Refinishing my CMP M1 Carbine

[JediJJJ]

As everyone was leaving on July 4th I started putting my "new" C&R purchases that had been removed for the show-and-tell sessions back into the safe. As I grabbed my M1 Carbine I was was once again struck with how ugly the stock finish was. (Not a complaint on the CMP. Did not think it would be perfect, it probably looks better at 64 than I will.) It was smooth with only a few compression marks, but the finish was a variety of colors and faded in all the strangest spots. At that moment I made a decision and stripped the gun, grabbed some sandpaper, and went at it. (Sorry, no before pictures.) After sanding, carefully to preserve the lines, there are now areas of relatively light colored wood and dark splotches. Don't think sanding any more would produce better results without removing way too much wood. So, here are my questions.

1) Has anyone out here tried bleaching? Chlorine bleach will remove dies without (supposedly) changing the color of the wood. Is this worthwhile?

2) I've got some walnut aniline dye left over from a furniture project. Should I just use that and hope it evens everything out?

3) I also have a Michigan National Guard medallion I wanted to put on the stock. It is apparently designed for this as it is curved. Does anyone know how these were originally mounted? Surface (epoxy) or inlet into the stock?

Since the stock was an FAT replacement I wasn't overly concerned with the collector value of it. I want a nice looking shooter.

Other interesting things I learned after taking it apart. There is a mix of parts on the inside. With a quick glance I found IH, BI, 123, and X markings on various metal pieces. Also, the stock was marked with a SA.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

JJJ

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I would just buy a replacement stock from CMP, and put it on. This won't modify your gun or change its collectibility, since you will still have the old stock in original condition as received from CMP. I would save the old one also. If you ever decide to sell it, the new owner may want the old stock as it came from CMP.

 

[Plain Old Bill]

slowly back away from the sandpaper.....

get yourself over to milsurpshooter.net and talk to Cabinetman. He is THE expert when it comes to salvaging stocks.
I would not hesitate to bleach, then dye, what is essentially a now-worthless piece of wood. Afterward, to seal it all in (provided I was happy with the result) I'd probably hit it with about 15 very thin coats of tru-oil, applied with fingers and rubbed in. If you hit the shiny spots with crocus cloth, you don't get the plasticy look.
You MAY be able to save the original military look with many coats of boiled linseed oil....thin, applied the same way. But that's a call for Cabinetman!
Bill

 

[68'chevelle]

Send it to miltech they do a great job thats what I did.

 

[30Cal]

The stains are probably cosmolene and oil still in the wood. You can cook it out (the best way) or use a heavy solvent/stripper to remove it.

Ty

 

[JediJJJ]

Thanks for the advice. I'll hook up the heat lamps when I get home.

Personally don't think I've altered the value of it much because it wasn't a GI stock to begin with and I'm making sure I retain the original lines and markings. If I had sent it out to be done they probably would have done this to it anyway. Right now I don't really want to spend the money for a replacement stock or to have this one done. I'd rather spend to money on ammo, or maybe another new old gun.

 

[Mr White]

Go to Lowes Depot and get a box of TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) and some blue Scotcbrite pads.

When you get home, take the Lowes Depot bag that the TSP and pads came in and place all of your sandpaper into it. Deposit this bag into a large paper bag and douse it with kerosene. Take the doused bag into your backyard and light it on fire to effectively remove any further temptation you might have to sand the stock.

Next, take the TSP and mix it per the instructions on the box and use the scotchbrite pad to scrub your stock. The TSP will clean a lot of the stains off of the wood and will leave it looking a lot better than before you started.

 

[AJ Dual]

Instead of TSP, you can also use the purple-power engine/part degreaser.

It'll strip the oils out of anything, and works great on stained and cosmoline soaked milsurp stocks.

 

[HankB]

From your description of the stock, I'd say go ahead and use the dishwasher method on it. That is, run it through the dishwasher potscrubber cycle (with dishwasher detergent), and take it out before the heated drying cycle begins. Wrap the still-wet stock in a plastic garbage bag and let it dry s-l-o-w-l-y for several days.

This will get out most of the cosmoline, raise any dents or compressed areas that can be raised, and raise the grain throughout. (If you have any cartouches you want to preserve, cover with duct tape before washing.) You may need to do a little "fitting" inside the stock afterwards.

Careful sanding will smooth out the stock without altering its contours, after which you can refinish with tung oil

I use pure tung oil from Woodcraft . . . initially I take 10ml of tung oil, add 30ml of mineral spirits, and 15 or do drops of Japan drier, slathering this mix all over the stock. It soaks in deeply. Let dry for a week, then another coat, except 20ml of mineral spirits . . . wait another week, then 10ml, etc. Once you get to pure tung oil, wet sand (with tung oil as the wetting agent) and wipe off excess and let dry in between. Use finer grades of sandpaper each time, and when the stock is shiny enough to suit you, stop.

An article at the CMP website recommends using a commercial stripper and strongly suggests NOT using the dishwasher method . . . but I found their recommended method was ineffective, and the commecial stripper they recommended was basically just a mixture of acetone, tolulene, and methanol, with a hefty markup.

 

[dawgtraxx]

on thing not mentioned, to steam out minor dings and compressions, a wet wash cloth and an iron,(dont let your wife catch you)and some patience..you can get the majority of the dings out..it also works well if the stock is wet after degreasing..i have always used 50/50 mix BLO and mineral spirits..a coat every 5 or 6 hours, and 0000 steel wool every couple of coats..to keep the sheen down, you'll get a "military" looking finish...good luck...enjoy your carbine

 

[JediJJJ]

I had hoped to work on this again today but we went to a local airshow to watch the Blue Angels and 15 B-25s, among others.

I'm pretty much done sanding on it. Total sanding time was 10 minutes or less with a fine grade sanding sponge. Tomorrow I'll try to steam out some of the compression marks and will probably have to sand those a bit to bring them level. I am going to retain the FAT cartouche so am being careful around that.

Once that is done I still need to even out the base color before staining. Will try the heat lamp first to see if it is cosmoline that needs to cook out. If not I will probably use TSP as mentioned above as I already have that. I'll post some after pictures when it is all done.

 

[JediJJJ]

Pics of Completed Work

Here are some pics of the completed refinish job. I finished it two weekends ago but haven't been able to take any pictures until now. I'm happy with the results. Wasn't trying to achieve a pristine new from the factory look. The dark spot on the right side near the forend is a gouge that I'd guess happened at CMP. Looked like a screwdriver blade was rammed into it and the wood was splintered out. When I filled it with the sawdust/tung oil mixture it turned quite a bit darker than the rest.

Here are the steps in the project:

• Light sanding with fine grit to get everything started.
• Wash down with TSP to clean everything else off.
• Steam the compression marks. About 1/3 were removed.
• Another light sanding to get rid of the fuzzies from the wash and steaming.
• Preserve the FAT cartouche and the SA inside the forend.
• One application of light maple aniline dye.
• Two coats of Tung Oil.

Things I should have done differently:

• Take pictures before starting.
• After the wash should have tried heating the stock to see if any cosmoline came out. Might have evened up the final color a bit more.

As I said I didn't take any before pictures, so here is the best description I can think of to help you to visualize the original condition.

Picture a leopard, an albino leopard, an albino lepoard with mange. Now apply that pattern to the stock. For a bit of tactile feedback keep in mind that the stock was so glass smooth that it was almost difficult to hold onto it.

 

[JediJJJ]

OK, let's try those pictures again.

See if these work better.