M1 Garand Stock Finish

Fairlane66

My Springfield M1 Garand wears a replacement CMP stock. This stock came from the CMP finished and ready to use, but the wood appears to be almost in a natural, unfinished state. Now, I've always admired Garands that had that dark, slightly reddish, smooth finish. My sportsman's club was issued about 6 Garands from CMP's predecessor back in the 60s and they were finished as I described and absolutely beautiful. From what I remember, most were H&Rs or National Match models, but I don't remember for sure. Anyhow, I would like to finish my CMP stock to match that dark, slightly reddish, smooth finish I want. Would appreciate any advice on how to go about refinishing my stock to achieve the desired effect.

Ambrose

The CMP stock on my Garand looks pretty much like your description. I tried refinishing in the usual way that has given me good results in the past-tung oil, etc. Not on this stock! It's some kind of white wood, stained, and hard as a brick. Nothing soaks into it. I decided to just live with it. Good luck with yours.

nmyers

The wood on USGI rifles is primarily walnut, sometimes birch or beech. For many years they were dipped in BLO (boiled linseed oil), but tung oil was used in later years.

The predecessor to CMP was DCM, which was only an office in Washington, DC; all guns were shipped from storage in Army arsenals.

CMP stocks stamped with the CMP logo are new commercial stocks. This one appears to have been lovingly refinished by a previous owner, &, I suspect, is what you are looking for:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=313585256

If your CMP stock has been finished, you may have to use stripper first, or sand it, to get it to take stain. I have used an oil based stain (Fiebing's shoe stain); you can mix small amounts of different stain to get the shade you want. 3 - 4 coats of tung oil, rubbing with 0000 steel wool after each application should give the look you want.

Neal

mark christian

I have used the same shoe stain as Neal and gotten good results. That wonderful reddish color that we all like is actually the result of years (or decades) or old sweat, dirt, grease, body oil and tung or linseed oil that has turned red as the result of oxidation. This color can be duplicated to a certain extent with some products on the market. Probably the best known is Fairtrimmers: http://fairtrimmers.com/ which has a good reputation with a number of guys who do m1 Rifle restorations. This may not be the exact red color that you are looking for but it can save you several years of waiting for the color to appear naturally.

M1A762

I have used Arts French Red stain in the past. Nice pre 64 Winchester red tone. Check out Midway USA, they usually have it in stock.

jimthompson502002

The standard GI finish until the Japanese overran our Chinese supplies was tung oil, six coats, which is a glossy finish that flattens down with time. The backup was boiled linseed oil. Ca.1940, the primary choice was no longer available. This changed when the material became available domestically.

There was, by the way, reddish walnut, and stain has nothing to do with it.

There was a superb article comparing the two and the misapprehensions and phony baloney myths about both in the GCA journal a couple of years ago.

Most of the early CMP stocks were birch, dyed. To dye it darker requires an alcohol based leather dye, used in a stripped condition, and then reapplying the finish.

When I re-do birch--which I hate doing!--I usually use a flat spray lacquer material for a couple of coats, sanding with 400 grit or finer between coats. This isn't "original" but then neither is birch (NO GI rifle ever went to first issue with a birch stock, and all the credible authorities agree).

A satin or glossy finish is easier to maintain and clean, and I maintain with wax.