garands to dry up quickly. The Garands were priced too low and speculators bought them up by the gross and resold them. At some point the CMP had to put a limit of IIRC 12 Garands per year to curb the abuse and gun flippers.

Not long ago, ~10 years, you could get a gorgeous collector grade Garand for $500-600 shipped to your door.

You can thank all the speculators for buying them all up, and putting them on gun broker for 3x that price.

If you think the price is to high...don't fucking buy one.

It ain't rocket science.

I'm willing to wager that they sell a whole fucking bunch of them. Just because of what they are and the whole general appeal of WWI and WWII historical arms. Guys aren't gonna buy them to shoot match with. They're gonna buy them to show to their buddies and grandkids what our guys went to war with 100 years ago.

Be interesting to see what they sell for in 20 years...If Garands or M1 Carbines are any indicator, they'll only go up in value.

Get over the "quality" thing and enjoy the "history" thing.

Nope, who knows how many bangers belong to clubs and do competitions! [/Sarcasm]

In reality you're right, the requirements to purchase anything from them clearly address that bogus concern about these getting used in 'liquor store hold-ups.'
Their real stated reason is to assrape the chump taxpayers who will pay for these twice, the second time being a real doozy.

I'm also wondering if those defending this are ok with Seattle's gun tax, because it's very similar. If the CMP were a normal business that werent the only people to get these things for free from the government this wouldn't fly.

If history is consistent, these will quadruple in value in a decade or two. If nothing else, they'll hold value if cared for, or if "improved" with correct grip panels or whatever needs replace/repaired. The American war history of these is where the value is. Truly unique awesome guns, and American Icon really.

A bargain for a nice one for a grand, if you truly love US war history from among the best eras of our history.

The question you should all be asking is, if there were 4 different companies/organizations getting these from the government and selling them, do you really believe they'd all charge the same price?

Government created monopolies are bullshit.

Yes, we're still reeling from the cost of those WWI and WWII era 1911s as the major expenditure from 100 years ago.

And, given that there's only relatively a few available, how do you propose a more fair system be implemented? To avoid the "ass raping" of a luxury item? A lottery give away for something your grandparents paid for?

I believe they would be 1.5 or double what the CMP is asking, to be blunt. And they'd sell like hot cakes.

As proof of this, historically, the M1 Garands I purchased from the CMP for between $550 and $900 (depending on the grades I received, from service to select) about 10 years ago, were going for roughly double that price on the private markets, from around $1000-$2000 +/- for the same quality. I know, because I looked into it.

Have you been to the CMP, talked to a single CMP employee, or purchased anything from them in the past? Curious.

I think you are being generous with your assessment of CMP Garands, and the picture of the 1911 you posted. I have a Garand from about 15 years ago that still doesn't shoot. Well, to be fair, it shoots one round then the trigger group falls out. It's a POS and needs work to get it functioning. Some ham fisted grubsmith at the CMP slapped it together.

I doubt the 1911s will be much different. Gonna be a crap shoot.



I'm Rocket Scott, and I approve this message.

Sure, because competition usually raises prices...

In reality the CMP didn't sell them at the same rate they got them which led to the artificially low supply and price hikes. They've announced the same plan for the 1911s, that regardless of how many they get per year they only plan to sell a set amount, which is likely to be less than their supplied inventory after the first year.

I bought two Garands from the South store in 2012, is that good enough to have an opinion?



You're still confused on this? They get free guns from the military to accomplish the objectives I copied and pasted above. Not really a "capitalistic" endeavor.

I begrudge that they seem more interested in selling to collectors than promoting marksmanship, and (as I suggested before) they should dramatically reduce the limit of rifles per year so they aren't constantly sold out to a small group of "collectors".

I had a whole different experience on my CMP Garands. The "worst" of the lot is pretty fantastic.

I think this picture is one I actually passed on from the $900 rack (Special Correct or Special Service) back in 2010 or so. This was pretty representative at the time. I ended up with a nicer one, better throat gauging.

‘From the rack’?

Meaning you picked the one you wanted?

Not really an apples to apples comparison.

I had another friend that bought several. Enough that he could mix parts to get a ‘correct’ grade that would be worth a little more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The point remains, I received very good samples in the mail from the CMP for extremely reasonable prices. I make the point to highlight the fairness and integrity of the organization.

I think that CMP (and any other organization) ought to be able to sell collector items for as high a price as they are able to attain.

I also think that CMP should be doing a better job of their assignment, encouraging more firearms training and proficiency in the USA.
Put those two things together, and they should take the money from the higher prices they sell collector items for and start building new, well-designed ranges all around the country. I know it's not enough... Lobby for more $ from congress.
As long as they are making good use of the $ they collect, items should be sold at market value.
The fact that the foot-in-mouth fellow made the comment about the liquor store robbery- just foot in mouth, I think.

I think they'll sell out in a reasonable amount of time at these prices. Even the lower conditions of these have more collector value than shooter value.
This all depends on how CMP uses their funds received from selling. If they use the funds to increase their reach into the non-shooting citizens, I am a fan. If they use it to throw office pizza parties they can piss off.

Us peons will never, ever know.