Another M1 coming and more comments...

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aspen1964

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..and questions...I had an M1 a while back, took it to the range once then my house was broken into and I lost it, a mint Colt Gov't 45(1958) and a mint pre 64 94 Winchester..
..I now have bought another M1, one question is what I could clean the stock with to rid it of any accumulated grime, grease and oil without affecting the finish on the wood...?...
...I used to not think about these WW2 weapons that much...then tried an M-1 carbine and loved it...a Colt 45 auto and loved it..and then a Garand rifle and loved it also...have shot an AK type and LIKED it..have also shot a lot of AR types and never really liked them much at all....:p ...don't knock the M1 around me, I may take it my personal responsibilty to defend it's virtues and attack criticisms aimed at it...I find the peculiar clip loading, one of the best and simplest ways to load a repeating semi-automatic & surprisingly fast!..and the recoil is nothing to write home about because there is very little recoil in relation to the powerful 30-06 round...almost makes me feel like a modern-day minuteman having one of these rifles around with an ample supply of ammunition...
 
"...what I could clean the stock..." Mineral spirits. Cheap, easy to get and find and it'll clean grease well. Field strip the rifle and drop the whole thing into a tub of it for 24 hours. Then put several thin coats of BLO(Boiled Linseed Oil) on it with a clean lint free cloth.
Mind you, if you want a very nice sheen on the wood, use tung oil instead of BLO. Takes more time and it needs to be rubbed in but you get a waterproof finish that goes into the wood about 1/4". No staining after finishing with tung oil. However, a scratch is fixed with a bit more oil.
The thing with refinishing rifle stocks is that wood is wood. Use the same products and techniques as you would for fine furniture.
Clean the steel like you always do then oil it.
No hot water, gasoline or kerosene is required nor necessary.
"...don't knock the M1 around me..." Yep. There's just something about an M-1 rifle that no other rifle has.
 
I use only BLO, Twice Boiled at that. You can get it from Brownells. Hardware store BLO won't cure as fast. Here's my recipe:
After cleaning stock in Mineral Spirits in a Wall paper trough from the hardware store or washing in a dishwasher, Mix Brownells BLO with mineral spirits 50/50. Wet sand the stock using 220 grit wet or dry sand paper, but leave the mineral spirits/sanding dust "mud mix" on the stock. Do not wipe it clean, except around the cartouchs. Sand lightly in these areas too. When mud is dry, sand again with 300 grit paper, leaving mud to dry for a day or two. Sand again with 400 grit, leaving mud to dry. Go back and sand again with the 400 grit, but this time wipe the stock clean. The "Mud" will fill in the wood pores and smooth out the apperance of the stock like this:
WWIIToys.jpg
In this photo, the Garand stock was a new Wenigs, but the Carbine was a well worn USGI. As your sanding the cured "mud", watch it closely. You can see when you have cut the old "mud" off the surface. It is a little darker in color than the wood itself.
 
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