Winter Projects

Action tools. This set is sold by a member of the CMP Forums. Compatible with the Garand, 03 and Carbine.

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03-A3 barrel spun on and timed. The barrel kept slipping in the vice during r&r, but I found coating the aluminum action blocks with brown sugar made everything stick together. The sugar carmelized/solidified under pressure, pretty cool.

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Garand barrel is currently en route....
 
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The mini guinea from OTRPC told me the hardest barrels to spin off are the M1917’s.

Cool project though! I miraculously timed my M14 barrel perfectly somehow...it wuite literally must have been divine intervention because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

P.s. your second batch of photos isn’t coming over
 
The mini guinea from OTRPC told me the hardest barrels to spin off are the M1917’s.

Cool project though! I miraculously timed my M14 barrel perfectly somehow...it wuite literally must have been divine intervention because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

P.s. your second batch of photos isn’t coming over
Yes they are a pita , big bench and some Rosin helps. Even with a relief cut at the shoulder it was very snug.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/TZaBovJjkSw?feature=share
 
Criterion Garand barrel showed up today. Date of 3/21. No chrome on the gas pads. Pulled my .308 Garand from the safe and it looks like no chrome there either. Not an issue, just observation.

They started Chroming the gas pads right around the post-war production split. It was also common for rebuilds to get chromed. That's one of the "tells" to determine if you have an original WW2 barrel.
 
Nice, DW!

So the Garand barrel was relatively easy to spin off?

Have a couple of my own winter projects in the works. I'm sorting out the IHC Garand just received plus just started a re-barrel and restore project for a Swedish Mauser. Besides the usual 'CMP careful fitting' and trigger job, the IHC is getting a cosmetic make-over.

kekaXgc.jpg


I was thinking about getting an IHC butt stock but ended up really liking the fit and feel of this one. Thought it was maybe a beech replacement. Other forum gurus thought it was actually a Winchester stock that had been sanded down a bit- which seems to be the case. Appears to be walnut. Lots of steaming to remove dings from all the wood, a little sanding, and some Fiebings leather dye to match the stock to the hand guards.
 
Nice score on the IHC, @Mountain

This is how the action wrench fits around the Garand receiver. Getting them off hasn’t been an issue. I’m in the process of installing the new Criterion. Even with a cheater pipe, this is taking some effort. I do remember the 308 Criterion being like this as well.

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That's a very cool and functional action adaptor. I have a very similar home fabricated action / barrel vice setup and now you gave me inspiration on fabricating a M1 / M1A type adapter. My M1 CMP "Special" has a new Criterion barrel with only about 400 rounds so i'll probably never need to rebarrel in my lifetime.. LOL
 
I really like the design and construction of that Garand action wrench. Might be nice to have for down the road.

Getting closer on the IHC stock finish, before and after:

kekaXgc.jpg

HO2c4L3.jpg


Couple more rub downs with BLO and should be OK. Better lighting would make better pics, can do that later once I'm out shooting it.
 
Nice score on the IHC, @Mountain

This is how the action wrench fits around the Garand receiver. Getting them off hasn’t been an issue. I’m in the process of installing the new Criterion. Even with a cheater pipe, this is taking some effort. I do remember the 308 Criterion being like this as well.

View attachment 549060
Is there a top plate to that ?
 
I really like the design and construction of that Garand action wrench. Might be nice to have for down the road.

Getting closer on the IHC stock finish, before and after:

kekaXgc.jpg

HO2c4L3.jpg


Couple more rub downs with BLO and should be OK. Better lighting would make better pics, can do that later once I'm out shooting it.
Wow! How’d you manage that? Stain over existing finish and then oil?
 
Wow! How’d you manage that? Stain over existing finish and then oil?

And would that work on a new CMP stock? That looks great.

I removed the existing finish, which wasn't much. Dents and dings don't really show in the 'before' pic, but they were pretty bad so I steamed them out as best as possible. I use a steam iron on hottest setting over a wet piece of old towel on the wood. When done steaming I sanded with fine grit followed fine scotch brite.

It would work well on new CMP stocks, as long as the existing finish, if any, is removed first.
 
I removed the existing finish, which wasn't much. Dents and dings don't really show in the 'before' pic, but they were pretty bad so I steamed them out as best as possible. I use a steam iron on hottest setting over a wet piece of old towel on the wood. When done steaming I sanded with fine grit followed fine scotch brite.

It would work well on new CMP stocks, as long as the existing finish, if any, is removed first.
What’s your preferred method for removing finish?
 
What did you use for stain before the BLO. The new CMP stocks don’t have much for finish and it just doesn’t feel right. So far this one is a great shooter and I could live with the current finish but with winter coming it could be a great project. Going to need something to do after deer season ends….
 
What did you use for stain before the BLO. The new CMP stocks don’t have much for finish and it just doesn’t feel right. So far this one is a great shooter and I could live with the current finish but with winter coming it could be a great project. Going to need something to do after deer season ends….
Fiebings Leather Dye, dark brown.
 
What did you use for stain before the BLO. The new CMP stocks don’t have much for finish and it just doesn’t feel right. So far this one is a great shooter and I could live with the current finish but with winter coming it could be a great project. Going to need something to do after deer season ends….

My personal preference is for a NEW PRODUCTION stock is Raw Linseed Oil (aka, flaxseed oil). You can buy it at a health food store. Strip the stock before hand, don't stain it or anything. The RLO will continue to oxidize over the period of several years into what you see below. This is a new production Minelli 1903 C-Stock that I fitted several years ago. The stock was very light walnut before I started with the RLO. It will only continue to get better with time.



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My personal preference is for a NEW PRODUCTION stock is Raw Linseed Oil (aka, flaxseed oil). You can buy it at a health food store. Strip the stock before hand, don't stain it or anything. The RLO will continue to oxidize over the period of several years into what you see below. This is a new production Minelli 1903 C-Stock that I fitted several years ago. The stock was very light walnut before I started with the RLO. It will only continue to get better with time.



View attachment 549369
How long before that RLO goes nasty rancid !
Raw linseed can go bad
Thin coats with weeks to cure it will be fine. Raw linseed oil can feed mold growth.
It does look nice….
 
What did you use for stain before the BLO. The new CMP stocks don’t have much for finish and it just doesn’t feel right. So far this one is a great shooter and I could live with the current finish but with winter coming it could be a great project. Going to need something to do after deer season ends….
You could probably rub the cmp new wood stock finish off with a medium scotch brite pad.
Its so lightly sprayed on to even the color out of the 3 stock pieces.
So be warned — sometimes the 3 pieces dont play well together.
 
You could probably rub the cmp new wood stock finish off with a medium scotch brite pad.
Its so lightly sprayed on to even the color out of the 3 stock pieces.
So be warned — sometimes the 3 pieces dont play well together.
That's what I like about the leather dye- you can force match with it.

If the wood is nice like DW's 03A3 stock, I highly recommend a natural finish as he has done.
 
Isn’t that the stock that required almost no fitting? Basically a drop-in...right out of the box from Minelli?

I think I remember something about how little hassle that stock was to fit...could be confused though.
Minelli seems to be the least of problems for military stocks?
There about the same money as boyds too?
 
That's what I like about the leather dye- you can force match with it.

If the wood is nice like DW's 03A3 stock, I highly recommend a natural finish as he has done.

Yep, if you want to match existing, use Mountain's method.

RLO is luck of the draw. However it comes out, it comes out.
 
Isn’t that the stock that required almost no fitting? Basically a drop-in...right out of the box from Minelli?

I think I remember something about how little hassle that stock was to fit...could be confused though.
The opposite. Every wood stock I've done has needed work but that's the nature of the beast.

This is a copy/paste of something I wrote on another forum a while back re: the stock:


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I have experience fitting a Minelli C Stock. It's a great stock, but not a drop in.

My first issue was that the middle band / sling swivel did not fit. I had to re-contour the fore end of the stock extensively.

I also found the rest of the stock to be a little "fat", so I ended up re-contouring that, using my USGI stock as an example.

Minelli applied some sort of finish at the factory. This will come off once you start the work. Once I was happy with the re-contouring, I ended up lightly sanding the rest of the stock to remove the finish.

I remember doing extensive fitting with regards to
* Inletting of the trigger guard area
* Action sat on the "sides" of the stock, so these areas were relieved
* Rear tang area needed some dremel work to provide proper relief. <--this is common to any 1903 stock.

I used lipstick to check and re-check the stock fitment as I worked.

I finished the stock in RAW linseed oil. This was 3 years ago.

Oh yeah, you're going to need the cross bolts and nuts. Get those from Numrich Gun Parts.

Minelli doesn't make a HG, so I sourced a NOS USGI HG.

Here's the rifle at Camp Perry earlier this year !

View: https://i.imgur.com/bf9Wuzm.jpg


All of this being said, if I was in the market for another 1903 C Stock I would go with Minelli again.


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Regarding RLO, I found pictures from when I first finished the stock:


View: https://imgur.com/a/420V4


That was ~5 years ago (wow, time flies). Compare the photo I posted the other day, the Camp Perry 2019 pic and the original Jan 2017 pics; the stock/RLO has definitely mellowed into more of a deeper reddish/brownish color.
 
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Isn’t that the stock that required almost no fitting? Basically a drop-in...right out of the box from Minelli?

I think I remember something about how little hassle that stock was to fit...could be confused though.
As DW mentioned, not a drop-in. I'm still fighting a Minelli C-stock that was first on the USMC sniper clone. Was never happy with that and switched to a vintage USGI stock, which helped accuracy significantly. I think the barrel channel is a little warped on the Minelli? Working with it on an 03A3, as I'll probably never buy another USGI C-stock because of the F-R level prices for those now.

The Terni stock I used for my M1 National Match clone was a drop-in. That thing is a tack driver, just about as accurate as the Bula M14.
 
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