Before I start, I need to extend a HUGE thank you to Sean in Michigan for the stocks and to Jamie in Nebraska for use of his workshop. Without them, this would have never been accomplished.
I asked a few weeks ago if anyone makes an M1 youth stock. Apparently no one does. The stock is actually for me. I'm on the short side and with sporting rifles and shotguns, youth stocks fit me infinitely better than standard sizes.
A generous CMPer donated three stocks to the cause. Here they are:
The first one looks like a birch one. No stamps or other identifying marks are presents.
The second one looks to be the "truest" GI stock. Very dark, saturated with cosmoline. After cleaning the stock, a noticeable carving appeared on it: "BASO" with the S being a Greek letter Sigma.
The third stock had a shiny, clear finish on it that was terribly cracked and checkered.
I cleaned the stocks up using the usual suspects:
The third stock which had the clear finish did not fare too well. The furniture restorer rendered that finish into a nasty slurry that did not want to come off easily. It left the stock looking like this:
Overall, here are the three of them after being stripped:
I sanded them down using 120 grit and 220 grit paper being careful of the "BASO" carving. Then I hit them with some stain I had laying around (Minwax Water-Based Rosewood). Here's the result:
Between the sandpaper and the stain, the nasty stock from above actually came out looking the best! Amazing.
I gave them all two coats of Formby's Low Gloss Tung Oil. The top is the "yucky" stock, the middle is the Greek, and the bottom is the birch:
By now, you're saying, "Great. I know how to clean up an old stock. You're a bad man for using sandpaper. You're a heretic for using Formby's Tung Oil. Where are the details on how to cut the stock down???"
I wanted to cut off about this much:
Reattaching the butt plate would be problematic for three reasons. First, the area in red here would be a pain to cut out:
Second, cutting the shelf/recess for the plate would be a pain. Third, the plate would end up being too big. I considered getting a new reproduction plate and Dremeling it down to size, but that'd be a pain.
I settled on using a recoil pad. I used a Pachmayr Decelerator D200B as seen here: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...=D200B/D500B ULTRA-LIGHT FIELD PAD BLACK BASE
It is a medium size, black, 1/2" pad. This pad *just* fits the stock widthwise and didn't require much grinding on the sides. Considering stocks vary somewhat, you might want to get a large. Furthermore, we did two stocks. On one of them, our alignment was slightly off, resulting in a small step. If I had to do it over again, I'd get a large.
We cut the stock with a standard miter saw. Cut as much off as you want/need, but remember to take the thickness of the recoil pad into account. After cutting, it appears that cosmoline penetrates about 1/8" into the wood. Fresh cut walnut smells nice.
I wanted to use the existing bottom screw hole since I wanted to retain the GI swivel. To do this:
1) You need to cut holes in the pad. The pad is pre-drilled in the base, but not through the entire pad. Take a punch or drill bit (use the non-cutting end) and put it in the hole. Be sure to use the biggest size possible or else you'll tear the pad. Push the bit/punch into the hole and into the soft pad material. It will start to stretch on the other side. Take a sharp razor or knife and cut a slit through the pad material. Do this for both holes.
2) Place the stock upside down on the bench and drop the swivel into the hole.
3) Insert the GI bottom screw into the pad and push it through.
4) Put the pad/screw combo on the butt of the rifle. Thread the screw into the swivel. Be sure to push the pad onto the but so it's flush. The GI bottom screw will be sticking out since it's designed for a full-length stock, not a shorty.
5) At this point, the unsized pad should be against the stock. Now, center the pad onto the stock. Take your time doing this, especially if you're using a pad just big enough like I did.
6) Take one of the included screws (from the pad packaging) and put it into the top screw hole. Push it in until it hits wood.
7) Tap the screw with a hammer. You only need to mark the wood so you know where to drill the pilot hole.
8) Rotate the pad to reveal the divot you just made.
9) With an appropriate sized drill bit, drill a pilot hole into the stock.
10) Rotate the pad back into place (centered) and tighten the top screw.
11) At this point, the top screw is tight and the bottom screw is sticking out.
12) Now it's time to grind the pad. Follow the instructions included with your pad. We used a belt sander with coarse and fine belts. The coarse did the bulk removal, the fine did the finish work. If you have a steady hand, this could probably be done with a Dremel and a sanding drum. Be sure to wrap 4-5 layers of masking tape around the stock to protect it. Take your time and go slow. Let the machine do the work. We tried to rush it and snapped a sanding belt.
Now the pad is ground to size, the top screw is tight (and should be invisible), but you still have the GI bottom screw sticking out. We had to get creative.
The GI screw is not threaded the entire length of the screw. Cutting the end of the screw off would not work. According to a CMPer, the threading of the swivel is 12-28NF. You can either
a) Cut the GI screw and thread it using a 12-28 die, or,
b) Use a new screw.
My two local hardware stores did not have 12-28 machine screws or 12-28 dies. I brought the swivel in and tried some screws. 10-24 fit, but it was extremely sloppy, so I passed. Going through metric bolts, we found an M5-50mm that worked. However, it was a hex head bolt. We bought two bolts and went back to the workshop. To get the M5-50mm to work, we:
1) Rounded off the hex edges on the belt sander.
2) Ground down the head so it wasn't as thick, also using the belt sander.
3) Cut a slot in the head using a cut-off wheel attached to an air compressor.
This was probably the biggest road block we hit. If you plan to embark on this endeavor, be sure you have either a 12-28 2" or 3" machine screw, a 12-28 die to cut additional thread on a GI screw, or the tools needed to cobble together one from an M5-50mm like we did.
Put the swivel in the stock. Remove the GI bottom screw from the plate and replace it with the new bolt you just made. Screw it in, tighten the top screw, attach the stock ferrule, install the stock on the receiver, and enjoy!
For those keeping score, I committed the following sins:
1) Deviation from proper M1 stock specs.
2) Cutting an M1 stock.
3) Using metric parts on an M1.
4) Using sandpaper on an M1 stock.
I am still waiting on my stock hardware from an eBay auction. Completed pictures will be posted at that time.
I asked a few weeks ago if anyone makes an M1 youth stock. Apparently no one does. The stock is actually for me. I'm on the short side and with sporting rifles and shotguns, youth stocks fit me infinitely better than standard sizes.
A generous CMPer donated three stocks to the cause. Here they are:
The first one looks like a birch one. No stamps or other identifying marks are presents.
The second one looks to be the "truest" GI stock. Very dark, saturated with cosmoline. After cleaning the stock, a noticeable carving appeared on it: "BASO" with the S being a Greek letter Sigma.
The third stock had a shiny, clear finish on it that was terribly cracked and checkered.
I cleaned the stocks up using the usual suspects:
The third stock which had the clear finish did not fare too well. The furniture restorer rendered that finish into a nasty slurry that did not want to come off easily. It left the stock looking like this:
Overall, here are the three of them after being stripped:
I sanded them down using 120 grit and 220 grit paper being careful of the "BASO" carving. Then I hit them with some stain I had laying around (Minwax Water-Based Rosewood). Here's the result:
Between the sandpaper and the stain, the nasty stock from above actually came out looking the best! Amazing.
I gave them all two coats of Formby's Low Gloss Tung Oil. The top is the "yucky" stock, the middle is the Greek, and the bottom is the birch:
By now, you're saying, "Great. I know how to clean up an old stock. You're a bad man for using sandpaper. You're a heretic for using Formby's Tung Oil. Where are the details on how to cut the stock down???"
I wanted to cut off about this much:
Reattaching the butt plate would be problematic for three reasons. First, the area in red here would be a pain to cut out:
Second, cutting the shelf/recess for the plate would be a pain. Third, the plate would end up being too big. I considered getting a new reproduction plate and Dremeling it down to size, but that'd be a pain.
I settled on using a recoil pad. I used a Pachmayr Decelerator D200B as seen here: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...=D200B/D500B ULTRA-LIGHT FIELD PAD BLACK BASE
It is a medium size, black, 1/2" pad. This pad *just* fits the stock widthwise and didn't require much grinding on the sides. Considering stocks vary somewhat, you might want to get a large. Furthermore, we did two stocks. On one of them, our alignment was slightly off, resulting in a small step. If I had to do it over again, I'd get a large.
We cut the stock with a standard miter saw. Cut as much off as you want/need, but remember to take the thickness of the recoil pad into account. After cutting, it appears that cosmoline penetrates about 1/8" into the wood. Fresh cut walnut smells nice.
I wanted to use the existing bottom screw hole since I wanted to retain the GI swivel. To do this:
1) You need to cut holes in the pad. The pad is pre-drilled in the base, but not through the entire pad. Take a punch or drill bit (use the non-cutting end) and put it in the hole. Be sure to use the biggest size possible or else you'll tear the pad. Push the bit/punch into the hole and into the soft pad material. It will start to stretch on the other side. Take a sharp razor or knife and cut a slit through the pad material. Do this for both holes.
2) Place the stock upside down on the bench and drop the swivel into the hole.
3) Insert the GI bottom screw into the pad and push it through.
4) Put the pad/screw combo on the butt of the rifle. Thread the screw into the swivel. Be sure to push the pad onto the but so it's flush. The GI bottom screw will be sticking out since it's designed for a full-length stock, not a shorty.
5) At this point, the unsized pad should be against the stock. Now, center the pad onto the stock. Take your time doing this, especially if you're using a pad just big enough like I did.
6) Take one of the included screws (from the pad packaging) and put it into the top screw hole. Push it in until it hits wood.
7) Tap the screw with a hammer. You only need to mark the wood so you know where to drill the pilot hole.
8) Rotate the pad to reveal the divot you just made.
9) With an appropriate sized drill bit, drill a pilot hole into the stock.
10) Rotate the pad back into place (centered) and tighten the top screw.
11) At this point, the top screw is tight and the bottom screw is sticking out.
12) Now it's time to grind the pad. Follow the instructions included with your pad. We used a belt sander with coarse and fine belts. The coarse did the bulk removal, the fine did the finish work. If you have a steady hand, this could probably be done with a Dremel and a sanding drum. Be sure to wrap 4-5 layers of masking tape around the stock to protect it. Take your time and go slow. Let the machine do the work. We tried to rush it and snapped a sanding belt.
Now the pad is ground to size, the top screw is tight (and should be invisible), but you still have the GI bottom screw sticking out. We had to get creative.
The GI screw is not threaded the entire length of the screw. Cutting the end of the screw off would not work. According to a CMPer, the threading of the swivel is 12-28NF. You can either
a) Cut the GI screw and thread it using a 12-28 die, or,
b) Use a new screw.
My two local hardware stores did not have 12-28 machine screws or 12-28 dies. I brought the swivel in and tried some screws. 10-24 fit, but it was extremely sloppy, so I passed. Going through metric bolts, we found an M5-50mm that worked. However, it was a hex head bolt. We bought two bolts and went back to the workshop. To get the M5-50mm to work, we:
1) Rounded off the hex edges on the belt sander.
2) Ground down the head so it wasn't as thick, also using the belt sander.
3) Cut a slot in the head using a cut-off wheel attached to an air compressor.
This was probably the biggest road block we hit. If you plan to embark on this endeavor, be sure you have either a 12-28 2" or 3" machine screw, a 12-28 die to cut additional thread on a GI screw, or the tools needed to cobble together one from an M5-50mm like we did.
Put the swivel in the stock. Remove the GI bottom screw from the plate and replace it with the new bolt you just made. Screw it in, tighten the top screw, attach the stock ferrule, install the stock on the receiver, and enjoy!
For those keeping score, I committed the following sins:
1) Deviation from proper M1 stock specs.
2) Cutting an M1 stock.
3) Using metric parts on an M1.
4) Using sandpaper on an M1 stock.
I am still waiting on my stock hardware from an eBay auction. Completed pictures will be posted at that time.
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