I got the 1917 from Big Al at Ready on the Right. I called him because I was in a bidding war online, and suspected the price was exceeding the value of the gun. Not only was I right, turns out he had one in stock!
The CMP ships via FedEx. However, the shipping prices are actually quite reasonable... seems they get one MAJOR discount from the overnight guys! I only wish the same applied to other outfits.
CMP also sells .30 carbine and .22 ammo, although at nowhere near the savings as their .30-06. And, of course, they sell rifles. Currently have Garands and M1 Carbines in stock.
Packages from CMP come directly to you. If you are ordering a gun, just take it straight to HPD as an out-of-state purchase. You have to jump thru a few hoops for them regarding paperwork, but once you've done that, you're golden for 3 years.
The downside to CMP is that it takes them months to process your order. Months. It's averaged about 3 months for me, but people have reported longer waits. Which makes planning for the future a little risky. If you're off-island when they notify you that the order has shipped, you're kinda screwed. FedEx will only attempt delivery 3 days, then they ship it back. And, of course, someone has to be there to sign for it. I've taken more than one day off of work just to sit and wait for the FedEx guy with my rifles or ammo.