Blockader Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 (edited) I have been working on this rifle project since late Fall and finally finished today. This M1 Garand was made by Winchester in January of 1944, 6 months prior to D-Day. It has very little pitting (possibly indicating use in Europe rather than the tropics) but has consider "pistol rash" on the left side of the receiver from rubbing against the butt of a holstered handgun when slung on the shoulder. It was rebarreled at Springfield Armory in October 1963. I purchased it at The CMP Marksmanship Park where it was the lone Service Grade Winchester when I visited. It took 6 months to track down a rare mostly-carved Garand stock in Flame figured Maple that I could final fit and finish with the same traditional methods used when building flintlock blackpowder longrifles. The only handguards I could find had already had some stain attempts applied, and since I used historical iron nitrate reagent to color and accentuate the curl/flame (chatoyance is the technical term) it was a challenge to make them match the stock. But it took very little wood removal to get the stock to fit, though it is very tight. The operating rod was rubbing a bit and I had to fit the rear trigger guard so it could fully seat and lock the receiver into place. The maple carved easily so I reckon it is likely Red Maple rather than Sugar Maple. I sanded the stock from 80 up to 600 grit, with whiskering at the end, then treated it with a tannic acid solution. After drying, I treated it with Iron Nitrate which reacts with the tannins and turns very dark. When it is exposed to high heat it then blushed to a warm brown color. Because of the structure of the curly maple the color is more permenant in the open celled curl than in the closed cell wood next to it. So when it is rubbed back the chatoyance really pops. I generally use traditional oil finishes but choose to try Permalyn, a polymerized oil, for this one. I did not like it. But after lots of extra rubbing and some required "antiquing" in spots, it came out very fine. Edited April 6, 2019 by Blockader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blockader Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 (edited) Heres the finished rifle. Not sure why the photos won't go vertical... Edited April 7, 2019 by Blockader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonytheTiger Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 Wow. Thats beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George16 Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 Amazing! Very beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blockader Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 Thanks y'all, I'm glad to be done. I think I'll build another AR next lol. I'm planning to shoot this in a Vintage 3-GUN match this summer and I hope to get some video. I don't have a pre-1945 shotgun other than a side by side, so I'll be droppin' deuces in the pipes from my shell caddy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver star Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Thanks for sharing, quite educational. Beautiful wood work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blockader Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 On 4/7/2019 at 8:38 AM, silver star said: Thanks for sharing, quite educational. Beautiful wood work! Glad you enjoyed, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerritm Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Love the Garand, thanks for the post. gerritm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfaith Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Wow nice work. Thanks for taking the time to post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 That looks great, thank you for the detailed description of the finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
262alcante Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Great looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blockader Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 I was planning to shoot it some this past weekend, put we got 8" of rain in an hour and my pasture/range was literally 10 feet underwater! Thanks for the comments, y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powder Finger Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 the stock is rally sharp. good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcs352 Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 Stupid cool shootin’ iron. Stunningly gorgeous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 We could use more posts like this. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleJ Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 Excellent work! Truly a lot to be proud of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpease Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 Great looking rifle!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhdeal Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 As others have said, nice looking Garand you have there. I personally would enjoy your Flintlock though. What are the details on it if you don't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novagunner Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Wow. That is Beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBaker5745 Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Love the tiger stripe look! Sweet gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodinal220 Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 WOW!! That is stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedjunkie Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Great looking stock finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Very nice. I need one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEADEYE Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 Nice fiddleback to the maple stock awesome work..in this day and age of plastic stocks I appreciate a nice slab of wood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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