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Posted: 6/3/2003 4:50:04 AM EDT
[#1]
I did just what you suggested to mine. I like clean rifles.
My shooting buddy thinks I "ruined" it by sanding out the dings, but I like it the way it turned out. Mine shoots great. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:03:41 AM EDT
[#2]
It's your gun, do what you like. I don't mind shooting an ugly gun especially an M-1 as long as it's a good shooter.
A good way to strip the stock is to use oven cleaner. Spary it on, let it sit for no more than 20 minutes. Scrub with a soft brush and rinse with cold water. Neutralize the lye that gets in the grain by rinsing again with a white vinegar and water solution. Let dry completely. Repeat as necessary. Sand it or steam out the dents (your choice) then use Minwax Dark or black walnut stain. Let it dry and seal with 1 part boiled linseed oil and 2 parts mineral spirits. When applying the BLO and mineral spirits hang up the stock and apply liberally. Let it dry for about an hour or two then wipe it off. Do that a couple of times so the solution soaks into the wood. Then over time hand rub it in. If you want the stock to naturally darken over time, skip the stain and just go with the BLO and mineral spirits treatment over and over and over and.... |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:34:26 AM EDT
[#3]
i would clean it up and leave it as is.
That rifle has a history. every ding you remove lessens that story. Just my opinion but a war horse like that deserves to be preserved. If you must replace the wood save the old stock. I picked up a k98 mauser a couple of years ago. the wood was rough but not bad. While restoring it i found shrapnal in the stock and blood pitting around the trigger guard and under the top handguard. I cleaned it up and left it alone at that point. A soldier probobly died with that gun. Enemy or not they deserve to be remembered. mike |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:52:09 AM EDT
[#4]
Don't use sandpaper because it will take the "character" out of the stock. Instead, steam the dents out like Subeke said. Moisten a cotton cloth (I use old T shirts), drape it over the stock and hold a clothes iron to it. If you have a steam iron, even better. The steam will lift the dent although it may take 2-3 tries.
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:56:58 AM EDT
[#5]
Teach yourself how to bump-fire it!
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:58:22 AM EDT
[#6]
Get another one, or two, or three...
Leave a couple as they are, choose a couple that have the most 'correct' parts and just clean them up a little with some mineral spirits and elbow grease. Send one to Dean at Dean's Gun Restoration and have him make it look like it's brand spanking new. Put a .308 barrel on it. Use this rifle for match shooting. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 6:02:10 AM EDT
[#7]
ok, no major restorations. new stocks, repark etc.
Quoted: Don't use sandpaper because it will take the "character" out of the stock. Instead, steam the dents out like Subeke said. Moisten a cotton cloth (I use old T shirts), drape it over the stock and hold a clothes iron to it. If you have a steam iron, even better. The steam will lift the dent although it may take 2-3 tries. sounds interesting. how big a dent can you lift out? i got dents that are 1/16" deep. will it remove those or just surface scratches? what's the best way to clean the stock without stripping most of the existing finish. i was thinking orange cleaner or hot soapy water. then maybe just oil it. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 6:03:13 AM EDT
[#8]
Quoted: Get another one, or two, or three... Leave a couple as they are, choose a couple that have the most 'correct' parts and just clean them up a little with some mineral spirits and elbow grease. Send one to Dean at Dean's Gun Restoration and have him make it look like it's brand spanking new. Put a .308 barrel on it. Use this rifle for match shooting. na, i got an M1A for target shooting. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 6:05:57 AM EDT
[#9]
Quoted: ok, no major restorations. new stocks, repark etc. what's the best way to clean the stock without stripping most of the existing finish. i was thinking orange cleaner or hot soapy water. then maybe just oil it. Here's another trick... Take your stocks, less the metal parts, and put them in the dishwasher. Just a little soap. Run it, but remove the stock before the heated drying stage!!! This should clean it pretty well. Then rub down with 0000 steel wool, steam out any dents left. When dry, wipe on some BLO. Let it dry for 24 hours. Do several coats. Finish with a coat of Tung Oil Finish. Hand rub with a soft cloth. It should come out to a good GI look. and about the M1A... But it doesn't give you that happy, healthy PING!! after the 8th round! I've shot both, and the recoil of the M1A feels markedly sharper than the M1. The M1 is a pleasant shove. I could shoot mine all day. Good luck on it, and POST PICS!!!! |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 6:17:12 AM EDT
[#10]
That touchable history is irreplaceable ,
I collect old combat weapons and consider them my most prized possesions.(especially the M1s) If you think about it there were times that your rifle was the most important thing in the world to a man who fought and perhaps even died. I consider it an absolute sin to restore these weapons. Restoring won't make it perform any better yet takes so much away from it. Consider leaving it as is, You won't be sorry. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 6:21:27 AM EDT
[#11]
Quoted: That touchable history is irreplaceable , I collect old combat weapons and consider them my most prized possesions.(especially the M1s) If you think about it there were times that your rifle was the most important thing in the world to a man who fought and perhaps even died. I consider it an absolute sin to restore these weapons. Restoring won't make it perform any better yet takes so much away from it. Consider leaving it as is, You won't be sorry. ok, point taken. but you must maintain a rifle. usually gun oil for the metal and linseed oil for the wood and you have to clean the rifle before putting the oil on. my question is how much. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 6:49:26 AM EDT
[#12]
I would use tung oil rather than boiled linseed oil. If you get in a firefight, a BLO finished stock can start smoking. Tung oil doesn't do this.
Of course, if you don't anticipate heavy combat, it may not matter. [:D] |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 7:02:27 AM EDT
[#13]
heavy combat???
that's all i anticipate! i just use BLO because that is what springfield recommends. i am always open to new suggestions |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 7:09:11 AM EDT
[#14]
Please, no sanding.
A 1/16" dent in the wood is not too deep. As said above, a few applications of steaming will reduce, maybe eliminate the dent. IMPORTANT: it helps GREATLY to remove all the surface finish, including that little bit within the dent, when steaming. Think about it. You want the steam to penetrate the wood, and expand the wood. Can't do that well, if at all, if the stock has much finish on it, especially in the critical area of the dent you wish to raise. Use a little mineral spirits and a soft brush on the actual dent itself before steaming. You will fare much better. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 8:50:17 AM EDT
[#15]
You'll want to closely inspect the stock before you go at it with any steel wool or, God forbid, sand paper. There may be cartouches on it that give it character and history - especially look on the left side of the buttstock. You don't want to accidentally sand or steel wool one of those off.
When I got my Garand, I cleaned it with the oven cleaner method and refinished the stock. The only problem was that I didn't use whitening to get all the oil out of the pistol grip area - the finish really didn't adhere well in that area. You can pick up whitening at Brownell's - you mix it with a solvent (I used acetone) into a paste, brush it onto the stock and as it dries it draws the oil out of the wood. I used it when I refinished my CMP 1903A3 and it really makes a difference. |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 2:15:10 PM EDT
[#16]
Sporterize it!
[peep] |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 2:19:01 PM EDT
[#17]
Go here: [url]http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/garand/garand.pl[/url]
They are the AR15.com of M1's |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 3:19:10 PM EDT
[#18]
Do what makes you happy. My M1's are happiest among friends.
[img]http://www.adcofirearms.com/m1pile.jpg[/img] |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 3:24:59 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted: Do what makes you happy. My M1's are happiest among friends. [url]http://www.adcofirearms.com/m1pile.jpg[/url] Are all those yours? Very cool, I could outfit a whole squad. Want to join my unit? |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 3:35:26 PM EDT
[#20]
Those are my M1's that arent "safe worthy", a tip of the iceburg. I buy my limit and my dads limit every year. It's too easy when I only live 45 minutes from the CMP store.
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Posted: 6/3/2003 3:53:58 PM EDT
[#21]
Quoted: Those are my M1's that arent "safe worthy", a tip of the iceburg. I buy my limit and my dads limit every year. It's too easy when I only live 45 minutes from the CMP store. Holy crap, I'm jealous [:(] Mind putting up a pic of the 'rest of the iceberg'? Edit: Might I ask how much you make, and how many years that took to aquire? Just interested [;D] |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 4:04:06 PM EDT
[#22]
Quoted: Do what makes you happy. My M1's are happiest among friends. [url]http://www.adcofirearms.com/m1pile.jpg[/url] [yosemite sam voice on] Ahhhhh hates youuuu![/yosemite sam voice off] |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 4:15:56 PM EDT
[#23]
Sorry, its more work than I want to do to take them all out(I have them packed pretty tight). I've been collecting Garands for 7 years, and after lots of buying, swapping/trading I have a very complete collection. Still hunting for the gas trap, that I wont be able to afford :-(
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Posted: 6/3/2003 4:58:26 PM EDT
[#24]
You dont need to take em out, just take a pic of the pile.. not like i'm trying to read the SN# on each reciver [;D]
How much do you think you spent on the guns alone? (sorry for n00b questions, for Im not exactly a veteran shooter/gun-collector... yet) |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:08:04 PM EDT
[#25]
Quoted: Do what makes you happy. My M1's are happiest among friends. [url]http://www.adcofirearms.com/m1pile.jpg[/url] Bling! Bling! Very nice "set of tools" you have there BigBore! If I ever get up your way I will have to give you a call![:D] BigDozer66 |
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Posted: 6/3/2003 5:52:08 PM EDT
[#26]
Alsmot forgot.. My opinion on restoring.
If it's a practice rifle (IE: issued, carried through training, then surp'ed), do whatever and shoot the crap out of it. If you've got a piece on the other hand, that's got alot of centimental value to it (IE: has seen battle, has blood on it, has a bloody bayonet, has obvious proof that the guy carrying it was KIA), I would preserve it, and lock it up. Another C&R/CMP rifle isnt too expensive. Hell, you can allways restore if you really *must*, but you might live to regret the restoration. Nothing wrong with having one collectable and one shoot-to-shit copy of a gun. |
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