| Page 4 Christmas
Early! Two Long Boxes - Well the day we had been waiting for finally
arrived. On Thursday December 2nd our M1 Garands arrived! Our nervous looking
FedEx driver was back, this time carrying the elongated boxes that could only
be one thing. WELCOME HOME! It was pretty exciting in a way. Christmas had come
23 days early and there was no way I was waiting for someone to stick these boxes
under the tree! 
One
of the M1 Garand Boxes as it arrived from CMP.
The sturdy shipping boxes boxes which I was
sure contained our rifles were securely held together by thick paper packing-tape
and oddly enough the containers did not have any dangerous goods manifests on
them. There was a sticker that warned FedEx that these items were not
to be left unattended and required a special signature in order to complete delivery. It
was all I could do not to open the boxes I knew contained the M1 Garand Rifles
before Dad was able to get there. Once he got in the door however the first order
of business was to tear into the brown cartons like a couple of kids on their
birthdays to see what we had gotten! The
Goods Both of the shipping cartons were opened in
turn and treasure hunt began. Starting at the top this is what we found. 
Just
inside the M1 Garand box you'll find a CMP bag with goodies in it.
Upon
opening the boxes we discovered a white plastic bag with the CMP logo on it. Inside
this bag we found several documents. First, of course, there was an invoice/shipping
document showing the usual information such as weight, contents, serial numbers
of the M1 Garand rifles and such. Next was a photocopied application for membership
in the Garand Collectors Association. (I am still puzzled as to EXACTLY what this
group does, but for 16 bucks you get a 24 page GCA journal four times per year.)
Goodies
from inside the CMP bag
The
CMP had also tucked in a colorful "Certificate Of Authenticity"
into the bag. The certificate is printed on nice card stock and features the name
of the buyer/owner, the serial number of the rifle, and the date of purchase. 
Certificate
of Authenticity & Two 30-06 M1 Garand cartridges.
Finally,
The CMP included a nice 38 page booklet titled "U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30,
M1" subtitled "READ THIS FIRST". This glossy little manual is printed
in 2 colors and is FAR better than many of the manuals that I have seen come with
new firearms. This book covers the usual - nomenclature, loading, cleaning, etc.
and it also has a very direct message in several places about firearm safety.
The booklet is actually well written and easy to read. It is 'in your face' in
the places where it should be. As an example, on page 5 it talks about the M1
Garand 's mechanical safety, "No safety ever invented can be relied
upon to prevent an accidental shooting by a determined child or a grownup idiot
"playing" with a gun." ...A pretty fair assessment I'd say. The
booklet also covers stoppages nicely and Garand maintenance pretty well. However I noted that there
was limited room for photographs and I was left with some nagging questions (particularly
on detail stripping the weapon) when I first tried to follow the book. In fairness
however I must say again that this is one of the best manuals I have ever gotten
even with a 'new' firearm. 
The
manual that comes with all Garands sent out by the CMP.
Time
to - Open it! Please Go To The Next
Page Please
feel free to explore the other sections of this website:
[About
This Website] [How I Maintain My M1s] [CMP Program - Our Experience]
[Our CMP M1 Garand Rifles] [CMP Ammunition] [M1 Parts Photographs & Nomenclature]
[M1 Garand Accessories] [A Little Important Humor] [Links to Other M1 Garand Sites] This page was last updated on:
June 16, 2007
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