early 1941 production Winchester M1 rifle stock

[RCS]

Winchester obviously used fancy walnut,Attachment 95216Attachment 95217 that had been set aside in their custom shop, in
production of M1 rifle stocks to complete their early production order.

Photo of an early WRA RS no-trap stocks shows deluxe fancy walnut which was originally intended for a custom grade rifle. I have seen a few other nice stocks but everything appears to date from early 1941

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[Bob Seijas]

Yes, they are known for it in the early days. I wonder how they got around the spec for "straight-grained walnut."

[cgroc09]

Maybe they were mainly used on Educational Order rifles as the first 500 didn't have to function, if I remember correctly.

[Bob Seijas]

I doubt it. Once the war started there was a pretty fierce battle for raw material, and WRA's priority rating was inexplicably low. At one point they were almost out of steel, threatening a complete halt to rifle production. That's when they dug into their stockpile of pre-war commercial chrome-moly steel (those CM Winchester parts) without permission from Ordnance. I'm guessing the same happened with wood.

[cgroc09]

That makes sense. Thanks.

[Bob Womack]

A museum nearby has a presentation Garand with a figured stock that is quite pretty.


Bob