I was thinking of stripping it completely down and hosing the metal with brake cleaner, rinsing with
H20, drying with a hair dryer, and lubing with Tetra grease and CLP.

I thought read that folks clean up their wood with EZoff and then apply Tung Oil.

Are there any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jeff

Hot water.

EZ off will clean up wood soaked in cosmoline, but you will have to sand it after the wood finally dries out.

HOT water and soap are very effective for cosmoline removal.  

Quoted: Hot water works.  Never used soap though. I have heard of using Steam, anyone tried this?  A steam gun.

Yes!  Steam works very well.  Hot water / steam is the only thing I use.

Where does one get a steam gun?  Can they be rented?

ETA: Nevermind.   Google is my friend.

Quoted: EZ off will clean up wood soaked in cosmoline, but you will have to sand it after the wood finally dries out. HOT water and soap are very effective for cosmoline removal.

I'm a little concerned about sanding the wood.  I want to keep the authentic look of the wood without prettying it up too much.  I guess I'll just try hot water first.

I have that same steam gun from Walmart. Works well on other projects around the house too.

I refinished a CMP Garand this year.

The wood was in such poor condition that I decided to use a less desirable method of finishing because the wood was so pitted out and I needed to fill the voids beyond that which wet sanding would achieve.

I sprayed and scrubbed with a green kitchen scrubber and hot water about four times until I got all the gunk off. Do this OUTSIDE!!!! That oven cleaner stuff has fumes that will knock your socks off!!!

Then I just let the stock and handguards dry in my shed for about three or four days.

After drying, I sanded the stock briefly with medium/course sandpaper, then worked down to fine and just rubbed it down for a while.

Then I applied one coat of stain to the buttstock, and three coats to the handguards in order to make the birch match the walnut.

Then I applied about 12 coats of spray polyurethane to it, allowing it to dry for about three hours in between.

It came out as good as I could have expected for a piece of wood that looked like it had been at the bottom of the ocean for 100 years.

Many people do not use this method because they say the polyurethane will bubble when it gets real hot. I did this Garand and a WASR like this and have had no problems.

You can also use the Birchwood Casey stock refinish kit that is sold many places. It has a syrup-like finish material that will fill voids along with their wet sanding technique that is listed in their enclosed manual depending on what your wood condition is. I refinished some CETME wood with this kit and it turned out real nice.

These two methods are not military finish techniques. Using tung oil or boiled linseed oil will give you a more authentic finish if the wood is good enough.

Put it in a dishwasher.Works great.The hanguards may crack so you might want to use another method on those.


As far as stain I use the Dark walnut from Chestnut Ridge followed by multiple coats of boiled linseed oil.

Barbarians!

p102.ezboard.com/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34

Put down the oven cleaner and tru oil and step away from the rifle.

JR

Quoted: Barbarians! p102.ezboard.com/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34 Put down the oven cleaner and tru oil and step away from the rifle. JR

LINKY NO WORKY.

Most of the greek M-1s were packed in axle greese, not cosmoline.  Cosmo is a very dark and solid film type substance.  If what you have is greasy feeling, and not solid and slighty tacky feeling, you have grease to remove.

If grease, try mild solvents first, like mineral spirits, then go stronger as necessary.

I have seen more than a dozen greek garands, and have not seen cosmo on one yet.

The O3-A3's are definately slathered in cosmo. though.

Grease vs cosmo....

The description give is correct....  Grease is "greasy"....  Cosmo is relatively "hard" and very tacky, usually a darker color too.

Re the Greek '03's...  The Greek A3 I got back in 2002 when they were first released was covered in grease.  Same as the Greek M1's.

Now the Dane's on the other hand....   Some of those WERE completely dipped in hot cosmo and hung to drip until it gelled.  I received 3 that way.   Other Danes did indeed have grease on them, just like the Greeks.

As far as cleanup goes...   Go HERE for how I did it:  www.swampworks.com/SwampysStuff-Home.html

Best to all,
Swampy

Garands forever

Quoted: Grease vs cosmo.... The description give is correct....  Grease is "greasy"....  Cosmo is relatively "hard" and very tacky, usually a darker color too. Re the Greek '03's...  The Greek A3 I got back in 2002 when they were first released was covered in grease.  Same as the Greek M1's. Now the Dane's on the other hand....   Some of those WERE completely dipped in hot cosmo and hung to drip until it gelled.  I received 3 that way.   Other Danes did indeed have grease on them, just like the Greeks. As far as cleanup goes...   Go HERE for how I did it:  www.swampworks.com/SwampysStuff-Home.html Best to all, Swampy Garands forever

Thanks Swampy.  I looked at your site and your rifles came out beautifully!  

Did you disasemble the front handguard from the liner before you put it in the dishwasher?  I can't figure out how to get the liner out of the guard without destroying one of them.

Thanks,
Jeff

Quoted:  I can't figure out how to get the liner out of the guard without destroying one of them. Thanks, Jeff

You have to bend the tabs at one end to remove the liner. The liner will then slide out.  The tabs can break off if they have been worked before.

Also, the "liner" provides a lot of support for the handguard.  It is very fragile when it is removed.  Handle with care.

Did you disasemble the front handguard from the liner before you put it in the dishwasher?

No.....

best regards,
Swampy

Garands forever

Quoted: Quoted:  I can't figure out how to get the liner out of the guard without destroying one of them. Thanks, Jeff You have to bend the tabs at one end to remove the liner. The liner will then slide out.  The tabs can break off if they have been worked before. Also, the "liner" provides a lot of support for the handguard.  It is very fragile when it is removed.  Handle with care.

To prevent the tabs from breaking off, after you remove the liner, aneal the tabs to red hot and using a suitable pair of pliers, straighten the tabs while red hot.  Let air cool and assemble the liner into the wood.  Make sure you use a spacer of some sort to hold the liner in place while bending the tabs onto the wood.

The anealing process will prevent the tabs from breaking off 99% of the time.  It also removes the finish from the liner.  So you might want to get the liner reparked before installation.

My Greek wasn't very coated at all.  I disassembled everything and then washed it in mineral spirits.  It actually dried the wood enough that I had to wipe it down with furniture oil a few times.  I'm going to do a full stock redo this winter.

Swampy...YOU RULE! Your website is the best! Made me drool all over my computer...GEW