Help...Garand Stock Shinkage

[Smitsauce]

Help!!!!

I installed a dehumidifier in my basement a couple of months ago to get rid of the high humidity. I just pulled my M1 out of the cabinet to bathe in her beauty and to apply some of the BLO/Beeswax finish on her for the first time since I got her in the spring. Unfortunately, after I had put on the first coat and was playing around, I noticed that the stock has shrunk and is now sloppy in the receiver and the handguards are a little sloppier than normal!!! It used to be very tight in the receiver and only slight movement of both hand guards. I plan on hunting with her in the fall and have read that this situation will play havoc with my acuracy.

Right now, it is dismantled and upstairs in the humidity to try to get the stock to soak up some to expand it back to where it was.

Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on how to fix this situation?

 

[sunray]

"...the stock has shrunk..." Any wood will do that in dry conditions. I'd refinish the stock using tung oil as opposed to BLO/beeswax. You'll want to seal the inside of the stock too. Wood sealers can be had in any hardware or paint shop for not a big pile of money.
"...dismantled and upstairs in the humidity..." Put it back together or the stock might, I say again, might go too much the other way.

 

[purple]

That is a pretty dramatic change. You need to decide whether you will keep the rifle in a more humid or dry environment in order to keep the wood stable. If the stock fit remains loose after keeping it in a more humid environment for a month or so, you would need to glue wooden shims to the stock to tighten up the fit. If there is fore/aft movement in the stock, shims need to be installed on the vertical bearing surfaces for the rear receiver legs. If the trigger guard does not lock up with enough tension to prevent up and down movement,then shims need to be glued to the bottom of the stock where the trigger housing seats. Loose handguards have less of an effect on accuracy.

 

[john@]

Regardless what you do for the stock, if your going to take it in the field, I'd recomend getting a synthetic stock. I think there is one on the EE atm.

 

[Smitsauce]

Since I have left it back upstairs in the humidity, it has come back significantly. I put it back together so that it wouldn't over expand and it seems to be working. Even after I noticed the shrinkage, The trigger group was still very tight, starting to put pressure on the stock at about an inch before it snapped closed. Right now, with the trigger group out, the stock moves slightly forwards and backwards but has snugged up side to side again. I will leave it for another week or so and then start to oil it many times with BLO to see if I can't get more oil moisture than water into the stock so that it won't do that again. After a bunch of applications with just BLO, I am going to apply the BLO/Beeswax to try to minimize the porosity of the stock.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[bigedp51]

Below, deck boards before and after exposure to the elements showing how wood dries out over time.

Modern wood finishes are NOT what they were in the past and you MUST check the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for their contents. Modern BLO is fake and contains dryers and resins and dries on the surface of the wood.

The real triple mix was made from raw linseed oil, bees wax and turpentine, this mixture was used during the American Civil War as storage Cosmoline and the soldiers wives used this very same mix as furniture polish.

Your stock will not shrink if the wood cells contain raw linseed oil or pure raw Tung oil, BUT modern BLO and imitation tung oil will not penetrate deep into the wood.

Peter Laidler a British Armourer and author stated during the yearly inspections of the Enfield rifle the stocks were left to soak overnight in raw linseed oil.

On the opposite end of the spectrum the wood for making the Stradivarius Violin was aged and dried for over 40 years. The hollow dried out wood cells gave the Stradivarius Violin its unique sound.

The difference between your Garand stock and the Stradivarius Violin is the oil absorbed into the wood. I treat dried out Lee Enfield stocks by soaking them in a 75/25 mix of raw linseed oil and turpentine.

1943 was the switchover date from raw linseed oil to Tung oil on the Garand rifle and no matter which oil was used the stocks were hot dipped in a tank of oil for a given amount of time to allow the oil to soak deeply “into” the wood.

I soak my dried out Enfield stocks in a wallpaper wetting tray and let them soak overnight.

Below, before and after soaking the stock in raw linseed oil and tightening up the fore stock on a No.4 Enfield, this oil soaking works just like ######. (Bottom photo 10 rounds 50 yards)

 

[john@]

Great info Big Ed, I'm going to file it away for future use.

To confirm, you use a mix of 25 blo /75 turp or 25 turp / 75 blo? (The lable on the jug in your photo seems to indicate your mix is 25 blo /75 turp).

 

[bigedp51]

The photo is deceptive, DO NOT used any BLO without checking the MSDS, you want RAW linseed oil that has NOT been boiled. DO NOT use any BLO with chemical dryers and resins added, the dryers speed drying when exposed to air. You want the old fashion slow drying raw linseed oil so it can soak into the wood and cause the wood cells to soak up the oil and cause the wood to swell.

Even better is pure raw Tung oil which you can get from below.

“The Tung Oil offered by Real Milk Paint, is actually a pure tung oil meaning it comes without any additives or distillates. The tung oil offered by most other companies can be anything from a thinned down varnish to polymerized tung oil, and most have petroleum distillates added. Our pure Tung Oil will not build a gloss finish or heavy finish, but will penetrate deeply into the wood to enhance character and water resistance.”
http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html

Also do not use oil base stains on your stocks because they seal the surface of the wood preventing the linseed or Tung oil from penetrating. Use water or alcohol base stains and you will get much better oil penetration.

Fiebing’s and Tung oil on Carbine stock below.

 

[Smitsauce]

Big Ed,

Thanks for all of the great information. I am going to try soaking it overnight in pure linseed oil or tung oil whichever I can find in my area to see if that will help in the future. I will also make it a point to re-apply every 4-6 months or so to maintain it.

Smitsauce