The Garand Project - 2 of ??
The process of restoring a Korean war era M1 Garand continues. There are no updated progress photographs but here are some learning points:
1) Historically, the U.S. government treated M1 Garand stocks with boiled linseed oil and then with tung oil. There is a new product known as Odie's Oil which I used for treating the restored walnut after staining it. It provides a beautiful finish and is a project to be seriously considered by other persons with an interest in restoring old firearms. Once my 97 Winchester is back from examination by the gunsmith, I intend to restore that stock and utilize the Odie's oil finish on that product. It's food safe and great for a variety of woodworking projects.
2) Stainable wood fillers are not. There are still some gouges on the stock that are in need of repair once I find a suitable product. I will likely need to reapply the odies oil finish to the stock after I finish that portion of the restoration, but the front and rear handguards are fully restored and look beautiful.
3) These CMP rack grade M1 Garands tend to have a lot of pitting which is cause for concern. For the most part, pitting is present on the portion of the receiver concealed by the wood, are not on pressure bearing parts, and are purely cosmetic in nature. There was no rust on the receiver indicating a need to reparkerize. I am concerned about the presence of pitting around the area in which the barrel is fitted to the receiver. It remains to be seen whether this will affect the rebarreling process.
4) The springs have all been replaced with Wolff springs to ensure proper functioning. Although not historically accurate, the gas system has been modified to be adjustable so as to allow the use of a wider variety of ammunition.
5) I am very thankful that trigger groups have been modified away from the M1 Garand design as putting them back together is one of the biggest pains in the ass I have ever encountered in weapons maintenance.
In summation, the restoration project is coming along swimmingly. I expect that, by the time of completion, I will have a beautiful rifle capable of shooting 1 - 1.5 MOA. I am not doing a national match modification to the rifle. I am adding a reproduction bayonet to the weapon for display purposes and was able to purchase a nice one from Sarco. One thing that I have learned is that I would have been better off purchasing an Expert Grade M1 from CMP and treating the stock and other wood parts myself. I did have to replace a number of worn out parts so far and the cost of the restoration plus the rifle at this point has exceeded the cost of the Expert Grade weapon. However, the extra cost has been justified by the fun I have had thusfar with this project.
1) Historically, the U.S. government treated M1 Garand stocks with boiled linseed oil and then with tung oil. There is a new product known as Odie's Oil which I used for treating the restored walnut after staining it. It provides a beautiful finish and is a project to be seriously considered by other persons with an interest in restoring old firearms. Once my 97 Winchester is back from examination by the gunsmith, I intend to restore that stock and utilize the Odie's oil finish on that product. It's food safe and great for a variety of woodworking projects.
2) Stainable wood fillers are not. There are still some gouges on the stock that are in need of repair once I find a suitable product. I will likely need to reapply the odies oil finish to the stock after I finish that portion of the restoration, but the front and rear handguards are fully restored and look beautiful.
3) These CMP rack grade M1 Garands tend to have a lot of pitting which is cause for concern. For the most part, pitting is present on the portion of the receiver concealed by the wood, are not on pressure bearing parts, and are purely cosmetic in nature. There was no rust on the receiver indicating a need to reparkerize. I am concerned about the presence of pitting around the area in which the barrel is fitted to the receiver. It remains to be seen whether this will affect the rebarreling process.
4) The springs have all been replaced with Wolff springs to ensure proper functioning. Although not historically accurate, the gas system has been modified to be adjustable so as to allow the use of a wider variety of ammunition.
5) I am very thankful that trigger groups have been modified away from the M1 Garand design as putting them back together is one of the biggest pains in the ass I have ever encountered in weapons maintenance.
In summation, the restoration project is coming along swimmingly. I expect that, by the time of completion, I will have a beautiful rifle capable of shooting 1 - 1.5 MOA. I am not doing a national match modification to the rifle. I am adding a reproduction bayonet to the weapon for display purposes and was able to purchase a nice one from Sarco. One thing that I have learned is that I would have been better off purchasing an Expert Grade M1 from CMP and treating the stock and other wood parts myself. I did have to replace a number of worn out parts so far and the cost of the restoration plus the rifle at this point has exceeded the cost of the Expert Grade weapon. However, the extra cost has been justified by the fun I have had thusfar with this project.
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