M1 Garand and Carbine Stock Reconditioning

[ptmccain]

Thought I'd share this video I made showing the results of some TLC on some of my Garand and M1 Carbine, nothing more complicated than boiled lindseed oil, elbow grease, patience and some finishing wax.

I'm pretty pleased with the results! What do you think?

[tostado22]

Don't know if this is the right forum but great job! Nothing better than a Garand in a beautiful wood set.

[kmrtnsn]

When I got my Garand from CMP last year the first thing I did was remove the stock and refinish it. I left in all the dents and dings, as I felt they showed character and demonstrated the history of the rifle. I found the instructions that I used on the CMP Forum, this video would have been nice then. Good job!

[ptmccain]

Cool, care to post a pic or two??

I agree re. the "character marks" ...

[kmrtnsn]

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac347/kmrtnsn/GarandLeft.jpg

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac347/kmrtnsn/GarandRight.jpg

Just a Service Grade H&R I picked up last fall, with a couple of cans of loose Greek ammo. Refinished the stock but left the metal as is. The bore is very nice, as is the receiver. Most of the finish wear on the barrel and trigger guard is from handling. The stock was rough, real red in color and gummy from handling. The area around the pistol grip was damn near black. There was even mud inside the trap door.

[ptmccain]

Nice looking Garand sir.

[kmrtnsn]

Thanks. After I stripped it down I applied a coat of Minwax medium oak stain to avoid getting a red color, then I oiled it repeatedly with BLS oil.

I have an AK that I am thinking of getting wood furniture for and refinishing it.

[HackerF15E]

The stock was rough, real red in color

FWIW, the 'arsenal red' color in a stock is highly desirable amongst many Garand and US milsurp collectors.

[kmrtnsn]

FWIW, the 'arsenal red' color in a stock is highly desirable amongst many Garand and US milsurp collectors.

Well, this one looked burgundy and black when I got it and looked like hell. I figured that if I was cleaning it up I'd try to match the Garands I'd seen in old pictures as best I could. As a Service Grade I don't think it had a lot of collector value. The deep vertical line in the left side of the stock I think came from some kind of rack. No telling where the gouge on the right side came from. There are two arsenal marks on the stock, one from SA. As far as I can tell, everything else on the stock is H&R.

I joined the Garand Collector's Association in order to access the CMP purchases. Their quarterly is a font of information.

[SteveS]

That is how a Garand is supposed to look. The Garand is a fighting weapon. The rifle looks great.

[kwg020]

I sent two of my Garand stocks through the diswasher. They came out with no finish and fewer dents. I have done others in the bathtub or the sink with formula 309 and as hot of water as I could stand. Let them dry over night and rub them down with a towel. If they still look bad I have also used Scotch Brite pads on them and then rubbed them down with a dry rough towel.

I then either touch them up with stain or use Formby's Satin Tongue Oil varnish on them as is. I rub it on with a lint free patch or small rag. Keep in mind the BLO and Tongue oil soaked rags will catch on fire if they are not disposed of properly. Everyone has their own way of doing it. kwg

[ptmccain]

Well, that's one way to do it....to be sure.

Any pics?

[HackerF15E]

I'm also a fan of the dishwasher method. I've run at least a dozen Garand stocks through the washer, and several more from other types of milsurp rifles (could never fit an '03 stock or '17 stock in there, unfortunately), and only had one single issue. That issue was with a Carbine stock that had a pre-existing crack back behind the tang that I knew about, and running it through the washer was a bit of an experiment to see what would happen. Sure enough, the crack opened up a bit -- but the stock is still useable, and the rest of it sure looked pretty after it was refinished!

Unfortunately I only have a couple photos...no before and after, though.

Here's what a walnut stock looks like coming out of the dishwasher -- this one was a rack grade from the old "Doug's Stock Pile" website and was very beat up. It popped out nearly all the dents completely:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Hacker15E/P9110057.jpg

Here's an old Greek-return beech stock off one of the $295 CMP Greek Rack Grade rifles circa 04 or 05. This one, too, looked like it had been used as an axe handle before it went into the dishwasher.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Hacker15E/P1010069.jpg

All in all, I think it is a great method. Some Googling will let you read plenty of discussion on the topic. It's right up there with steel case ammo in terms of the disagreement on it's use, and "facts" about it that people believe compared to others' actual experience using it.

There are some downsides -- I don't like that it completely strips the stock, and it gets rid of that arsenal red/orange that I really love in a stock.

If your stock isn't historically significant or valuable, then I think it is a very useful way to start refinishing a milsurp.

[ptmccain]

Thanks for posting pics, if you want to really strip the stock, that sure seems to be a way to do it.

Where do you guys get dishwashers big enough to fit you stocks in them??

:)

[HackerF15E]

Garand and Carbine stocks fit in there perfectly (crosswise from top corner to bottom opposite corner, with the top drawer for cups removed). SKS stocks fit in well, too. I've also done Rem 870 furniture, Ruger 10/22, etc in there.

Pots and pans cycle, no detergent, and no dry cycle.