I recently received my first M1 Garand. I ordered a Service Grade from CMP. All the wood is brand new and it is kinda a brownish orange color.
The wood is new and appears unprotected. It there anything I should do to protect the wood stock? What kind of wood is this?
When you guys use the BLO do you cut it with anything? How long does it take to dry? How many coats do you apply? I have a few stocks I'd like to refinish but I tried the BLO years ago and just never got it right. It send as if it never wanted to dry completely or was always tacky to the touch. I was told I should have cut it with mineral spirits. Opinions?
Im jealous. So very jealous.
So then, what is the difference between the BLO and PTO? Why should I choose one over the other?
BTW, the picture in the post above is exactly what mine looks like.
I recently received my first M1 Garand. I ordered a Service Grade from CMP. All the wood is brand new and it is kinda a brownish orange color.
The wood is new and appears unprotected. It there anything I should do to protect the wood stock? What kind of wood is this?
This^ I use both BLO and PTO about 50-50 or 75-25 depending on how I want the stock to look. First 2 coats cut with mineral spirits and then apply as needed the BLO/PTO or mixture of both until you get the desired look you want. Congrats on the new Garand!Almost all the CMP service grade rifles are shipped with new birch wood these days -- stained either in a "chocolate brown", or "orange" color. The CMP "Specials" are shipped with new, walnut stock sets.
The new wood is little dry, and wil require a little work. Rub in some BLO or PTO, cut 50/50 with mineral spirits (for the first couple coats anyway). Each coat will need 24 to 48 hours to cure, and you may need 4 to 6 coats. Some folks let the last coat cure for a week before reassembling the rifle. You will probably want to put a coat on every year or so, just to protect the finish. To keep the finish from getting too glossy, I apply the oil with 0000 steel wool. That also knocks down any grain that the oil might raise.
Boiled linseed oil is available in just about every paint department. Pure tung oil can be purchased here:
Real Milk Paint
PTO is a little bit darker than BLO, but BLO will darken over time (a loooooong time). PTO is said to be more water resistant than BLO. Note that any product that has the word "finish" in the name will most likely contain varnsih. "Tung oil finish" is not tung oil, but a varnish that is colored to look like tung oil.
Some folks hate the new birch stocks, and are going to great lengths to refinish them to look like old USGI stocks. Many recipes for making the new stocks resemble USGI wood can be found on the CMP forum. To each his own, but if I want a stock that looks like an old USGI stock, I'll just buy an old USGI stock. If you don't like the birch, you can purchase CMP walnut stock sets, with or without metal.
I'm currently finishing 3 CMP walnut stocks with nothing but PTO (they look gorgeous!). I have a brown stained birch stock that is going to get some dark tung oil, and an "orange" stock that will most likely get BLO to bring out the color. I'm going to order an unfinished stock set that'll be finished to a nice light color. That'll mean I'll have a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead in my Garand collection.
Do you pull all the wood off the rifle before doing this? If so, How difficult is that to do?
So then, what is the difference between the BLO and PTO? Why should I choose one over the other?
BTW, the picture in the post above is exactly what mine looks like.