So I haven't got my M1 yet (10 day wait), but I'm trying to figure out what color to stain the stock after I get her all cleaned up.
I'm frustrated because about a year ago I found a beautiful Garand on the net that was refinished with a very rich, but still vibrant red stain. It had a very low sheen to it, practically flat. I was surprised how well it looked, and now I can't find that image for the life of me.
Anybody have an idea what stain I should use to get that look? I guess if worse comes to worse I'll just look at Minwax colors and pick what seems close to it. I can always sand it down if I don't like it.
Suggestions would be great.
I suggest you go look at stained wood samples at the Hardware store in the stain Dept. I mix small quantities of different stains to achieve the look I want on a similar piece of wood before I do an entire stock....
Rich
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So I haven't got my M1 yet (10 day wait), but I'm trying to figure out what color to stain the stock after I get her all cleaned up.
I'm frustrated because about a year ago I found a beautiful Garand on the net that was refinished with a very rich, but still vibrant red stain. It had a very low sheen to it, practically flat. I was surprised how well it looked, and now I can't find that image for the life of me.
Anybody have an idea what stain I should use to get that look? I guess if worse comes to worse I'll just look at Minwax colors and pick what seems close to it. I can always sand it down if I don't like it.
Suggestions would be great.
Chestnut Ridge has a nice stain with a reddish tint. If you can't find that, mix some dark walnut stain with mahogany stain until you get the look you want. Oil based, or alcohol based stains work best on old, oily wood (Alcohol based stain seems to penetrate better.
If you decide to use an alcohol stain, try Fiebling's medium or dark brown leather dye & red mahogany stain. It looks good, but if you don't like it, you can get some of it off with isopropyl alcohol.
HTH
Dave
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I have always wondered how a reddish stain would look on a Garand stock. It might be something I may consider to refinish my own. It came in a CMP stock, so I wouldn't be "defacing" an "original" Garand stock would I?
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Numerous coats of BLO over the years are reputed to give the old walnut stocks a somewhat reddish color. My CMP SG M1's that came with wood all have a slight reddish tint (with small variations in hue), even after cleaning the wood with mineral spirits to get dirt/grease off. When new, the walnut stocks were most likely just brown.
I got a stock set from Tony Giacobbe several years ago that was supposed to be "refinished". Picture looked very nice. The stock I got looked like it was painted a dull, muddy dark brown, but was basically good sound wood, with a small ?fiberglass? repair on the bottom of the front handguard. After stripping, re-staining, and a few coats of BLO, it looks nice, except the small repair area which was basically white. Had a helluva time getting even a small amount of stain to stick there. All that said, it was still a good deal, and he even sent me a lower band I needed to finish the rifle at no extra charge. Re-doing the stock was fun, and I'd buy it again, repair & all.
Either way, make it a color that pleases you. I just like them the way they came. Have fun with it!
Dave
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Thanks for the tips. I wondered why some of the Garands i've seen had a reddish tint. Interesting. I'm not looking for an extremely red look, just enough for it to look like a natural mahogany. I think I'll have to mix to get the right look. Probably going to go with minwax oil base.
I'll post pictures eventually when I get it all done!
That red is a stain and is real prevelant on the post war stocks. You can try Chestnut Ridge or you can buy Fiebings Dark Brown leather Dye from a shoe store. Each walnut stock can bring out a differnt hue and many of the stocks we see are void of there orignal stains so many shades will be found. Rick B
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