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Refinishing the M1 Garand stock

Started by Blue Five, June 08, 2011, 11:26:05 PM

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Blue Five

June 08, 2011, 11:26:05 PM
Hi all,

I got my first M1 Garand from the CMP today  :) :) :).  It has a new stock on it that has no finish on it, so I was curious to know what sort of finish people would recommend putting on it.

Looking forward to hearing your input!  :)
"Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!" ~Captain John Parker, April 19, 1775.

Molōn labe! :--- 

eaglescouter

#1
June 08, 2011, 11:45:58 PM
The new CMP stocks as of a few months ago had some type of wax coating and brown coloring on them.  To work with them required stripping the finish off otherwise the normal oil based products that were historically used would not penetrate.

I use steam to strip, along with a plastic pot scrubber sponge.
Then when completely air dried (several days) I hand rub small amounts of pure tung oil from http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html
Old Guy:  Do it long enough and you get really good at it.

Rifleman:  Sacramento:  Four Ought Nine
Full Distance:  Red Bluff:  What year was that?
Pistoleer:  Hat Creek:  Three Twenty One

Make yourselves good scouts and good rifle shots in order to protect the women and children of your country if it should ever become necessary.
--Lord Baden-Powell
Scouting for Boys (1908)

Old Dog

#2
June 09, 2011, 05:09:12 PM
I use a spray/gel stripper from walmart.  I spray them, let it sit a few minutes and then with lots of water (water hose) and a green 3M pad I scrub all the old oil/crud/finish off the wood.  I set the stock in the sun, let it dry, spray it again with stripper and scrub with water and the 3M pad again.  That stuff will burn like fire if you get it on your skin so wear heavy rubber gloves, not latex gloves.

I let the stock dry for a couple of days, do whatever sanding I need to do and then start coating the wood (outside, cleaning kit holes in the butt stock, barrel channel, etc.) with tung oil.  Several coats of tung oil later I've got a pretty decent looking stock.

I tried boiled linseed oil and a couple of the stocks looked fine.  Then I had a couple of H&R stocks that just would not "come to life" with boiled linseed oil and with ornell's advice I tried tung oil.  I put the tung oil on over top of the boiled linseed oil and the wood still came back looking great.  Tung oil only for me now.
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."

—Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle

Spanner

#3
June 10, 2011, 12:18:40 PM
Quote from: Blue Five on June 08, 2011, 11:26:05 PM
It has a new stock on it that has no finish on it, so I was curious to know what sort of finish people would recommend putting on it.


Old Dog is right about the tung oil.  Real Milk Paint's Pure Tung Oil is where I got mine.

You are missing a real fun project by finishing a stock that hasn't been saturated with cosmoline.  Heat and gritless hand cleaner (automotive de-greasing stuff) works OK.
" Decision-making is the supreme manifestation of human dignity. "  -Jouvenel

KYWindage

#4
June 10, 2011, 01:04:00 PM
Quote from: Blue Five on June 08, 2011, 11:26:05 PM
Hi all,

I got my first M1 Garand from the CMP today  :) :) :).  It has a new stock on it that has no finish on it, so I was curious to know what sort of finish people would recommend putting on it.

Looking forward to hearing your input!  :)

Needs picture or cannot be believed....;)
"I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist."
--Article II of the Code of Conduct

Blue Five

#5
June 10, 2011, 02:07:22 PM
Quote from: KYWindage on June 10, 2011, 01:04:00 PM
Needs picture or cannot be believed....;)

I'll remedy that today while at the range  :---
"Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!" ~Captain John Parker, April 19, 1775.

Molōn labe! :--- 

Blue Five

#6
June 10, 2011, 02:09:31 PM
Thanks for the input so far, everyone!  I'm thinking of using the Tung oil that everyone has recommended (I'd be silly to ignore that advice  ++) ).

I'll put some pictures up of the Garand tonight so everyone can see if there is actually some sort of sealer or anything on the stock!

And next week I'll order some Tung oil and start finishing that stock :)
"Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!" ~Captain John Parker, April 19, 1775.

Molōn labe! :--- 

redneck

#7
June 10, 2011, 03:43:23 PM
Negatory on the Tung Oil there boss. It will work but..... Tung oil will look good but.... it takes forever for it to dry.

I only use Tung oil on the leather sling for the M1. To finish the wood you want a product called "True Oil". This is what they taught us to use at Gunsmithing school....... it is a mix of boiled linseed oil with drying agents. Get the liquid and rub it on by hand, no cloth or etc. Follow directions on the bottle and it works great.

eaglescouter

#8
June 10, 2011, 03:54:47 PM
Tung Oil, properly applied is absorbed while being rubbed in, then is wiped off leaving nothing to 'dry'.  Multiple applications over time are required if the desired result is to be obtained.  Application is one drop at a time rubbed with pressure of the bare hand to spread the oil as far as it can be spread before another drop is added to the next area to continue the application across the entire stock.

True Oil is more of a varnish which does have valid applications in rifle stocks, but is not the traditional finish used on the M1 Garand.
Old Guy:  Do it long enough and you get really good at it.

Rifleman:  Sacramento:  Four Ought Nine
Full Distance:  Red Bluff:  What year was that?
Pistoleer:  Hat Creek:  Three Twenty One

Make yourselves good scouts and good rifle shots in order to protect the women and children of your country if it should ever become necessary.
--Lord Baden-Powell
Scouting for Boys (1908)

MacMcM

#9
June 10, 2011, 04:19:36 PM
eaglescouter is historically correct.

My DCM Garand came oil-soaked, and not in cosmoline. My Gunny friend (Quantico Armorer) told me to strip it in the bathtub with EZ-Off oven cleaner and rinse with copious amounts of water, repeat 3 X. I, being a Chemist, decided to soak it in water with vinegar added since oven cleaner is caustic. Then he told me to stick it on top of the refrigerator for aweek to dry. I finished it by sanding, shellac sanding sealer, and 13 coats of hand rubbed Tru Oil (Birchwood Casey) with 0000 steel wool between coats. I followed all of that with 0000 steel wool for a satin finish and then furniture wax. It is beautiful, and shoots like it looks!

Mac
" 'Cuz truly, at the end of the day - the piece of cloth means nothing.  It's who is standing beside you." West
"If I thought even for a second that it was impossible I would be doing other things." GopherBoy

CaptG

#10
June 10, 2011, 07:02:55 PM
This one was a new uncoated stock from CMP after a few days worth of 50/50 linseed oil & turpentine applied w/ 0000 steel wool. Apply, wipe down w/clean rags and let sit overnight. Turpentine speeds up the drying process & lessens the linseed oil's tendency to stay sticky. Find a place outside as it's a smelly process.
Be extremely careful w/ disposal of linseed oil soaked rags as they will spontaneously combust.

G
"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."
Winston Churchill

Wade

#11
June 10, 2011, 08:01:51 PM
All you purist are going to Hate me ,,,I just stripped it and used boot polish  :o that was close enough to right shade of tan   :)),,lets see stain and wax abit of oil good for the wood and the price was right  I have at lest a case of the   :cool2:.

Wade
Got Tired of looking for a Rifle Range So we Dug one up!
WOOF!
4 box's #1 the soap box#2 the letter box #3 the ballot box #4 the cartridge box, The founding fathers picked up the Cartridge box so that WE could use the first 3,,IMO If you don't use those 3 then you dishonour the founding Fathers !

Old Dog

#12
June 10, 2011, 09:27:42 PM
all I know is what I've read (and hope I remember correctly).

The M1 stocks were originally tung oil finished prior to the Japanese cutting off the supply as they took over large parts of China.  Linseed oil was used for a time till they could get tung oil again.

I've also read that boiled linseed oil will yellow with age, tung oil will not.  How many years that might take I don't remember.

As for purists, I just want to use what works.  The BLO worked okay for a couple of stocks and then it didn't (same can and all the stocks are walnut - I will stay a purists on that count, birch??? blech!!)  The tung oiled stocks look like I wanted my M1 stocks to look.

Only one of my M1 stocks cleaned up to have really beautiful wood.  I just couldn't hide that grain with oil/stain so I used polyurethane on that one and I'm not sorry.  Its not my shooter anyway since it has its original 1944 barrel and most of its other parts.

If you put something on it you don't like its easy enough to strip it off again and try something else.

Good luck with it.  Come on back to this thread and post pictures of it after you get done, too.
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."

—Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle

eaglescouter

#13
June 10, 2011, 09:42:28 PM
Tung Oil will not hide the grain in the wood.  Instead I find that it makes the grain/pattern more brilliant. 

For a battle rifle the truth is you can use anything including motor oil to keep the stock from drying out and cracking.

But I will stick to my hand rubbed tung oil with no driers or 'finish' in the oil.
Old Guy:  Do it long enough and you get really good at it.

Rifleman:  Sacramento:  Four Ought Nine
Full Distance:  Red Bluff:  What year was that?
Pistoleer:  Hat Creek:  Three Twenty One

Make yourselves good scouts and good rifle shots in order to protect the women and children of your country if it should ever become necessary.
--Lord Baden-Powell
Scouting for Boys (1908)

Blue Five

#14
June 10, 2011, 11:29:36 PM
Thanks for the input so far, everyone!  I'm glad that there are many here who can help and give me advice!  :)  O0

Here are a few pictures attached with the way the wood looks.  I am told it's Birch.  I am not certain if there is anything in the wood, but I'm tempted to use some Tung to make it look a bit better.  Oh, and there's a picture of me with the Garand as my avatar too  :D


"Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!" ~Captain John Parker, April 19, 1775.

Molōn labe! :--- 

Scott1600

#15
June 11, 2011, 02:45:48 AM
She's purty!  WTG!!!   O0
"Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, and measure in which the lives and liberties of millions yet unborn are intimately interested, are now before us. We are in the very midst of a revolution the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of nations." -John Adams, July 3, 1776.

KYWindage

#16
June 11, 2011, 07:06:55 AM
Quote from: Blue Five on June 10, 2011, 11:29:36 PM
Thanks for the input so far, everyone!  I'm glad that there are many here who can help and give me advice!  :)  O0

Here are a few pictures attached with the way the wood looks.  I am told it's Birch.  I am not certain if there is anything in the wood, but I'm tempted to use some Tung to make it look a bit better.  Oh, and there's a picture of me with the Garand as my avatar too  :D

Seeing is believing! Awesome, Congrats on your new family member!
"I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command I will never surrender my men while they still have the means to resist."
--Article II of the Code of Conduct
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