Say what again? How much?
Pricing, Cooper said, is expected to be between $800-$1,000 for shooters.
“It’s hard to say exactly, but a good guess will be around $1,000 minimum,” he said. “One reason for this is that the 1911 is a very valuable pistol. Even though they may be shot out or busted up, we don’t want them falling into the hands of people who will just leave them in a glove box. We want a perceived value — more of an heirloom. We don’t want them considered a standard sidearm. All we need is to have someone commit a liquor store robbery with one and then we’ll be held accountable.
CMP General Manager: What you can expect to pay for a surplus 1911.
Dear Mr. Cooper: Unless you present written and photographic proof that $1,000 1911 was used by either Audie Murphy or John Basilone to mow down the enemy in World War Two, you are out of your frigging mind.
We got us an elitist asshole pissing on the people that called, wrote, emailed and eventually voted so those guns could come home.
Agreed. We (or our parents) already paid for them.
grrr.
So what is the CMP, and who runs it? Can we lobby to get this idiot replaced by a reasonable person?
@pkoning:
CMP == Civilian Marksmanship Program.
It’s the program that “allows” (heh!) the DoD to sell surplus firearms (that they weren’t using anyway due to obsolescence) to the general populace. They were short on M1911s, but they were one of the few places to get serviceable (read: refurbished) M1 Garands and M1A Carbines.
But now they have M1911s! And they’re talking about fixing the price to make it unaffordable for every American to own a surplus firearm (last I checked, the Garands started at well over $1K, with a slightly rusted or pitted barrel — good-condition barrels shot the price up to $2,500+). And that’s in addition to the other costs to participate (must pay dues to CMP, must also be a dues-paying member of a recognized shooting club, etc.)
Price-fixing… Isn’t that what the Socialists did to “ensure availability” of goods, with the result that many (most?) people were simply priced out of the market for essentials?
CMP == Communist Mismanagement of Pistols
sorry you need to fact check. “dues” to CMP not required.
No, but they require dues paid to some club authorized by the CMP to be an approved club, right?
I sure wonder who authorized this whole scam. And why the scammers are getting away with it. Seems tailor-made for an enterprising lawyer.
Which, after the usual suspects buy them and resell them, puts them in the $2500+ bracket, which is normal for old GI 1911’s.
Something that would improve the CMP immeasurably: Limit ONE.
They’re a defacto distributor for bulk resellers of Garands already.
I think I would pay $1,000 for a specific surplus M1911A1 (ser no 1164935) because that was MY pistol.
But it should not be a $1,000 gun! It was a parts gun when I was issued it. You’ll note the Colt serial number? The slide quite clearly read “Remington Rand”. I wonder if they ever got it to an armorer who could get the front sight to stick.
Mix-master guns don’t bring $800 on the secondary market, shooting condition matching guns are in this range.
This is a cash grab. I expect to see these guns be sold out a week or less from initial offer and to see them on Gunbroker for $1,500 plus. And the surplus guns out there already to double in price because they’re all in better shape than what CMP will be getting.
The brand new 1911 that I paid $800 for works just as good.
I think that amount is completely ridiculous, and I fully expect they’ll be sold out on the first day. Too bad, I would have liked to have had one to go with my CMP Garand, Carbine, and ’03. Oh well.
Agree. Plenty of people that will buy them and I hope they are ready for the disappointment of not getting a good resell price.
“We got us an elitist asshole pissing on the people that called, wrote, emailed and eventually voted so those guns could come home.”
Agree 100%
The whole gun industry is down. Sales are down. Let’s jack up the price to Obama election levels. That sounds like a good idea.
More than 40 years ago I carried a 1911 as my sidearm. It was not worth $1000 then, it would not be worth $1000 now. This price is exorbitant.
They’re worth whatever buyers are willing to pay. That’s the way the market works. And if CMP treats the 1911s like they do the Garands, each one will be inspected, refitted, and test fired for operation before its sold.
Hate to say this, guys, but that price is likely less than the market would set, as several of you have acknowledged. And they are not “your” guns, or “our” guns, they are the government’s guns (and yes, there is a difference; that you “paid” for them – or your grandparents did – makes no difference). If I’m not mistaken, CMP Garands have a purchase limit, and I expect these to have one as well.
I do think the worry that someone is going to buy a CMP gun just to knock off a liquor store is rather silly, but the fact is these guns have an inherent demand, and the market reflects that. I’m surprised that they expect to sell at that reasonable price. I’ll probably buy one, if I get the opportunity. And yes, I expect that the first batch will sell out quickly, hit Gunbroker, and then we’ll see what they’re really worth.
If y’all are right, and they’re not worth the asking price, the market will determine that too.
I’m thankful that they are going to hit the market at all.
The problem with selling them at market price is that we already bought these things!
Market price is simply a price response to demand. High demand, low supply = high price.
How do we reduce the demand to reduce the price, since the supply is very small?
I stand by my idea to make it LIMIT ONE. You get to buy ONE of these things. One person, one pistol per lifetime.
That policy also reflects that we paid for these things already and prevents CMP from being just a warehouse distributor.
Selfishly, I think you should have a DD214 to be eligible for the first round of any surplus weaponry. It’s unfair, but…
On the other hand, I can understand the CMP dude’s reluctance to see a lot of classic 1911’s winding up in the hands of Bubba Dremmel & friends, and to see what horrific mutilations will be performed in the name of ‘customization”.
Just think of all the poorly executed hacksaw forward slide serrations, the ham-handed attempts at “checkering”, the horribly fitted “custom” parts.
But, even that is better than torch cutting and de-milling.
For those interested, I bought a M1 Garand from them last year, service grade, for $730. The stock has some wear, but overall it’s in good condition. It also came with a nice CMP hard case.
Here’s the requirements:
Proof of age
Proof of citizenship ( used my birth cert. for both of these)
Membership in a CMP affiliated organization (VCDL in my case. They have a list of eligible organizations on their website)
Participate in a marksmanship or other firearms activity(I used my carry permit, but there’s a list that includes DD214, hunter safety programs, LEO, shooting competitions, etc.),
Be legally eligible to purchase a firearm.(they do a NICS check).
Send all that to them and about 4 months later get a long brown box at the door
http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/eligibility-requirements/