my refinished m1 garand

[FlyinBryan]

i decided to refinish the wood on my m1. its a cmp rifle that came with one of the new birch stock sets.

one thing ive noticed about the cmp birch is that it seems to be more like a dye than actual stain, and it appears as if they make them really dark to mimic g.i. walnut.

it didnt look bad, in fact it was very rugged looking, but i decided to dress it up a little.

1st i washed it all down with denatured alcohol, which lightened it up quite a bit. then i started sanding with 150g sandpaper, followed by 220g, then 400g.

then i mixed turpentine and boiled linseed oil in equal parts and generously applied by hand. 3 coats, each allowed to soak in for 2 hrs, followed by 0000 steel wool to knock the grain down.

then stained everything with minwax woodstain. i mixed my own color by combining equal parts of cherry and golden oak. i applied 3 coatings, letting each set for 15 minutes before wiping off with paper towels, then letting it set for 2 hrs before repeating.

then i applied 3 coats of clear poly, sanding lightly after the 1st and 2nd coats.

it should be very tough, and when it does get nicks and scrapes, i will be able to touch it up by just sanding the spots and respraying.

heres what i ended up with. go easy on me fellas, this is my first time doing this!!!!!

 

[Avenger29]

Makes it look like a high dollar restoration...

 

[winknplink]

Congrats, that is a fine job and a beautiful rifle.

 

[WNTFW]

What is the story on the metal? Was it redone at some point?

 

[JoeMal]

Looks damn good IMO

And the metal looks great too...as WNTFW is getting at I'm sure...

 

[FlyinBryan]

thanks guys.

on the metal i honestly dont know, but im sure it has been redone, but as far as when, i couldnt say.

its a cmp service grade, and my best guess would be that it was reparked and rebarreled and crated, probably decades ago.

it was made in '44, so theres no telling how many times the metal has been redone.

 

[SaxonPig]

The wood looks nice but I was also struck by how good the metal looks. That's either used very little or nicely refinished.

 

[RatDrall]

Beautiful!

 

[jpwilly]

That lookes great! If you want to knock the shine down use some 000 Steel wool between coats. My M1 was also refinished and I love the New look on that old rifle! Wish we could all age that well!

 

[61chalk]

Looks great! I really like the lighter color of the Birch.

 

[Tim the student]

Man thats a nice looking rifle. Is that the one you have posted before, or a different M1?

 

[DMK]

That looks great! Nice job on the wood.

The metal must have been refinished somewhere along the line. You got a good deal.

When I got my Service Grade (a Danish return I believe), it was no where near that nice. The parkerizing had some worn spots where bare metal shown through and the finish that it did have was stained from cosmoline.

 

[frankiestoys]

My father had one of those when i was a kid, it was the first semi auto i ever shot man that was a great rifle, he loved that thing. I have a mini 14 but its no m1, nice job with it, look's bran-new!

 

[gloucestergarand]

Daggone, that is one sweet lookin' Garand girl....will you let her out of the house for a date perchance? Thanks for providing your refinishing mix, that kind of detail is what makes THR a gold mine for us with Garanditis!

 

[FlyinBryan]

Is that the one you have posted before, or a different M1?

ive actually posted 2 on here, and yep, thats one of them.

the only thing that has been changed on the rifle since the before pics is the oprod. it wasnt bent but i was concerned that the pads were worn. (compared it to my other rifle) i called the cmp and they said if i had the slightest concern about the oprod, they would send me a new one. they even went to the trouble of finding a "period correct" springfield oprod in what looks to be unused condition. those guys are awesome. where else do you get a "no questions asked warranty" on a 70 year old rifle??!!!

heres a couple of before and afters





thanks for all the compliments guys, im pretty proud of the old girl.

the lighter wood seems to have an optical illusion effect on the metal. it seems to make it look darker.

when i first got this one the metal had a very greenish tint. i think it was coated in cosmoline at some point that gave it that color. i thoroughly cleaned all the metal with hoppes (it works great on exteriors) and that seemed to darken it a lot too.

again, thx for all the props. i was lucky enough to be able to drive to alabama and hand pick the 2 finest looking service grades on the rack, so most of the credit should go to cmp. the cmp program is one of those things that just does not come along very often, at least for me. they really fit into that whole "too good to be true" category.

 

[stillaftermath]

That's really gorgeous! How does she feel in the hand? All the shine makes me wonder if she might be a bit slick to the touch!

 

[DMK]

when i first got this one the metal had a very greenish tint. i think it was coated in cosmoline at some point that gave it that color.

yea, sitting in cosmo for a few years is what does that. Some people even try different concoctions of oil and grease to get that color when they refinish (I don't know why, maybe to pass it off as original).

those guys are awesome. where else do you get a "no questions asked warranty" on a 70 year old rifle??!!!
... the cmp program is one of those things that just does not come along very often, at least for me. they really fit into that whole "too good to be true" category.

I agree. I have bought three rifles from them directly and another that passed through one other owner first. They have always been good to me and the rifles were well worth the price and paperwork. I don't know why guys have to pee on them all the time. So what if they make a little money while they are at it to support shooting sports.

 

[handle02]

That is one sweet rifle!!!

 

[Quickdraw McGraw]

Very nice FlyinBryan!

I am gonna clean mine up using a recipe from the Gun Stock Doctor. I also have some of his natural 1/3 wax on the way. Did you also take off the front and rear handguard? I do not plan on sanding mine hopefully just gonna use fine steel wool. I was hoping not to have to take off the handguards. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Here's mine now and hopefully I'll have some nice after pics also!

 

[P.B.Walsh]

Wow, thats really nice wood, I like the lighter color, I also belive that it makes the metal look darker, the two colors complement each other very well IMHO.

Nice rifle man!!

 

[sarduy]

That's one beautiful Rifle!

 

[FlyinBryan]

That's really gorgeous! How does she feel in the hand? All the shine makes me wonder if she might be a bit slick to the touch!

i was pleasantly surprised by the feel of it. its not lacquer or spar urethane, its actual polyurethane so its really pretty grippy. at first i just cleaned, sanded, and hand rubbed the boiled linseed oil in. i let that cure for quite a while before i applied the poly, and it was definitly slicker before the poly.

I agree. I have bought three rifles from them directly and another that passed through one other owner first. They have always been good to me and the rifles were well worth the price and paperwork. I don't know why guys have to pee on them all the time. So what if they make a little money while they are at it to support shooting sports.

definitly. i believe they are the best deals ive ever gotten on any firearm. i will always advise my friends and family to go the cmp route when purchasing any of the rifles they sell. they are the shizz man!!!

I am gonna clean mine up using a recipe from the Gun Stock Doctor. I also have some of his natural 1/3 wax on the way.

hey QD, if im not mistaken, yours is walnut, which is really the cream of the crop when it comes to garand wood, and i agree, the stock docs methods and wax is the way to go on walnut (and even birch for those inclined).....its exactly what i would have done if i was able to find walnut as nice looking as your wood. i just figured i would experiment on mine since it was just birch, and im really happy how it turned out.

Did you also take off the front and rear handguard?.......I was hoping not to have to take off the handguards. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

ya, i took them off. its really easy. the front one is just held on by the gas cylinder lock. all you have to do is remove the gas lock screw, then spin off the gas lock. it takes all of 2 minutes, lol. for the rear hand gaurd there is a small (maybe 1/8th") roll pin holding the rear handgaurd keeper on (the metal at the front of the rear handgaurd)just use a small punch and tap out the pin, then the metal keeper will just slide off the barrel. then the only thing holding the rear handgaurd on is the little metal clip toward the rear of the piece. its just held captive to the barrel by a couple of grooves cut into the barrel. i was able to get it off by just sliding it forward, then to put it back on, just get one side of the clip back into its groove, and push down on the clip on the other side, and it will pop right back into place.

and thx everyone else for the compliments!!!!

 

[Morgo]

Very nice!

 

[mikeb3185]

nice work, always wanted to refinish a stock on a shotgun my father gave me. just worried ill do more harm than good

 

[ChCx2744]

You are feeding my fire...Damn it :banghead:

I don't know if this one is next on my "wish" list or the S&W 629.....I'm strongly considering this one