Army Rifles by Mail, Legally: Inside the Civilian Marksmanship Program

Prove you are a U.S. citizen, show club membership and some marksmanship activity, sign a notarized form and clear an FBI background check, and a corporation chartered by Congress will send a surplus U.S. military rifle by FedEx to your front door. In most states that is not a loophole or a leftover from 1950s mail-order catalogs. It is written into Title 36 of the U.S. Code.

The seller is not, strictly speaking, the government

The popular version says the government sells rifles by mail. The statute is more careful. Under 36 U.S.C. 40701, the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety is “a federally chartered corporation” and “a private corporation, not a department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government.” The CMP describes itself as a federally chartered 501(c)(3) whose programs are “made possible by the secure restoration and sale of historic American firearms.”

The rifles stay federal property until the last moment. Section 40728 has the Army transfer surplus rifles to the corporation, with title vesting “immediately before the corporation delivers the item to a purchaser.” It also bars the Army from demilitarizing an M1 Garand unless the Defense Logistics Agency finds it unserviceable. GAO reported in 2019 that the Army had transferred over 700,000 surplus firearms to the program since 1996, and that surplus rifle sales brought in $196.8 million from fiscal 2008 through 2017.

From Roosevelt’s rifle board to Title 36

In 1903, according to the CMP’s published history, Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and the National Matches, first held that year at Sea Girt, New Jersey. By 1905 the board could sell military rifles, ammunition and equipment to civilian rifle clubs. In 1907 the matches were held at Camp Perry, Ohio, for the first time, and the National Defense Act of 1916 created the Office of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship.

On February 10, 1996, President Clinton signed the law (Public Law 104-106, Title XVI) that moved the program into the new corporation. The CMP began program operations at Camp Perry and sales operations in Anniston, Alabama, where, the statute notes, the Army had stored its M1 Garand and .22 rimfire rifles at the Defense Distribution Depot. In 1998 Congress recodified the charter as 36 U.S.C. 40701 and following.

Yes, it ships to your door. Here is the legal reason

Ordinary federal law generally keeps a rifle from being shipped across state lines straight to an unlicensed buyer. Under 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3), an unlicensed person may not receive in his home state a firearm obtained outside it, and 922(a)(5) bars unlicensed transfers to residents of other states.

The CMP’s answer is 36 U.S.C. 40733(a): 922(a)(1) through (3) and (a)(5) do not apply to “the shipment, transportation, receipt, transfer, sale, issuance, loan, or delivery by the corporation” of items it may sell. That is a statutory exemption, not a curio-and-relic privilege. You do not need a C&R license, although the CMP accepts one as proof of firearms activity.

The exemption has edges. For firearms other than .22 rimfire and .30-caliber rifles, section 40733(b) requires the CMP to act as a licensed dealer, and its 1911 pistols ship only to a Type 01, 02 or 07 licensee. Apart from that exemption, section 40732 keeps sales “subject to applicable United States, State, and local law.” The CMP’s eligibility page, updated July 8, 2026, requires residents of California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington to receive rifles through an FFL dealer. Everywhere else, the CMP’s Garand page says FedEx needs someone 21 or older to sign, and the driver scans a government ID. Nothing ships to Puerto Rico.

The eligibility stack

The statute limits sales to individuals to “a citizen of the United States who is legally of age and who is a member of a gun club affiliated with the corporation,” requires a criminal records check, and bars anyone convicted of a felony or of violating 18 U.S.C. 922. The CMP turns that into four sets of documents.

Since January 7, 2025, buyers are limited to twelve surplus rifles a year, .22s excluded. The 2025 order form takes credit cards only.

What the CMP actually has in September 2026

The popular image is a bottomless Alabama warehouse of issue Garands. The CMP’s listings, checked September 29, 2026, say otherwise.

The maker in a listing covers less than buyers assume: “Manufacturer selection guarantees only that the receiver was produced by the manufacturer listed.” And “reclaimed” is doing work. Even the CMP’s recent Service, Field and Rack Garands were built on reclaimed receivers, and The Firearm Blog, covering the 1903A3 launch in April 2026, said that model’s receivers came from guns that were “at one time, non-fireable,” such as honor-guard drill rifles.

The Garand page also advises against .30-06 ammunition loaded beyond 50,000 CUP and with bullets heavier than 172–174 grains. Our milsurp rifle ammo guide explains why the gas system is picky.

Pistols, and possibly shotguns: what Congress added

The fiscal 2016 defense authorization act (Public Law 114-92, section 1087), signed November 25, 2015, let the Army transfer surplus .45 M1911/M1911A1 pistols to the CMP, capped at “not more than 10,000” a year. Per GAO, the fiscal 2018 act then required “not fewer than 8,000 in fiscal year 2018.”

Military Times reported that the Army transferred 8,000 pistols in January 2018. Shooting Sports USA reported in May 2018 that most would go out by “a computer randomized lottery,” at $1,050 for Service Grade, $950 for Field and $850 for Rack. Military Times, citing GAO, counted 19,000 requests for those 8,000 pistols, and GAO dated the first sales to November 2018.

The lottery era is over. The CMP’s pistol page, last modified August 25, 2026, says the backlog is filled and new orders are processed in two to four weeks, in the order received. The lifetime limit rose from two pistols to four in May 2025. The page does not say how many remain.

A December 2025 law (Public Law 119-60, section 1062) authorized one-time transfers of surplus pump-action shotguns from the Army, Navy and Air Force, excluding short-barreled shotguns. Each service must first report its shotgun numbers to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, then wait 60 days. The CMP’s sales page listed no shotguns as of September 29, 2026.

The same law directs the Secretary of the Army to brief those committees, after the investigation has concluded, on the results of an investigation by ATF and the Army Criminal Investigation Division “regarding unaccounted for pistols at the corporation.” The statute does not say what the investigation has found, how many pistols are involved or when it will conclude.

Anniston, Talladega and a summer at Camp Perry

Mail order is luck of the draw. The stores are not. The CMP invites buyers to “personally handle rifles and hand-pick your treasure,” and asks them to review eligibility requirements first. There are three: the South Store in Anniston, Alabama; the North Store on the Camp Perry Training Site at Port Clinton, Ohio; and a store in Talladega, Alabama, home of the Talladega Marksmanship Park the CMP opened in 2016.

Camp Perry also hosts the CMP’s biggest event. The 2026 National Matches ran July 12 through August 8, including vintage rifle matches July 29 through August 2. The John C. Garand Match joined the program in 1999, and clubs list Garand matches on the CMP’s events calendar. Match results count as marksmanship proof. To pair a store trip with a show, check the gun show calendar.

Why a CMP rifle reads differently on a show table

When a CMP rifle comes back out at a show, ask for its paperwork. The CMP says “a complete Certificate of Authenticity accompanies each rifle purchased from the CMP.” A certificate whose serial number matches the receiver is real provenance: it ties that rifle to its route into civilian hands. It does not prove wartime configuration. Our M1 Garand collector guide covers reading the rifle, and the provenance guide covers weighing the papers.

Service, Field and Rack are the CMP’s condition categories at the time of sale, defined by bore, muzzle gauge, metal and wood. A tag reading “CMP Service Grade” is a claim about history; a rifle shot for twenty years since is a used rifle. Expert Grade is a reclaimed receiver with a new barrel and stock. It should not carry an originality premium.

The warranty is the quiet trap. The CMP’s limited lifetime warranty covers “the original purchaser” and “is not transferable,” so no seller can hand it to you. The 2025 order form went further, selling rifles “AS IS” with a one-year defect warranty and having buyers acknowledge a rifle “may not be safe for me to use in the condition in which I receive it.” If the CMP tells its own customers that, a show buyer should budget for a gunsmith’s inspection.

Buying from the CMP vs at a show: what to compare

For issue-grade Garands the comparison is lopsided: the CMP cannot sell you one today, so the secondary market is the only source. For a newly barreled shooter, the CMP is a real alternative.

A show Garand priced near the Expert figure has to justify itself with originality or condition the CMP cannot offer, and our show-versus-online pricing comparison covers how to run that math.

What this means at the show table

1. Ask whether the rifle came from the CMP, and see the paperwork before talking price.
2. Match the serial on the paperwork to the receiver. Papers for another rifle are not provenance.
3. Ask what grade it was sold as, and when.
4. Read the receiver maker, then everything else. The CMP’s maker listing covered only the receiver.
5. Look for a new commercial barrel and stock. Price those rifles as shooters.
6. Do not pay extra for the warranty. It stayed with the first buyer.
7. Check the CMP’s current listing first. That grade may not exist new.
8. Budget for a gunsmith inspection and Garand-appropriate ammunition.
9. Follow the transfer rules for the seller in front of you. The CMP’s exemptions end at its loading dock.

The CMP’s shelf is empty of the classic Garand grades, but the rifles it already sold are still out there. Know what the paperwork proves and what the CMP would charge you today, and you will know what you are looking at.