CMP delivery

[ssgross]

My 2 service grade Garands came on Friday. My first one 2 years ago had a refinished 300k receiver, barrel wi 0+ throat erosion, 1+ at the muzzle, and new CMP wood. It is a wonderful shooter.
These two are 3mil and 4 mil.
Here is the first
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It has used wood, with what looks like the remnants of an HRA 3/8" square stamp with eagle and stars? but it's not clear. The wood fits nice and tight, just as tight as the others with new wood. The hand guard rings and butt plate were put to a wire wheel, and left bright. Bolt has the correct drawing number for the serial, but looks newly reparkerized.
I found a complete IHC trigger group, and an HRA gas plug.

I have both rifles fully disassembled right now for deep cleaning and inspection. I thought of doing a thread as I went through it. When I get to the bore, I'll do some before, after, intermediate, and after bore cam pics. Every old rifle has a story, even the ugliest parts queen.

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[ssgross]

While my hoppes No. 9 soaks a bit, here are some before pics.
Receiver and barrel drawing numbers. There is an S on the other side of the receiver, I'm guessing an arsenal rebuild stamp.
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The bore, as I found it below. A bit of rust in the chamber.
crown, 12 inches in, throat, freebore, chamber shoulder.
Attachment 115187Attachment 115188Attachment 115189Attachment 115190

[browningautorifle]

Pic on the left in post #2 is crown? A bit of rod wear at the crown? Quite evident if I understand your pics...

[ssgross]

that's right Jim.
Plenty of Hoppes No. 9, 20 strokes or so, let it stand for 20 minutes or so, then 50 strokes and patch out until dry. All the old oils/grease and top grime is off. I use a ratcheting brush on the chamber. No more rust there! Shiny copper comes out next.
crown, 12inches, throat, shoulder.
Attachment 115191Attachment 115192Attachment 115193Attachment 115194
some deep tool marks revealed.

[browningautorifle]

some deep tool marks revealed.

Yes there are. Most impressive to me is still the end of the land worn by steel rod use. Very damning evidence of what instructors told troops about over use of a rod when cleaning...then insisted on them scrubbing the crap out of their rifles.

[ssgross]

Sweets next. I use a parkerized steel rod with brass bore guide for this. follow the directions. letting it sit longer than a minute or two does nothing for it's effectiveness. Soak a loose patch, short-stroke and rub the bore - doesn't have to be vigorous. your not scrubbing it, your wiping away dissolved copper from the surface, exposing more.
It took 3 passes (patch out dry in between) to get the lions share of copper out.
after pass1, pass2, pass3
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I have found that at a first real cleaning of a neglected bore with "character" like these, it does no good to continue. Copper lodged in the scratches, pits, what not takes forever to get out with just sweets and patches, and sweets doesn't work well on a brush either. it's most effective as printed on the directions.
Good thing there is JB paste with kroil. Coming up! This gets the rest of everything we missed, copper included, as well has smooth down the edges of any places where there was active pitting or rust going on.

[ssgross]

2 passes with JB paste. Going from the muzzle is a bit challenging to get a good tight fit. Swab with kroil first. Then I put JB liberally on the top third of a patch, then fold over just that part and wrap around a Dewey style jag. Back and forth, short stroke, whatever is your fancy - extra passes in the first third of the bore. I use a brass guide at the muzzle for this even though I use a coated rod since this is the most vigorous part. Patch out with kroil, then patch dry. I made 2 passes like this, 30ish strokes each, with double in the throat area.
You would think your bore is dirty because every patch keeps coming out blackish grey. This is just jb packed into every nook and cranny. Plain old denatured alcohol is great at dissolving all this. Couple tight patches with alcohol before it comes out sparkling white every time!
12inches, throat, freebore
Attachment 115198Attachment 115199Attachment 115200
perty pretty. There is a couple trouble spots deal with. I should have gone a 4th pass with sweets - I missed a long streak of copper that now shines mirror bright.
Attachment 115201

[ssgross]

Don't forget to clean the muck out of the gas port!
Attachment 115202
Bore still looks a bit dark in places, especially in the throat. It's not dirty - this is the underlying layer of burned on lubricant - stained just like your wife's favorite stainless steel skillet that you put on high and forgot about until it started smoking and set off the smoke alarm.
Best way to get rid of it...Go shooting - only from now on degrease your barrel just before you head out to the range, and clean as soon as you get home. Degreasing before shooting not only saves your barrel from burnt on oil, but makes cleaning easier too.

Here is birds eye view of the gas port area. Lights on the camera create shadows in all the micro imperfections of this old military barrel, whereas the side view shines bright. On my match grade, hand lapped barrels, Birdseye shows mirror bright. That will never happen on these old rifles, so don't expect perfection.
gas port is the bright white area at the top.
Attachment 115203
Sorry this was likely a "captain obvious" thread so far, but I thought it would make a good pictorial "here is what to expect" for any of those 7-8 million new gun owners who may have bought a milsurp.
Exterior and parts next. Pics if I find anything interesting.

[ssgross]

I like to detail strip any new-to-me rifle, especially milsurps. The M1 is easier than other. I clean and completely degrease everything, then relubricate. Why? curiosity on my first milsurp - I learned every square millimeter. But also, I like the comfort of knowing everything will be correctly preserved. I dunno what the last guy used or did or didn't do, but I'll make certain that it never matters. Mineral spirits and/or denatured alcohol with a nylon brush to degrease every nook and cranny. Wipe off, blow dry. Finished areas will appear chalky now. Take it outside and hose down with wd-40. Let it sit on there a few minutes, wipe and blow off the excess. everything then gets a layer of RIG. These products are the cheapest, and the best for rifles that will get used and maintained regularly. Reasons and references are here https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....897#post492897, along with links and guidance for museum practices better suited for wall hangers.

[ssgross]

I disassembled the bolt to triple check headspace. It says in the docs that came with the rifle that CMP does this...but I like the satisfaction.
Attachment 115208
Clear gap on the no-go gauge above. Go gauge sat flush.
Bolt looks to be refinished or was NOS - little to no wear behind the lugs or underneath. Drawing number is correct for serial, but the heat lot code is ~1.6million late?
Attachment 115207
The new parkerizing is rough, and when feeding some dummy rounds it sticks on top. A quick toss in case tumbler with walnut media for 15minutes or so while I work on the gas tube should smooth it out without wearing the finish too much. This works great for new enbloc clips too.