These old war horses run on grease. I recommend Mobil 1 synthetic superior to the old Lubriplate. The CMP forum
I'm not really into restoring it to what it came out of the arsenal. I presume, in this state, it was put together by a government entity. CMP doesn't do this sort of thing, I never thought anyway. All I want to do with it is clean up what ever rust I can, and have a decent looking stock.LUCKEEEE...
IIRC Your rcvr fits in a SN block w/in which SA built Production Line M1 Ds in 1952.
It's Kool that yours came w/ a WWII Bbl. Those have $ value, & could be swapped for a 1952 bbl "Parts Correct" for your rifle, should you choose to do so.
Which begs the question of;
I'm happy w/ what I have, or
I wanna restore it to some degree....
Just a IMHO Note:
There is Huge Merit in having such a great piece of history in it's "As In Service Condition",
but they all went thru various inspections and repairs, hence "How can one ever know!!?"
If you found a Model A Ford barn find where that Ole John Deere crunched a fender it's a no brainer to replace that fender. Maybe even fix other parts & eventually paint it...
Just sayin....
Should you decide to restore it to "PARTS CORRECT, BELIEVABLE" Condition then here is some relative info...
The most difficult is the stock, Cartouched SA/J.L.G. $$$$$$
[SA/JLG Col. James L. Guion
S/N 4,200,000-4,350,000 July 1950- September 1953]
Correct Bbl for an M1 D is different & Pricey for a Real one:
CORRECT "D" Bbl; Drawing No D7312555.... $$$$$$
The rest can be easy & fun depending on how much time & effort you can afford as well...
But CAVEAT EMPTOR.... IT IS ADDICTIVE...
good info. I've peruse the CMP site but hadn't read that.It's pretty tough to improve upon the great job that you have already done but perhaps you might find something here:
Wood Cleaning Article - Civilian Marksmanship Program
USGI Rifle Stocks and Hand Guards: Walnut and Birch Entry Level Care and Preservation Tips and Considerations for CMP Wood (August 2005 Revision: Sections 6.1 and 6.7 have additions and Sections 6.4a and 6.4b are new.) CMP surplus rifles such as the M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, and the various...thecmp.org
My heart sunk a bit when I got into that a ways. If the numbers on this were more intact I would have had to leave them alone.I like the rack numbers.
Shows a rifle has been there, done that.
Rack numbers: Whys and wherefores?
www.gunboards.com
Wow, much appreciated on the info! I didn't realize they were still actively selling gov't invintory through the cmp! Thats great news. And at todays prices $700 is a killer deal for a quality milsurp like the Garand. I get sick seeing SKS rifles selling for that much, but I can stomach a Garand at that price. Thats never going to go down in value either. Ive always, wanted a Garand, and might go the budget beater route! Thanks. Great job on cleaning the gun up as well looks great. Do you know if the CMP Garands coming out now are from U.S. invintories, or from abroad? I never dug too deep, just always assumed I missed the Garand Surplus days. I know the cheap ammo days are goneThis is some real helpful stuff here ^^. Just what I was looking for.
The receiver in this group of CMP M1s is a "Service Grade" that was guaranteed only to have Springfield Armory receivers. Muzzle/throat measurements are 1+/2+ respectively. Serial dates this SA receiver to late 1952, 4,271,***. As best as I could find in a quick look. Barrel is SA 5-44. I have IHC and HRA trigger group parts. I haven't taken the trigger group apart yet. I may not. Op-rod is also SA.
HRA Stock huh? How does one know that?
I think I'm done with cleaning the stock. No need/desire to remove any more stain.
On your word, no steaming. I'd rather have the story in the dents than weird things where dents were.
No shiny! My thought, "Battle rifle"= matte finish, like John Garand, and most other battle rifle designers, made them. This will get some BLO, because that's what I have.
Denature alcohol....Interesting. I used to use my sense of smell quite well for many things. About a year ago smell and taste started to leave me, gone completely now. It wasn't from DA though.
I'd ask though, about diluting the BLO. Has to be turpentine? Not mineral spirits? And is there any reason I shouldn't put some BLO under the butt plate and inside the stock? Thinking a little on the butt plate screws too. It seemed really dry when taking the screws out. To me they came out, maybe, too easy.
Curious, CMP rifle? What were the specs/grade on yours? Tell me more. My rifle has some minor rust spots here and there. But no pitting. Was it the "Rack" and "Field" grades that were maybe coming with the Blue Sky barrels? I believe some of the lesser grades came with new Criterion barrels? I've heard/read those were the shizz (Good Stuff)
Yes. BUT, Service grade are no longer allowed to be ordered. Speculation has it that sometime in the future they may open it up for service grades again. They shut it down on May 6th/21 because of an overwhelming number of orders. I sent my paperwork in on April 20th. I was afraid I was SOL. It took 4 months for them to acknowledge my order was received on April 26th.
"Field Grade" M1s are still going out, as far as I know. Those come to buyers much quicker. They did, in the last month or so, increase the price for the field grades to $700.00 from $650.00.
Good reading... https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/m1-garand/
Hey man! Thanks for that offer! I'm not keen on the rifles with the rack numbers on them. It sorta takes something away from the "Wood" in my mind. I would like to know the whys and where froms' those ugly painted rack numbers are there?
Hey, maybe if I can't get used to that line on the stock where the numbers were? Ya' never know.
Haven't shot it yet Ron. The thing came dry as a bone! If I'm going to have it completely down I'm going to treat what little rust there is in places. And make the stock look/feel better.
Do they just let the public in to watch those games at DRRC?
I would ask about treating what rust I have. There's rust, looks more like tarnishing, in the op-rod channel. and just under that channel on the outside. Seems like a tough place to get in to it. And some just below the wood. None of it is pitting. Totally smooth. Op rod, out of view, has it too. For the most part the rust is going to be out of site. Even in the op-rod because of grease. But a guy has to tweek on his rifle I suppose.
Thanks all of you for taking the time to give me your input.
You'd have to do some reading. I don't recall if these gun are Philippian guns or some of what Ethiopia had. Get an account on the CMP website and gunboards.com. Gun boards folks are quite helpful. The CMP board takes more time to get help, but some of the forums will move along pretty good.Wow, much appreciated on the info! I didn't realize they were still actively selling gov't invintory through the cmp! Thats great news. And at todays prices $700 is a killer deal for a quality milsurp like the Garand. I get sick seeing SKS rifles selling for that much, but I can stomach a Garand at that price. Thats never going to go down in value either. Ive always, wanted a Garand, and might go the budget beater route! Thanks. Great job on cleaning the gun up as well looks great. Do you know if the CMP Garands coming out now are from U.S. invintories, or from abroad? I never dug too deep, just always assumed I missed the Garand Surplus days. I know the cheap ammo days are gone
I love these "Back in the old days" stories. I'm old enough to have my own, but I've only been playing with guns and gun stuff for a little over ten years. So I never enjoyed all this, back in the old days.
YUP!! Dings from use are like Scars on Fine Leather.....
