Finally My 1st Garand

[oldfoneguy]

Hello all well I've finally taken the plunge and got myself an M1 Garand to play with. I'm not unfamiliar with the platform as I've had an M1A since the early 80's. The stars and planets have finally aligned and yesterday I got myself a big boy. Only 35 years late! Now for the details,

CMP Service Grade.
5.4 million serial puts receiver to early 1955, 11/54 dated barrel, ME gauges at 1-, TE gauges at 2 +. Bolt and op rod match serial, trigger group is all over WWII. Replacement CMP stock. This was originally purchased from CMP in 2007 and looks like it hasn't been shot since. Clean shiny bore, tight lockup, dying to get it to the range!

Without having used it yet my questions are minimal.
What bayonet is correct for that time period?
What sling is correct again for '55?
What history would this peacetime rifle have?
Did these come with a CMP certificate in 2007? One didn't come with it.
Didn't come with a Plano case, did they ship that way back then?

My objective was to get a shooter. I didn't want a really used up rifle that patterns just because it has a service history. Equally I didn't want a rebuilt rifle whose only history is its serial number. So I ended up with one that to me has no real history that I know of unless someone here has better info.

Will add more pics once I have them.

Information

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