EXEL MARKED M1 GARAND

[powerman]

I just bought an SA M1 Garand today, it’s an import marked Exel Gardner mass.
It dates to jan 1944 with an SA 1963 barrel, most parts are market SA with a couple of other manufactures. Will do an inventory.
I thinks it going to be a good shooter, the muzzle doesn't seem to have much wear, did the round in the muzzle gauge trick and had about 3/16 to ¼” of the bullet still showing
The Parkerizing looks almost new, no real wear on the internals of the receiver, barrel bright and shiny.
The trigger parts and the internal parts look brand new.
The gun has been sitting for years and a small dealer in Chelmsford.
The gun looks like crap do to the stock, so most people passed it over, I’ve picked it up many times myself. The front hand guard is new but the remaining stock finish is really bad and dark. The finish is realy thick, someone scraped off some kind of paint marking on side of the stock but it doesn’t look like it hit the wood. The only cartouches are SA and a P in a circle.
My plans are to strip and refinish the stock, besides a good cleaning that’s all I think it needs.
Before I do anything, Its my first Garand, what else should I look for or do.
The only thing I haven’t looked at is the gas system.
O ya the only other thing is the stock it’s a little loose. It goes real easy when closing the trigger guard.

 

[mac1911]

if the stock is loose you may want to consider a new stock before refinishing the old. Personally juat give the stock a good cleaning and leave it be

 

[powerman]

ok i have it in pieces, the thing is freekin perfect except the stock.
You can't judge a rifle by its stock.
it must had an arsenal refinished before it was imported
I think it may of only been test fired.
no soot or anything in the gas system, barel or action. just a little brass color on the bolt face.
The piston looked brand new.

I will take your advice for the short term and clean up the stock and give a coat of linseed oil.
The rifle derserves a new stock though and am looking at new wood stocks from boyds or and unmarked CMP
any ideas?

 

[mike01824]

Where is this small dealer in Chelmsford? Point me in the right direction!

 

[FSTC]

Where is this small dealer in Chelmsford? Point me in the right direction!

Probaly Collectors in Vinal Square. Oddball sometimes nonexistent hours.

 

[mac1911]

I would get the stock from the CMP they are suposed to be a touch better fit than boyds(allthough boyds makes them I believe). There is some fitting required reguardless.

Or give Noahs Motors in saugus a call he has been known to be very good with Garands and other military arms.

I tried the fiberglass stock fit was good lock up was tight but it lost its feel.....

 

[Maninblue1861]

dgr guns in TN makes a great stock set thats the proper WWII contours. (Boyd's is a bit thick)

 

[powerman]

I was thinking of the CMP stocks but the only ones in stock are ones with their cartouche.
I also read the samething in that CMP stocks are made by boyds and are diff than the ones boyds sells. The CMP unfinished would be ok but it would need to finished.

I may go with the DGR but they are pricey at the first look, but you get fitting and finishing which maybe a deal when all is said and done.
You need to send them the gun though to get full value of their stock.
i may go this way since the DGR will probably give you the best shooting riffle.
Have you used DGR or know someone with the DGR?

also i have removed old finish from the original stock and it doesn't look to bad with exception of a small crack in the rear handguard. (not sure how to fix)
It is back together except for the stock and rear handguard. a little trickey geting the parts together but I think I did it correctly.

 

[Maninblue1861]

He has refinished 6 of my garands. I'll post picks of one refinished and stocked by him when I get home.

 

[Maninblue1861]

As promised, my 2.06 SA that just got back from Dean at DGR. He parked and restocked this one. some he just parked, others he just restocked. He has also done a IHC, a winchester, a 5.80, and 6.08 SA, and a M1D sniper for me. Does top notch work. Depending on workload, could be a few week wait.

 

[Warm_Garand]

Powerman--

The CMP stock is made for them by Dupage Trading. Dupage put together the stock specs based on WWII specs, and then contracted with Boyd's to have the stock manufactured. If you want a nice stock set I think a real good way to go is to buy an unfinished stock set from Dupage and put your sweat into finishing the stock (as opposed to removing previously applied finish). If you want a match-accurized stock, Dean's Guns (DGRGuns) will either do the hand fitting work with an unfinished Dupage stock for about $60, or you can buy fitted/unfinished from him and save the shipping costs Dupage Trading>>You>>Dean>>You.

Dean does good work, and I consider his fitting money well spent provided the Garand is a good shooter to start with--but even a non-fitted Dupage stock will shoot WAY better than most 50 year old USGI and they are fine-looking to boot.

Good luck--and how about some pics.

A Garand is always worth looking over, even in old grimy Korean wood--and sometimes especially so.

--Warm_Garand

 

[mac1911]

You lucked out , I look at every single garand I see in the shops around me. Most are in poor shape or repriced SA SG CMP rifles for 2x original price.

 

[powerman]

warm_garand thanks for the dupage info never heard of them before, new source for parts.
dgr looks like the way to go. it looks to be in the $300 range. it looks like the fitting charges are higher like 100.
the diff between unfinished an finished is only like 50 so finished seems to be a bargin.
dgr also sells all metal for only 50 if you buy the stock from them. i may do this so i can keep the old stock intacked

on the old stock i have stripped it, it was still a little loose.

so i steamed it with a iron and wet rag. i was suprised it took most of the dents out. it worked better than i thought it would.
i was able to get out almost all of the dent on the top due to the receiver, on the bottom i was able to remove about 80 percent of the dent due to the mag/trigger guard
i have not test fitted again i don't want to crush the wood
my plans are to use minwax wood hardner in the crush zone hoping to firm up the wood.

ill try to get some pictures up

 

[Warm_Garand]

Powerman--

Brilliant minds think alike, I guess--I did some tests with minwax wood hardener when I was trying to save the stock on a field-grade. It didn't penetrate far enough to make a difference, I didn't think. What I HAVE had good luck with is shimming with thin birch or walnut veneer. You can get the veneer at (for example) Rockler's in Cambridge, on Mass Ave. You just cut your shims and lay them in under the trigger guard and/or under the first inch or two at the front of the receiver (that restores a downward draw/tension at the front ferrule). If the stock shoots good, you can glue them in place, if not, it's back to the drawing board.

Rocker's also sells Pure Tung Oil.

I assume you've read up on removing dents and dings by tossing the stock in the dishwasher. Sounds crazy, but it works like gangbusters (lol).

Good luck.

--Warm_Garand

 

[powerman]

Warm_Garand

Will see if the wood hardener works. I think it may work; the steaming process lifted the wood and opened up the pores so I hope it can soak in. Also a bunch of old oil and stain came out in those areas during the steaming. The striping process didn't get it out in those areas like the rest of the stock.

I'm letting it dry now. i may try to re-steam it again in the problem areas (possibly this weekend).
The dishwasher looks like a good idea for production work. I’m not sure how you clean the dishwasher after wash a stock, I’m sure it would have some type of oil scum in there.
I’m sure it would impart some taste on the next load of dishes. Honey I really liked the meat loaf just a hint of cosmoline.


I have a grand shoot in two weeks so I’m trying to get it done by then. i hope to have a couple of coats of linseed oil on it.

My other problem is there is a small crack on the mid hand guard on the opposite end from the clip. The crack is about an inch long from the end and ends in kind a not in the wood. Seems to be stable in that it i don't think it will grow. Not sure if I should try to put a little epoxy in there from the back. The crack does change it size (width) with moister so there is some stress in the wood itself.

 

[Warm_Garand]

Powerman:

Here are some links:

TR Findley's aproach to fixing cracks:

http://www.trfindley.com/pgsgr.html


I've used Gorilla Glue on cracks with pretty good results, as well--but you have to sand off the foamy excess on the visible surfaces.

Fixing/fitting loose handguard:

http://www.trfindley.com/pgfxlshg.html


Good luck with your Garand. They're absolutely worth the work.


--Eight_Ring

 

[Rmotta]

Here is some good info from the CMP website

http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/askarmoreranswerwood_cleaning_article.htm#1

 

[powerman]

ok, i cleaned the problem areas with carb cleaner an it pulled out the oil some more. i originally should of cleaned the inside corners on the mag well to the front of the stock the first time around , i steamed for a second time and lifted the magwell dents and top dent out a little more, almost gone. the carb cleaner opened up the pores and allowed the steam in
i saw the trfinley article for superglue but never saw his article on stock refinish. to late . when i was steaming tonight i thought if the wood had more moisture it would work better trfinley's article about soaking the stock is good idea.
so far i'm pretty close to trfinly's process
strip, strip, strip/clean, steam, clean, steam i think, i'm done, i'm sure a little more can be done but it don't need to be perfect, a few battle scars it wil be, no stain just raw linseed oil