I had been hoping for this for years.
As I've mentioned before, the Civilian Marksmanship Program has been tasked by the government to distribute all surplus .30 caliber battle rifles to qualified civilians to promote militia marksmanship.
Primarily they have sold off (at below market prices) rebuilt M1 Garand semi-automatic battle rifles of WW2 and Korea vintage. They also have sold the earlier bolt-action M1903 models as well as smaller amounts of unusual rifles.
Though made in huge numbers, the M1903s are now basically gone, and the M1s are down to mostly NATO arms that were sent to Greece and subsequently returned. The ones from Denmark have also been depleted. Top-grade and "collector" grade M1s have dribbled to a standstill.
The frequently asked question over more than a decade had been, "will the CMP ever sell M1 Carbines?"
The Carbine is a smaller, lighter complement to the M1 Garand, intended as a sustitute for the .45 pistol for officers, drivers, etc, but was so handy it was in great demand.
The answer had always been, "Not any time soon."
They were made in the millions, but the CMP was partly worried about political concerns -- the M1 Carbine could take a "high capacity" magazine and might have been attacked as a dreaded "assault weapon."
But now with the assault-gun ban having expired, and the M1 Garands running low, it looks as that has changed!
Notice recently went out as follows:
M1 CARBINEI imagine people have gone nuts, as there is this update at the site:
29 December, 2006. The Army has transferred to the CMP a significant quantity of M1 Carbines. We are currently processing these carbines through our Inspection & Repair operations and expect to have some ready for sale by 1 March, 2007, but it may be sooner. More information will be posted on this web page as it becomes available.
At this time no decisions have been made as to grading, pricing, or limits. We are not accepting orders or establishing waiting lists at this time!!
NOT ACCEPTING ORDERS AT THIS TIME!!
NEXT CARBINE UPDATE WILL BE FEBRUARY 16 - 18, 2007!!
23 Jan, 2007And here I went and recently got a commercial carbine instead of a genuine G.I. rifle, thinking I'd never see them in my lifetime. I didn't want to overspend in the collector market for a rifle I simply wanted to shoot, that would probably require much rebuilding anyway.
If you haven't been able to get through to CMP lately or wonder why it is taking several days to get an email answered, it is partly because of all the calls and emails from customers asking if their files are current or if a new page 2a or club card is required. All of this in preparation for the upcoming carbine sales.
But with the CMP carbines, I can be sure of a minimum uniformly graded operational standard, at a reasonable price.
I can always use another...
Get ready!
