M1 Photos

[Snowman1510]

I felt that since this is a different subject than my previous post here are the photos of the new M1.

My 1955 H&R M1 is in the middle, interesting comparison. The woman who I purchased the new 1941 M1 from had a gunsmith friend there and he told me that early stocks were finished with this varnish of sorts by Springfield before they moved over to linseed oil, is that true? He also told me I every wanted to take off the varnish to use easy off then apply BLO from a hardware store.

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[browningautorifle]

Easy off is usually used by people that want to remove grease products. I can't recommend it... I'd use a liquid strip like 1850 furniture stripper to remove hard dried finish. Lots of investigation here will show threads about this exact thing.

The stocks also had tung oil applied at one point I believe...

[Brian Dick]

Do not use oven cleaner on the wood. It can and will permanently damage and discolor it. Varnish was never used in the production of M1 Rifle stocks. As BAR says, there was some tung oil used but the standard finish was raw linseed oil. Just get some correct chemical stripper that is designed to remove varnish, clean it all off, then oil it up well with RLO and it'll be good to go. Nice pair of rifles. Lots of collectors poo-poo the post 1968 imports with the evil required import stamps. I've had many and there were some real gems including one totally original 1944 manufacture rifle that had never been rebuilt. I kept it in my own collection for a while and then wound up selling it to a very grateful young gent at the Knob Creek show several years ago. It sported the pre "Blue Sky" small Arlington Ordnance import mark on the barrel, gauged up fine with a clean bore and even had the correct inspector's stamp on the stock.

[CINDERS]

I have used a natural stripper (Not a lady come on guy's) which is made from as you guessed natural products and water soluble to strip off varnish from a rifle it works well.
May take a bit longer but the end result is worth it oven based cleaners are basically just pressurized caustic soda in a can and to ferocious to be used on something like the rifle in question.,

[Snowman1510]

I won't use the Easy Off if I ever feel like taking off the finish. Would the remover scrub the rack number off as well, that is what I would really be worried about!

[gordong]

I like acetone to remove old finish from my rifles. It thoroughly removes most finishes but leaves the wood unharmed. Just be sure to: 1) work outdoors (need good ventilation), 2) don't work near an open flame, and 3) dispose of the rags properly to avoid spontaneous combustion.

[browningautorifle]

Would the remover scrub the rack number off as well

It will take off paint and all...

[Snowman1510]

Thanks guys!

Does anybody know where these M1 were imported from? It looks like the rack number is painted over the finish. Does anybody know of country that would do that? Or put finish on the wood while metal is still on it? Because I have seen little drops of finish on the metal of the stock.