An M1 Garand question.

Skysoldier

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I have an M1 that I inherited from an old Army Buddy who passed away. By the markings on the receiver, it was made by Springfield and the Serial number is 7663.

I found a website that shows it was manufactured back in January, 1939, but obviously has been refurbished, because the barrel and receiver are not blue, but a grey
color that looks like sandblasted steel.

The stock is also pretty recent, because it is all clean wood with no cracks, dings, or signs of wear. The wood has no finish, and feels like it was sanded with 60 grit.

The sling also looks like it is brand new.

I assume that this was refurbished, (perhaps by CMP). Does this sound correct?

When I first got to New Mexico, and remembering my Basic Training with the M-14, I went out and zeroed out the sights and it seems to be very accurate. It was nice to
relive those sight pictures from so many years ago, and glad my eyes are still as good as back then.

My question is, what would be the proper finish for the stock and handguard. The rough, sanded finish drives my nuts. Should I use laquer, or just an oil finish.

Thanks for any advice!
Sky
 
Always great to have a Garand. Sounds like you have a new CMP replacement stock as I've felt those before and they are a little rough. You can sand it down a little and use Boiled Linseed Oil on the stock. BLO is the original finish for Garands during the time yours was manufactured.
 
Last edited:
Sky,

If your serial number is accurate you have one of the original gas block M-1s (Gas Trap M1 Garand). But they were all converted to the gas port system based on perceived problems with that method. It was most likely refurbished at least once while in service.

Do you know when your friend got it? CMP may well have also changed out the stock as Rockrirv1 posted.

Oh, and I second the post:

[pics]
 
Both Tung Oil and Boiled Linseed Oil mixtures were used. Raw Linseed oil was not used. No one seems to know exactly what the mixture was as they were treating millions of stocks in wartime conditions.

You can look at the barrel manufacturer and date, Operating Rod, bolt, trigger assembly etc but this sounds like a CMP rifle. Really early receiver, which is worth looking into as it may have some collector value.

CMP ran out of USGI replacement stocks some years ago and have been selling rifles with new commercial stocks in USGI pattern. They usually fit well so all good.
 
Always great to have a Garand. Sounds like you have a new CMP replacement stock as I've felt those before and they are a little rough. You can sand it down a little and use Boiled Linseed Oil on the stock. BLO is the original finish for Garands during the time yours was manufactured.
Plus one for the boiled linseed oil Skysoldier. Not to much sanding though, if you want it to look like the real deal.
 
You can email the CMP with your serial number and they will tell you if it ever passed through them. If so, they will issue an official certificate. I don’t know if that adds to it’s value or not.
 
I have an M1 that I inherited from an old Army Buddy who passed away. By the markings on the receiver, it was made by Springfield and the Serial number is 7663.

I found a website that shows it was manufactured back in January, 1939, but obviously has been refurbished, because the barrel and receiver are not blue, but a grey
color that looks like sandblasted steel.

The stock is also pretty recent, because it is all clean wood with no cracks, dings, or signs of wear. The wood has no finish, and feels like it was sanded with 60 grit.

The sling also looks like it is brand new.

I assume that this was refurbished, (perhaps by CMP). Does this sound correct?

When I first got to New Mexico, and remembering my Basic Training with the M-14, I went out and zeroed out the sights and it seems to be very accurate. It was nice to
relive those sight pictures from so many years ago, and glad my eyes are still as good as back then.

My question is, what would be the proper finish for the stock and handguard. The rough, sanded finish drives my nuts. Should I use laquer, or just an oil finish.

Thanks for any advice!
Sky
+1 Seems like a CMP M1. Any markings on the stock? Usually CMP applies a stamp / cartouche. Looks like this:

W9I2B85.jpg


Sanded with 60-grit seems pretty rough. If there are scratches showing, assuming this is a replacement stock (99% sure it is) it would be OK to sand with a few steps finer. As you know , you can skip a grit size when going finer, but you can't skip two grit sizes if you want to get the scratches out. Don't sand where the receiver and trigger / floor plate assembly clamp to the stock. I like BLO for a finish. If the scratches aren't too bad, you can rub it down with 0000 steel wool to improve the finish. This will open up the grain a little too, which will look more authentic than getting there with 400-grit sandpaper.

That's an early M1 for sure, and 4-digit M1's are highly collectible. Nearly every M1 has been overhauled at least once and is more likely to be a bit of a mixmaster of parts. Some guys buy a bunch and swap parts to make as many 'correct' as they can. A few of us on the forum shoot them regularly in CMP J.C. Garand matches and know how to rework and tune them for accuracy and reliability. I'll be driving by Mansfield on Sunday as I head to Pembroke for OSCA's first CMP match of the season. I'm not so informed on collectible history but I shoot the tar out of these things regularly and am glad to answer any technical questions.
 
I have a pic of S.N. On my phone, but is some stupid HEIF image, and when I try to email it to myself I’d gets screwed up!
Any suggestions on how to convert it to a jpeg?
 
I have a pic of S.N. On my phone, but is some stupid HEIF image, and when I try to email it to myself I’d gets screwed up!
Any suggestions on how to convert it to a jpeg?

We trust you. With something this potentially valuable we just want to make sure that we are giving good info.
 
I believe the original finish was linseed oil. They were not blued. They were parkerized. Grey would be correct. They are quite accurate and very soft shooting for a .30/06. Get the correct ammo because that long op rod is the weak link in an otherwise very robust rifle.
 
dont mess with it until your sure its not a valuable stock. I had a CMP stock I was ready to refinish. I had it at a local cmp match and I asked one of the old Armorers about refinishing the stock.

He said "dont touch it, let me show you why" He then got a Magnify glass out and got a little spit on his finger.....it was just enough to reveal a WRA/SA stamp that was almost invisilbe if you did not know it was there. About a week later he calls me and says I can get you $800 for that stock. I said sold. The buyer gave me a $800 plus a pick of any stock he had on a rack in his basement. Said it was going on his 1941 Winchester. If the marks where better and the Cross Cannon stamp was at least visible the price goes up from there.
So I took the $800 and bought 2 more M1s from the CMP
 
If the stock is raw wood I would suggest pure Tung Oil first 2 coats cut 50% with citrus solvent, last 3 coats 100% Tung oil.

before during after
 

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I went over the stock, and there are no signs of any markings at all. Just looks like virgin wood.

That sounds like a Boyd's replacement stock. Someone probably thought the stock with all the letters stamped on it and dents was no good and replaced it with a pretty one. Too bad :-(

That receiver has definitely been re-parkerized at least once if not twice. Makes me think it might have been some private party rather than armory park job.

Pull it from the stock and look on the receiver legs for any thing written in electro-pencil.

If you want to make the stock like a GI stock, sand it with 150 grit before you put pure tung oil or linseed oil on it.
 
Nothing to add. But I took my not too valuable Garand out today for the first time in years so that my 20 year old nephew could have the experience. He liked it a lot. That's good, it'll probably be his one day.....
 
Evaluating an old Garand:
- Pull back and latch the op rod. The date of the barrel should appear below the op rod forward of the receiver as 10-43 or similar sometimes after the barrel number
- Next is the throat of the barrel shiny "bright" or parkerized, indicating a rework.
- Is there a "P" proof om the grip area? Serif or plain? In a circle or not. Circle indicates original inspector, lack of circle indicates a rework. If you are really lucky the is an inspector's mark on the wood on the left side,
- If the stock is an original NEVER SAND IT! I would put a heavy coat of BOL Boiled Linseed Oil on the wood wait 20 minutes and then hand rub it off, and then repeat (old school is once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year). PS I have never made it past a month, The 20 minute wait is important as it keeps the BLO from gumming up.
- You have great piece of history in your 4 digit Garand. Treat it carefully at first. If the gun has any original parts it is worth some $. Just go to Ebay and search for Gas Trap Parts! Gas Trap Garands go roughly from S/N 81 through 50,000. A "put together" Gas Trap runs North of $25000!

God Luck!!
 
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