M1 Garand Stock Finish - Please Help

[Doug Douglass]

As the others have mentioned, BLO is the easiest to make it look like a GI finish. I cut it 50/50 with turpentine, and it does just as good but dries much faster. as ebeeby noted, just a drop and spread it as far as you can make it go before you add another drop. The turpentine odor goes away as the stock dries, and you are left with the great BLO smell.

After a complete strip with paint remover, your choice, dry the stock for a couple of days, no sanding, I like to leave minor dents and marks alone, after all it ain't new. Two coats of BLO cut with turp or not is a perfect GI finish.

[Johnny P]

If you can remove the old finish without a complete strip, you will probably retain the original color. Several years back I bought several stocks that came from a facility that was de-miling M1 Rifles. If I remember correctly the tags were from AMF, and had the original rifles serial number. Some were absolutely coated in old finish, which I stripped with lacquer thinner. The lacquer thinner removed the old coats, but left the nice red color, and a few coats of the BLO/Turpentine restored them. All the stocks I bought still had the original cartouches, and getting the old coats of what was probably raw linseed oil applied by recruits enhanced the cartouches.

[Clark Howard]

Raw linseed oil will never dry completely on your stock. Boiled linseed is better. I prefer real tung oil. Most "tung" finishes are heavily modified polymers. Behlen makes a true tung oil. Several coats sparingly applied, followed by a mix of 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 turpentine, 1/3 beeswax melted together over a low heat. Work the last coat with your fingers, then wipe with a clean cotton cloth. Regards, Clark