M1 Garand gas cylinder

[EdG]

Surely, not NOS.

To my eye, the stacking swivel screw does appear to be staked judging from the flattened end of the screw.

So far, the gas cylinders I have seen with the W mark on top of the rear ring have been on Oct. and Nov. '41 rifles.
In this time period, there is usually, but not always, a mark on the bottom of the tab (tang ?) of the cylinder at the rear.
As the gas cylinder does appear to be sand blasted and refinished in some way, a mark on the tab may be more difficult to see. Take a really good look at the tab and see if there is a mark there.

Don't know what effect the squiggly lines might have on performance.

[Brian Dick]

It's definitely sand blasted and refinished, maybe with Brownells Parkerizing colored baking paint. M1 gas cylinders are stainless steel so they will not take Parkerizing. The original finish was called dichromate black and it was a highly poisonous process to apply. It was also not very durable. That's why most gas cylinders you see in documentaries that are in the field are worn bright.

[browningautorifle]

M1 gas cylinders are stainless steel so they will not take Parkerizing

We did some with Brownell's Oxinate 84...for stainless. The magic is pickling in muriatic acid. That will give them a matt finish and of course bead blasting before all that. I'm pretty sure you know all that though...

[MadMechaNick]

So, it turns out the weird pattern in the bore was in the grease, my bad. Bore looks like new otherwise. I agree it's likely a refurbished unit, given the finish isnt correct. As for stampings there is what looks to be a 7 stamped on the bottom tab behind the stacking swivel.

The current gas cylinder on my rifle was unfortunately refinished with black duracote, which really stands put against the blueing/black oxide and parkerizing on the rifle, so I was looking to try and make it look a bit less obviously modified/"restored". I'm in Canada so my access to Garand parts is unfortunately very limited.

Is the gas cylinder lock, screw, and sight hood also stainless? They were also painted with duracote unfortunately.

Thank you all hugely for your time and expertise!!

[browningautorifle]

Is the gas cylinder lock, screw, and sight hood also stainless?

Sight hood? Do you mean the front sight? They're steel and can be reparkerized. The gas cylinder lock and screw are both the same as the gas cylinder.

[Brian Dick]

I blasted, painted and baked a couple years ago with Suncorite 259 and they were lovely. Very durable too and hard to distinguish as refinished.

[jesse_]

I blasted, painted and baked a couple years ago with Suncorite 259 and they were lovely. Very durable too and hard to distinguish as refinished.

You are a tease!

I can't find that material for sale anywhere

[browningautorifle]

Suncorite 259

I think it's considered dangerous goods now isn't it?

[ssgross]

the new "expert grade" CMP rifles have refinished receivers, new barrel and wood, and at least on the two I have, they refinished the gas cylinder by painting with something. It has a glazed on, spray-ain't look. But I imagine their surface prep isn't very time consuming. Give them a call and ask what they used. My guess would be flat black epoxy paint like Brownell's alumahyde (did I spell that right?). I would never use it for this purpose, but it did wonders on the receiver of an old Glenfield 70 I restored for the kiddos. Hasn't chipped, tolerates any of the usual cleaning solvents. It would probably look better on a glass cylinder if there were better surface prep.