With the original surplus rifles running dry, the Civilian Marksmanship Program has moved from being a purveyor of history to a force that is actively trying to rebuild it. This was evident at the SHOT Show 2026, where the program was not only offering racks of classic U.S. service rifles but also a hybrid of new parts, refurbished receivers, and ‘shooter’ builds that are designed to keep classic platforms on the firing line for many years to come.
The audience hook is familiar to anyone who has watched the CMP inventory levels ebb and flow over the past decade. The M1 Garand and 1903-series rifles are still cultural icons, but the old model, “sell what’s left of government surplus,” simply can’t keep running. The CMP solution has become a two-track approach: build where it makes sense, and restore where it matters.
On the production side, the new-production M1 Garand project at CMP had passed the “proof of concept” phase. Following a trial production run of 100+ production-serialized development models and a lengthy validation process, the initial production run of approximately 607 rifles, ordered under the Founder Series prefix, established the template for what a contemporary, USGI-compliant Garand might look like when tolerances and materials are managed from the outset. These rifles combine a Criterion or Faxon barrel with a stainless steel gas cylinder and walnut furniture, while maintaining a traditional look and recognizing that component availability is no longer assured through surplus shipments.
What’s particularly interesting about the CMP’s plans is that they don’t merely include the standard models. Variations with a forward-thinking bent, such as a “gas trap” model featuring a rifle barrel and gas trap manufactured by Faxon, as well as M1D and “Tanker” models that play to the collector’s interest without having to offer up the original, increasingly hard-to-find sniper rifles, were on display at SHOT.
Receiver reclamation is the more technically significant story. CMP has fully embraced the idea of restoring ceremonial drill rifles, which had been made non-firing through minimal modifications, to a safe and functional status. In its engineering program, the group has referenced proof loads in excess of 80,000 psi as part of a validation and destructive testing methodology aimed at eliminating any doubt regarding receiver integrity, while still clearly indicating that the product is a restored item through the use of an “RC” prefix. The point is simple: keep the real U.S. receivers in service rather than seeing them become permanent wall decorations.
This stream of reclamation work goes directly into the bolt-gun side of the 1903A3 “Expert” program: reclamation of receivers and reinstallation with new Criterion barrels, Minelli walnut stocks, metalwork refinished, and reproduction small parts where necessary, with the supply of the latter becoming the limiting factor. CMP has made it clear that the Minelli stock configuration is now truly drop-in, with no fitting required to distinguish “project rifles” from those that arrive on the shelf ready to shoot. This is important for shooters who want a Springfield that shoots like a rifle, not a long-term project.
The sniper variants that orbit these plans bring a sense of history to the table. The M1D, in particular, has design trade-offs that are built into the Garand itself, primarily the need for the offset optic due to the top-loading clip system. As one of the technical briefs points out, “the need for the scope to be mounted an inch or so to the left of the bore line” is what prevents the rifle from functioning well, even when properly zeroed. This is precisely why accurate replicas and controlled builds have become the only viable route: the original idea is interesting, but the original rifles are hard to come by, and the system requires proper components and proper installation to function acceptably.
SHOT 2026 helped decipher CMP’s long-range plan. New toolings and modern machining ensure the Garand remains relevant once the surplus market finally dries up, and the salvage process breathes new life into long-forgotten drill collections by repurposing them into functional rifles with a proven, tested pedigree. Collectors will appreciate it for preserving authenticity by removing the need to disassemble a rare example, while shooters will appreciate it for keeping the most iconic service rifles in the business doing what they were made to do: put lead downrange, not on a shelf.
