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Posted: 9/30/2013 7:57:07 PM EDT
My boss gave this to me as a bonus today. Its going to be a shooter so Im not looking for a show piece. I do however would like it to match and darken it up a bit. Any wisdom and advice would be appreciated on how to get there from here.
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Remove the old finish. Steam out the dents. Use boiled linseed oil with sanding - use 600 grit and let the sanding slurry fill the pores. Allow the oil to cure. Then add more oil and sand some more. Keep doing this until you are satisfied. I agree with this for the most part. I suggest 000 Steel wool rubbings between coats. hand rub the BLO. this tends to be a To Each His Own thing. |
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I tend to like a dull/non-reflective finish on my rifles.
I used BLO for the first 2 or 3 and then ran into one that just looked like I'd sand blasted it instead of refinished it. It happened to be an HI&R stock (just for info). A buddy recommended I try tung oil instead and it went right on over the BLO and gave me a finish/look similar to my SA rifles with BLO on them. I was happy. A little while later I had a second rifle stock end up with the same sand blasted look (by coincidence??) it was also and H&R stock - both H&Rs had walnut stocks, not birch). I tried the tung oil on it and it also took care of my issues with its appearance. I don't sand or steel wool my M1 stocks. I don't want a smooth, shiny wood stock. I want a finish that will not let the wood soak up water (or at least as waterproof as I can get). I did do one in polyurethane once. My very first M1 Garand. A Dec. 1944 SA that showed up from the CMP with the original barrel on it. When I stripped it the walnut stock had beautiful grain and the handguards matched the stock (to an unusual degree). The wood was so pretty (and I wasn't going to shoot it much anyway - I shoot one of its siblings, another Dec. 1944 SA with a 1953 LMR barrel that shoots like a match rifle) I just couldn't cover it up with oil. Go to the M14 forum.com and look at some of the M1 Garand and M1A stocks those guys have refinished. It might give you some ideas on what to try and how to do it. |
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You are going to have to clean off the old finish with acetone, paying special attention to any spots that you might want to steam out. The steam needs a way into the wood, and any finish that prevents this from happening works against the steaming process. Practice steaming-out on some scrap hardwood before working on the stock itself. After that, you will want to steel-wool (000 and 0000) the stock. Remove ALL metal from the stock, and apply finish/oil everywhere inside and out.
The steaming process can change the color of the wood slightly, so re-clean the whole rifle after the steaming process. and it will be pretty uniform as long as all the wood is of the same species, either walnut of birch. If you come across a piece that is a non-matching species, swap it out for correct species of wood. |
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Use CitriStripper Furniture Stripper to get all the old finish off the wood. Especially the lower handgaurd which looks like it has varnish or TruOil on it. Once you get the varnish off, I like to put mine in the dishwasher, That gets rid of all the oil finishes and steams out the dents. Many people do not like using the dishwasher, feeling it is hard on the wood. I use it on all my older GI stocks. CitriStripper, Purple Power, or some form of liquid degreaser to clean off the stock. Then, once clean, steam out the dents using a wet rag, and an Iron.
I would not sand too much with very fine sandpaper. You don't want it so slick that it is slippery when you or it is wet/sweaty. USGI stocks were originall finished with about 100 grit. I usually go no more than 220. As you add oil to the stock, it will fill the pores and smoothen out with handling. As for oil. The original military finish was Raw Linseed Oil, with never really hardens and is not a really great moisture barrier. It does age, and turn reddish brown over time, which is why so many of those old USGI stocks are that color. Boil Linseed Oil hardens a bit better, since it has driers added to it. It also will age/darken, but not as much nor as quickly as RLO. Tung Oil is a little better in moisture repelling, but does not change color as it ages. Stain was never used on USGI stocks, though some stocks were treated with an Iodine solution to prevent mildew. I'm not sure what kind of wood you have, but if it is a mix of birch and walnut you will never get them to match color wise even with staining. I would consider a new stock from Dupage. Dupage reportedly uses Boyds stocks, but trims them to WW2 USGI dimensions. Boyds stocks are very fat, made to Post WW2 dimensions. Boyds occassionally makes a run of WW2 profile stocks. Or check out eBay. I prefer, and so do most people, the look of walnut to birch. Here are two pics of the same USGI stock, taken about 4 years apart. Finish is BLO. Stock was stripped, then washed with wood bleech. then finished in BLO. 
Son's Garand with Dupage stock. Finished in about 3 coats of BLO. 
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Try Tom's cleaner/sealer mix. It's easy and I liked it. I used it on my M1D. Link for instructions
M1D on left, M1 with new stock on the right (I used my BLO process mentioned above on it). 
What the D looked like before. 
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Does your boss have any more M1's to give away as bonus's? Sounds like a pretty good boss.
What manufacture, and serial number range is the M1? Is it correct, mostly correct or a mix-master? Does the Stock have any Cartouches'? If it doesn't, you could always buy a complete M1 Stock Set from the CMP for around $150. Either way, being given an M1, is still cool. |
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Man I was so surprised when he gave it to me. I was really happy. Its a Springfield Armory S# is 174XXXX
I looked it up here HERE it said 1943. It does not have any Cartouche marks though. After looking over the stock again I think I am going to buy a CMP stock. The current stock has a lot of gouges that have cracks around them. |
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I would leave it as it is. Otherwise, remove the stock metal, and put it in the dishwasher, detergent and all, for a complete cycle, including the dry cycle. You will be amazed at how much oil, and how many dents come out of it. Give it a light sanding, and start oiling it again with tung oil. |
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First thing to do is shoot it, and see if the rifle is accurate in that stock.
If not--do the tilt test, and see if the op rod is binding or rubbing anywhere in the stock channel If it shoots good, and there are no cartouches, I'd just toss it in the dishwasher with some Cascade and see how it cleans up. That's a ten cent approach--and add in a couple or three hours for re-oiling the stock. Is accuracy a real goal, or are you mostly looking toward the aesthetics? That stock will probably (repeat: probably) never shoot as good as a new (Dupage or DGR) stock--but who knows, it might. If you like working with wood (and I do) I'd order in a Dupage unfinished stock ($100) and have at it. It'll set you back about ten man hours--but it is fun as shit, working up a sweet stock for your Garand. I go 100/220/400 grit, to remove the sanding marks of the previous grit. Knock down every sharp edge and round ever sharp corner with 100 grit--sharp edges on a 70 year old rifle just look "off"--and that's what makes a "new" stock look so retarded on a Garand. After you are done sanding, wipe the stock down with mineral spirits, to clean the sawdust out of the grain. Let it dry for a couple hours. Then go over the stock uniformly with a lightly damp (not wet) washcloth with piping hot water--hot as you can stand. You just want to open up the grain of the wood. Good hot water will evaporate away fast--and afterward, you ought to dry let the stock dry out good. Overnight works. I personally like to stain my stocks with Minwax. (Red Mahogany or Dark Walnut) because it waterproofs and seals them pretty good. Tung oil or BLO, whichever, so long as you aren't planning on shooting a match in the rain. If you are--go Tung, and use Marine Varnish on the ends, in the inletting and under the buttplate. (NOTE: Use REAL Tung oil--in a plastic bottle, not a metal can, real tung oil does not come in metal cans--the stuff at your local hardware store is wiping varnish, not tung oil--Woodworkers Warehouse has real Tung Oil) Dean's Guns (DGR) sells real nice Dupage stocks that have been match fitted, and you can finish them yourself. Look under "Fitted Unfinished" at his website. You could do the match fitting yourself--but I'd say he earns his pay. He does good work. Good luck. |
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Quoted: Man I was so surprised when he gave it to me. I was really happy. Its a Springfield Armory S# is 174XXXX I looked it up here HERE it said 1943. It does not have any Cartouche marks though. After looking over the stock again I think I am going to buy a CMP stock. The current stock has a lot of gouges that have cracks around them. |
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I'd get it cleaned up really well and finish it with Real Milk PTO at a 50/50 mix with no-odor mineral spirits. When the finish starts to look correct, use Tom's 1/3 mix : http://www.thegunstockdoctor.com/Products.html
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/DouginAlaska/m1garand.jpg |
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Quoted:
I'd get it cleaned up really well and finish it with Real Milk PTO at a 50/50 mix with no-odor mineral spirits. When the finish starts to look correct, use Tom's 1/3 mix : http://www.thegunstockdoctor.com/Products.html Is that a Dupage stock? Came out nice... |
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