Garand Has Arrived!

[Birddog1911]

My Garand got here promptly this morning. Glad I had one day of leave left! A 5.8 mil SA, looking a little rough for what I was expecting. Bummed to see a large ding in the bayonet lug; gonna replace the gas cylinder at some point in the future.

Wood looked a bit rough, with some pretty decent dents in it. I took some advice that I had read, and disassembled everything, and threw the wood parts in the dishwasher. It did an amazing job! Not only did it clean off 50+ years of oil, comsoline, and junk, but it also raised almost every dent in the wood! Once it dries, then comes the boiled linseed oil and reassembly.

Should have taken before pictures, but I will have pictures when I get everything back together.

[rondog]

Sweet! Nothing like an M1! CMP?

[cowboykjohnson]

congrats[Beer]

[Irving]

Wood looked a bit rough, with some pretty decent dents in it. I took some advice that I had read, and disassembled everything, and threw the wood parts in the dishwasher. It did an amazing job! Not only did it clean off 50+ years of oil, comsoline, and junk, but it also raised almost every dent in the wood! Once it dries, then comes the boiled linseed oil and reassembly.



Subscribed. Very interested in this process.

[Birddog1911]

Yes, it is a CMP service grade.

Stock was pretty simple so far. Just pulled the the wood, took off all of the metal, and threw it right in the dishwasher. Ran it on normal cycle, let it dry, and pulled it out. Doesn't even look like I'll be ironing any other dents out.

In a couple of days when I have ensured that the stock is thoroughly dry, then sand it from 100 to 300. Then I'll start with the BLO with rags, and the last couple of coats will be hand rubbed in so that a little hand friction will help it soak in.

After that, I'll decide whether to knock down the sheen with some 0000 steel wool.

[rondog]

There's a lot of ways to refinish an M1 stock, have you read up on it at the CMP forums? Lots of great advice there.

I use a product called Fairtrimmers Military oX, it's a stain/oil/solvent mixture that's formulated especially for military rifle stocks. It's great stuff.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/FairtrimmersMilOxSigShot_122607-381.jpg

Apply it once, leave it on wet for about an hour, then wipe off the excess. I like to sit and rub it in by hand for an hour. You can assemble the rifle the same day and go shooting the next. After a week, rub a few coats of Tom's 1/3 stock wax on it and it's good to go.

Here's some pics of the carbine stock I did. I prefer to leave the "personality" of the dings, dents and scratches in the stocks, and just strip off the old finish and crud and renew the finish. I didn't dishwasher this stock, but I did scrub it several times with Dawn Power Dissolver, and cooked it a bunch in front of a space heater to sweat out as much oil as I could. It was just about as bare wood as I could get it.

It's "refreshed", but I think it still retains its personality and authenticity.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/DSCN2849.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/DSCN2847.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/DSCN2840.jpg

[Troublco]

Nice! Nothing like pulling a new Garand out of the box and tearing it down the first time.

[Birddog1911]

Nice! Nothing like pulling a new Garand out of the box and tearing it down the first time.

Yea, let me tell ya! That was a bit of work.

Sanded and first coat of BLO went on tonight. If I have time tomorrow morning, I'll hit it again.

[theGinsue]

Congrat's on the rifle. Sounds like you have a bit of work ahead of you but the end result should be nothing short of fantastic.

Keep us well informed!

[Birddog1911]

Stock looked well dry last night, and I put the first coat of BLO on last night, and a second one this morning. Gotta love living in dry Colorado! That wood sucked up the first two coats nicely.

As a note, the grip area on the stock turned very dark with the first coat of oil. I'm wondering if perhaps my cleaning method did not remove 100% of the oil from that area, as that is where most of it gets in the deepest. Not a worry for me, it's still looking good.

I will post pics when I'm done.

[rondog]

Stock looked well dry last night, and I put the first coat of BLO on last night, and a second one this morning. Gotta love living in dry Colorado! That wood sucked up the first two coats nicely.

As a note, the grip area on the stock turned very dark with the first coat of oil. I'm wondering if perhaps my cleaning method did not remove 100% of the oil from that area, as that is where most of it gets in the deepest. Not a worry for me, it's still looking good.

I will post pics when I'm done.

The grip area should have a lot of "end grain" there, which will soak up like a sponge. Good luck on the refinish, and yes, photos please! We all love gun pron!

[Irving]

Did you ever finish this one?