The Civilian Marksmanship Program has received word that the Philippine government could be shipping 86,000 M1 Garand rifles back to the United States for distribution to American civilian shooters. Mark Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of the CMP, commented on the possible upcoming delivery to The Firearm Blog:

There are 86,000 or so M1s hopefully coming back to the Army.  We hope to see them in the future.

This would be one of the largest shipments of M1 Garand rifles back to the US in recent years, and since the CMP only has to pay the cost to ship the rifles back to America (as the guns are already owned by the US government), it’s likely that these would come in at a very affordable cost relative to the wider M1 Garand market. In other words, this shipment may be your big chance to pick up one of General George S. Patton’s “most deadly rifle in the world” for yourself!

If you are interested in buying one of these CMP M1 Garands when (or if) they hit the CMP store and haven’t gone through the process of CMP approval before, be sure to check out my two-part article on how to qualify and get your very own M1 rifle. It’s a very special feeling to have a rifle shipped directly to your door, courtesy of the US government (via the CMP), and I highly recommend to everyone that can to try it at least once!