Yet another inheritied M1 Carbine

[shadycon]

ChicagoRob; you will have a beautiful carbine when reassembled, and you found the right bunch to ask questions from.

[INLAND44]

On stock finish; there wasn't any. Some of the stocks, maybe most of them were dipped in linseed or Tung oil before being assembled to a gun. The manuals call for the stock to be maintained with raw linseed oil rubbed into the wood. If there had been a hard finish, the linseed oil would not have penetrated. Over the years, linseed oil and rubbing forms a glossy 'finish' that looks old, but this was not in keeping with the military requirements of the time which required that the stock not have a reflective finish. Reasons for this with combat equipment are rather obvious. The fashion today is to rub out old war rifle stocks with boiled linseed oil which forms a hard surface or to actually varnish the stocks because of the belief that they should have a finish. Boiled linseed oil was never used or recommended for the carbine, and no hard finish is needed on the stock. Ideally the stock should feel a little rough, like it needs to be sanded. If you have a steamer of any kind, you can really clean one and de-gloss it. This also raises the grain and helps give it the 'flat' non-reflective look. Using raw linseed oil on it after that will preserve the wood, but limit the rubbing which will polish it up again. I use linseed oil cut 1:1 with turpentine for faster penetration and absorption.

[phil441]

And, if you can't find raw linseed oil in a hardware store, go to the dietary supplements section of your local drug store and pick up a bottle of Flax or Flax seed oil. Same thing but fit for human consumption.

Great lookin' Inland. you're almost there....

Phil

[ChicagoRob]

Wow, thanks everyone. I really did find the right forum.

I still have a few questions. Thanks in advance for your patience.

About the parts that I need, I'm looking to restore it back to factory, so I need a bit of help figuring out which parts are correct.

Are there any other good sources of original parts other than eBay?


Buttplate - I found the buttplate identification web page. It shows two different buttplates for Inlands. An "early" and a "late". What constitutes "early" and "late"?

Swivel and Screw - It's a type 1 band, so I need an original type 1 swivel. Do those ever come up for sale on eBay? (Just the swivel) I did see an original band and swivel that just sold on eBay for $80. Ouch, kinda spendy for just a swivel and screw, but if that's what I have to do, I'll do it.

Oiler - I've seen some marked IS and II. Is either ok or is one more appropriate?

Sling - I guess that the question here is "C" clips or "D" clips? What is the right color? How about markings? I guess that I want something marked with the year 43?

Recoil plate - I'm looking for one marked "DI". There seems to be a type associated with them. Am I looking for a type 1, 2 or 3? Is there any difference in the length of the screw?

Magazine(s) - Looks like you can't sell these on eBay. What is a good source for original ones? Are there any markings that I should look for? What size? 15?

About the stock...

I'm bummed that there is no acceptance mark on it. Should there have been one?

I followed Cabinetman's instructions on the parallax site about determining finish. It has a coat of poly on it. So as a first step, it's chemically strip it very gently. That has to be done. After that it's try to steam some of the dings and scratches out.

For the finish it, from what I can determine, Inland44 is right. The original finish was linseed oil. But, at the factory, they heated the oil and soaked the stock. I won't be able to do that. Simply applying it with a rag won't get it to penetrate (according to Cabinetman). One suggestion was to cut it with turpentine. Does that sound right? This is going to be babied, so durability isn't a concern.

Finally, I'm obviously no gunsmith. Does anyone know of someone in the Chicagoland area that is qualified to inspect this and let me know if I'm good to go? After all of this effort, me and the boys are going to have to put some lead down range. A bit of a side note. I have a son who is a combat engineer in the Marines who qualified with his M16 as an expert. He's already challenged me to a shoot off. Wish me luck!

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

Rob

[Donzi]

Rob- If you decide to use Tung oil (a much more durable finish that Linseed, & just as authentic & easy to apply) don't make the mistake of buying "Tung Oil finish" @ your local hardware store. In most cases it doesn't even contain real Tung oil. You can get the real pure deal from The Real Milk Paint Co., Quakertown PA. Tel. (800)339-9748. If you only have one firearm to do, you can get a 16 oz. bottle ,maybe a lifetime supply, of pure Tung oil for $10.25 plus shipping. they're very good people & sell a super quality product. HTH.
Donzi

[ChicagoRob]

Thanks for the warning Donzi. I'm waffling what to do about the finish. I get the whole Tung oil is better argument but I also like the idea of an original finish even if it isn't as good. I just don't want to screw things up.

On a good note, it looks like this guy (http://www.carbineparts.com) has every part that I need but, oh my, the prices!



Rob

[Hooks]

Watch out.............the flood gates are about to open on this guy. Don't buy anything yet.....

[ChicagoRob]

Thanks Hooks. Nice tip. How will I know when that happens?

[Hooks]

There are many on this fourm that have had very bad experiences with this seller with overpriced fake parts. I personally have not purchased anything from them; therefore I have no personal knowledge of his products. Good luck with a very nice Inland, I have one that is a little earlier than yours.

By the way, I have a gallon of raw lenseed oil and if you can not find any I might be able to send some to you. I don't know if there are any issues with sending something like this by mail.

[ChicagoRob]

Oh, I get it. I read that as he'd be liquidating his inventory soon. My bad.

Thanks for warning me off of him. I got excited when I saw that he had an early Inland buttplate. (The one with the larger diamond pattern.) I guess that I'll just bide my time and collect the necessary parts slowly. I'm not even sure that that is the correct plate.

Thanks for the offer of the linseed oil. I'll let you know if I need it when the time comes.

I ordered some metal snap caps and they came today. I figured that was a much safer way to test the action than with live ammo and I couldn't find any dummy ammo.

They fed in well, but refused to eject. So I bit the bullet and found some field stripping instructions and field stripped it. There was a lot of gunk around the ejector. Cleaned it up with some spray oil and a toothpick and now it works well.

I found a couple of other markings. The bolt has an "IO" on a protuding rectangular piece. No IO in a circle like mentioned in another post. I shook it and the firing pin moved easily, so I decided against trying to disassemble it. That appeared to be a bit more advanced that what I'm ready for.

The hammer had an "H" on it and the trigger guard had the word "INLAND" in what appeared to be a house shape.

Thanks again,

Rob