My service grade arrived last week. Special thanks to CMP for honoring my request for a WWII receiver and nice barrel. Another special thanks to my FedEx guy: he attempted delivery 3 times on the same day and saved me a trip to the depot. We finally met up as he was about to quit for the day, "one last try," according to him. When I opened the door he said, "Expecting a gun?" He knew what it was from the shipping label.
Anyway...
Even puppies love Garands!
Receiver serial is 3510223 which indicates it was born sometime in Feb. 1945 towards the end of the war. I'm not an expert... isn't that an uncut op rod? It has what I think is a milled trigger guard marked C46025 WRA. The hammer is marked C46008-3SA and the housing is marked D28290-12SA. The safety is marked (from what I could see without disassembly) 6015-4 WRA. Side of the barrel says 3SA 11 44 and under the guards is D35448-34-Y-186-C-1 as well as a small crossed cannons stamp. The stock has both plain sans serif P and Circle P cartouches. No goodies in the buttstock aside from smelly cosmoline.
I disassembled the rifle with the exception of the trigger group and let everything soak in mineral spirits. Disassembled the bolt and soaked it then blasted it with brake cleaner. Reassembling the bolt was a pain since I haven't been blessed with a third hand. The stock wasn't too bad. I cleaned it up with some Formby's Furniture Restorer, hot water, & dish detergent being careful not to harm the cartouches (yes, yes, heresey, I know). Smoothed it down with some steel wool and applied two coats of Formby's Low Gloss Tung Oil. I don't have a rifle cleaning rod yet so I can't say how clean the bore is using patches. But, it looks mirror bright after too passes of a boresnake with some CLP and #9. I got more gunk out of the barrel of my "new" WASR-10 when I cleaned that for the first time compared to the M1.
Before reassembling, everything was degreased with brake cleaner. Spots where the parkerizing was gone got some Birchwood Casey Cold Blue. All parts were coated in CLP, excess wiped off, then reassembled. I picked up some lithium grease and while I was applying it to the rifle, the smell reminded me of my grandfather's old garage. he served in WWII, but pictures show him with a M1903, not a Garand. Still, it was nice to have the memory of him.
Everything loads, extracts, and ejects okay when cycled manually. Don't know when I'll get to shoot it since it's been a busy semester at grad school and the annual audit is going on at work.
CMP rocks my socks! Hopefully they'll get some M1903s sooner than the sales page says.
Anyway...
Even puppies love Garands!
Receiver serial is 3510223 which indicates it was born sometime in Feb. 1945 towards the end of the war. I'm not an expert... isn't that an uncut op rod? It has what I think is a milled trigger guard marked C46025 WRA. The hammer is marked C46008-3SA and the housing is marked D28290-12SA. The safety is marked (from what I could see without disassembly) 6015-4 WRA. Side of the barrel says 3SA 11 44 and under the guards is D35448-34-Y-186-C-1 as well as a small crossed cannons stamp. The stock has both plain sans serif P and Circle P cartouches. No goodies in the buttstock aside from smelly cosmoline.
I disassembled the rifle with the exception of the trigger group and let everything soak in mineral spirits. Disassembled the bolt and soaked it then blasted it with brake cleaner. Reassembling the bolt was a pain since I haven't been blessed with a third hand. The stock wasn't too bad. I cleaned it up with some Formby's Furniture Restorer, hot water, & dish detergent being careful not to harm the cartouches (yes, yes, heresey, I know). Smoothed it down with some steel wool and applied two coats of Formby's Low Gloss Tung Oil. I don't have a rifle cleaning rod yet so I can't say how clean the bore is using patches. But, it looks mirror bright after too passes of a boresnake with some CLP and #9. I got more gunk out of the barrel of my "new" WASR-10 when I cleaned that for the first time compared to the M1.
Before reassembling, everything was degreased with brake cleaner. Spots where the parkerizing was gone got some Birchwood Casey Cold Blue. All parts were coated in CLP, excess wiped off, then reassembled. I picked up some lithium grease and while I was applying it to the rifle, the smell reminded me of my grandfather's old garage. he served in WWII, but pictures show him with a M1903, not a Garand. Still, it was nice to have the memory of him.
Everything loads, extracts, and ejects okay when cycled manually. Don't know when I'll get to shoot it since it's been a busy semester at grad school and the annual audit is going on at work.
CMP rocks my socks! Hopefully they'll get some M1903s sooner than the sales page says.