Finishing CMP-Sourced Boyd's Reproduction M1 Garand Stock

[SoCal M1 Shooter]

Service Rifle Gurus, wizards of the iron and wood weapons, I have a batch of Culver's Magic Paste (equal parts turpentine, boiled linseed oil, beeswax). I have a couple M1 Garand stocks that I bought from the CMP some time before. I want to finish these stocks. I have read, a layer of tung oil followed by many layers of Culver's Magic Paste. What say you? Is this the way to go? Or, do you have an alternative? I vaguely recall talking with Dean Dillabaugh once about his process, but I cannot recall specifically what he said that he used. Some kind of canned spray, IIRC. Personally, I am leaning toward the tung oil followed by Culver's paste. Got any pictures of this finish in action? I would really appreciate seeing it.

[lyman]

tung oil,

followed by some more tung oil,


no need for magic if done right

[Major Tom]

DGR recommended tung oil, several coats. I had Dean repark a garand before he passed. He installed a new wood stock, it was not an oversized Boyds stock, can't remember the stock makers name, but Dean only used those stocks. Cost back then was $400 and the rifle from CMP was $400. Today it is a very accurate rifle and a prized gun of mine.

[Sunray]

The Boyd's reproduction stock solid wood or a laminate like most Boyd's stuff? How you finish plywood(that's essentially what a laminate is.) isn't the same as solid wood.
It's absolutely not a layer of tung oil then anything. Tung oil fills the wood's pores and keeps everything out. No wax of any kind is required with tung oil. It gives a hard waterproof, shiny, finish. The more coats you apply the shinier it gets. Remember to apply tung oil or another wood sealer to the inside of a wood stock. Keeps moisture out.
On solid wood it'd be multiple coats(5 coats over 5 days gives a nice sheen and brings out the grain nicely) of tung oil rubbed in with 24 hours drying time between coats.
Laminates you can just apply one or two. Or just wax. Floor wax will do. A laminate doesn't require the same degree of waterproofing as only the top layer is exposed to wet.

[togor]

Depends on the finish you want.

Unissued Service Rifle look? Tung oil cut in mineral spirits, 50/50, multiple coats, let it dry fully between coats.

Issued Service Rifle patina? Start with tung oil, then continue with *raw* linseed oil, multiple coats. You need the layers to get the patina. Want to age it a little faster? Hand rub with slightly grimy cowhide gloves between linseed oil coats.

[lyman]

BTW, just to clarify, and not confuse anyone,

it does not take a lot of tung oil to finish the stock,

if it is dry, the first coat may suck it up, but each additional coat will be not much more than just a dab or 2 here and there on your fingers,

and by rub it in, rub it,

the heat from your hands helps it flow,

[togor]

Yes tung oil is nice that way. RLO on a raw repo M1903 stock takes forever. I just used a really big garbage bag and put the stock in there and wrapped it with tape to cut down the volume, then poured RLO into the bag to the top and let things soak for weeks. That does the trick but man the thing drip-drys forever at room temperature. *Then* you have a starting point for a proper linseed oil finish. Working on top of the Tung oil on a garand stock is way quicker.

[Sunray]

"...it does not take a lot of tung oil to..." Absolutely. It's several light coats over several days. And it's "rubbed in", not slathered on and allowed to dry(you can do that with BLO though). Any fine furniture refinishing book will have a how-to. It's the same process.
An Unissued Service Rifle can be tung oil or BLO depending on the time period being copied. Both BLO and Tung oil were used by the U.S. government.
"...Start with tung oil, then..." That doesn't work. Tung oil will keep everything else out after one application.

[RCS]

Birch is not my favorite wood for an M1 rifle stock. This stock was a gift and I used small
amounts of BLO over a few months. Never had to add any additional BLO and it still looks
nice years after it had the BLO4834648347

[Johnny P]

The Culver's Magic Paste is great if you leave the beeswax out. I have tried them all, and for me equal parts of BLO and turpentine are the easiest, fastest, and best. You get a very slow build up that only takes 24 hours to dry, and easy to control just how much gloss you want.

Don't know the supplier, but several years back a customer brought a CMP purchased stock into the local gun shop to be "finished". It had somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 inch extra wood all over, which is the most labor intensive to correctly remove. The gunsmith declined the job as he said the customer would never believe what it would cost to correctly finish the stock.

[lyman]

I think it was what Boyds was putting out at one time,

I have one on a mixmaster Garand that is just a tad fat all over,

and a 1903 C stock that it way oversized, so much so I parked in in the closet till I feel like working onit

[Hal O'Peridol]

Isn't Dupage supplying the stocks to CMP now, and doing so for awhile?

[lyman]

Isn't Dupage supplying the stocks to CMP now, and doing so for awhile?

they do a lot of trading back and forth, so maybe?

[SoCal M1 Shooter]

DGR recommended tung oil, several coats. I had Dean repark a garand before he passed. He installed a new wood stock, it was not an oversized Boyds stock, can't remember the stock makers name, but Dean only used those stocks. Cost back then was $400 and the rifle from CMP was $400. Today it is a very accurate rifle and a prized gun of mine.

DGR did a couple of rifles for me back in the day when he was in the San Diego area. He did some great work but the stocks are really glossy. One of them has a Boyd's stock and clamps really tight, but it does seem to have extra wood on it.

The stocks from the CMP that I have are stamped "Boyds" in the oprod/barrel channel, but also D.T.C. on the butt end under where the buttplate would cover. I vaguely recall something regarding Dupage "tuning" the Boyd's stocks for closer-to-USGI conformity.


The Boyd's reproduction stock solid wood or a laminate like most Boyd's stuff?

It is solid walnut. I was looking more for a look which is consistent with my CMP guns, not my DGR guns. In other words, not super-glossy. When I picked up my guns from DGR he showed me a can of whatever he was using at that time. I can't recall what he said, but it was some kind of spray.


The Culver's Magic Paste is great if you leave the beeswax out. I have tried them all, and for me equal parts of BLO and turpentine are the easiest, fastest, and best. You get a very slow build up that only takes 24 hours to dry, and easy to control just how much gloss you want.

Don't know the supplier, but several years back a customer brought a CMP purchased stock into the local gun shop to be "finished". It had somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 inch extra wood all over, which is the most labor intensive to correctly remove. The gunsmith declined the job as he said the customer would never believe what it would cost to correctly finish the stock.

Probably a Boyd's stock. The one I supplied to DGR was really fat. Can't remember if he did some wood removal to get the fit OK, but the CMP-sourced, Boyd's-made, Dupage-tuned stocks are nowhere near as fat.