M14 Forum

m1jerm · February 9th, 2012, 12:19 PM

So, the email came late yesterday, screwing with my work schedule, and I had to wait out in the car in the morning as my place is hard to find, but by 9:45, Fedex was there.

The stock (for what I assume is a replacement) was a little dinged up, but has some beautiful banding. Looks almost like marbled rye in places!

I lifted up her up to sight her down and found that the cosmolining was so thorough that it had coated the rear sight ring and in the sun,, almost looked like I had some kind of orange dot sight back there!

Info tag says muzzle is +1 and throat is +2.

In the nice plastic hard case, you get a somewhat crusty block clip, a chamber flag, an ad for replacement stocks, a target and nicely printed set of basic operating instructions.

This is a Service Grade rifle, so if there was anyone on the fence about ordering one, I will try to relate my impressions of it as I deal with it from day 1. I am a total newb to this rifle, and not much of a firearms aficionado, so perhaps my experiences will more in line with a novice's curiosity about the CMP rifle ordering experience. Feel free to ask me anything here and I hope I can answer with help from anyone else observing.

hammonje · February 9th, 2012, 01:36 PM

Stock looks USGI to me. Looks like you scored big time. Take some photos of the box cartouche on the left side. That stock looks amazing. Looks like a DAS stamp, but hard to tell.

1KPerDay · February 9th, 2012, 02:18 PM

Congrats... Looks like a good one! If the stock is dinged up at all it's 99% certain it's USGI. Good stuff.

Most some more/better/larger pics. :)

m1jerm · February 9th, 2012, 02:40 PM

I will try to get better shots tonight. When I glanced over it, all I saw were some very clear numbers on the bottom of the stock, no cartouches or proof marks as with my carbine, which leads me believe at least the body is a replacement stock, the front and rear handguards seem to be way more dark and worn.

m1jerm · February 9th, 2012, 09:19 PM

With a little internet research, here is th info I have so far.
It was manufactured in May of '44, but I have no idea if it actually ever made it into action.
The stock has no cartouches and in general the wood is in nice condition except for some serious pressure type gouging that appears might have been caused from stacking. There is a serial number on the bottom of the stock (679566), so if anyone has a CMP replacement stock, let me know if this is where it usually is. While I don't mind a dinged stock, if this is supposed to be a replacement, I don't really understand why it would be damaged. Again, not upset just curious. You get a good look at that wood on the last one, nice banding there.

liftrat22 · February 10th, 2012, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m1jerm

>The stock has no cartouches and in general the wood is in nice condition except for some serious pressure type gouging that appears might have been caused from stacking. < While I don't mind a dinged stock, if this is supposed to be a replacement, I don't really understand why it would be damaged. Again, not upset just curious. You get a good look at that wood on the last one, nice banding there.

That is nice wood. I'm guessing that the stock that came with it originally was damaged far worse. As long as there is no wood missing, you could steam the dents out of that stock and refinish it, but personally I wouldn't; it's got "character". I'd also guess your stock was overseas at one time; the US didn't normally stamp serial numbers in the wood. Nice rifle, too!

mercman · February 10th, 2012, 08:13 AM

You did well for your first SG. Nice wood! Other folks should remember that it's luck of the draw and you may not get as nice a gun or may get a nicer one. It is good to see that there as some WWII sn's still in the inventory. Enjoy and give us a range report when you shoot her.

m1jerm · February 10th, 2012, 10:35 AM

Yes, CMP is clear on that, its luck of the draw as far as what you get. Let me just say this blows away the withered twigs that Big 5 was offering a year ago and for less money if memory serves correctly.

The wood is tacky at the moment, I am guessing its cosmo. Any tips on pulling some of that cosmo out without going toward a full refinish?
I have pure tung oil and have been contemplating refinishing my walnut on my scout, so maybe this stock would be the one to experiment on, though as liftrat says, it does have character.

I just wonder, if I start steaming and cleaning, wouldn't it be worth it to just go for broke and do the whole job? Its not collector grade, so I would not feel too guilty.

mercman · February 10th, 2012, 10:54 AM

You might try wiping the stock down with a rag moistened with Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS). If that doesn't do it you can wrap the stock in paper towels and put it in a black plastic garbage bag in the sun to let the heat help leach out the cosmoline. There are also plans on the Surplus Rifle Forum for building a garbage can heating container for bleeding out cosmoline. I'm not a fan of the dishwasher method, which would require a complete refinishing.

Yeah, I looked at some of those Big 5 M1 Garands because there were a few Winchesters in the mix. Some of the metal on the M1s was pretty nice but the stocks were in sad shape on just about all of them.....................

m1jerm · February 11th, 2012, 09:07 PM

So I removed the stock to try to do a little cleaning per Merc's advice. inside the body of the stock, I found a sticker, though I don't recognize its origin, it obviously not U.S. material. If anyone has an idea where its from, please let me know.

You can also see the foregaurd is a bit chewed, but much darker than my body stock, I suspect these gaurds are much older.

Now, on to the guts of it, I found that the the reciever is SA, as well as the trigger group. The photos are a little blurry, but I think you can mak out the SA on the op rod as well. THe barrel also carries the series 1-S-A-2-43, so I am guessing it was a Springfeild 1943 manufacture. Man, I think I throw a GI stock on this, and I have a full Springfield build, maybe all original parts.

Bolt looks pretty worn, showing a brownish patina and the trigger group shows wear too, but nothing serious.

Muzzle seems in very nice shape, I can't believe it would have come through a war in that condition. It has to have had some work done on it.

FInally, the reciever looks really nice, not much in the way of marks, perhaps it was reparked. There ar brownish marks that may be rust on the underside or maybe some sort of wood residue, but I can't tell.

m1jerm · February 11th, 2012, 09:09 PM

A couple more shots as the limit was 5 for the post. Here you can see the open receiver and the bolt. Apologies as my camera has issues with close up focus. Just like me...

captain_bob_badfish · February 11th, 2012, 11:53 PM

Service Grade with a wwii barrel? Now that's rare. Congrats!

Orlando · February 12th, 2012, 05:21 AM

What you have is a replaced military stock,the sticker has sight in information that the Danish used. The stock atleast was once in the hands of the Danes, no way of knowing if the rifle was or not. Parts/stocks get swapped around on these rifles even while at CMP

Changing the stock wont make it correct, rifle has been through atleast on rebuild. Just becuase they are SA parts does not make them right for the year of the receiver. From the little I can see, Op Rod, barrel and rear sights are not correct .
Very nice Service Grade, enjoy her for what she is

Skeet6 · February 12th, 2012, 06:03 AM

That sure is a pretty piece of wood on there, congratulations!! NICE! Nice to know at least some of the rifle's history, (Dane sticker...) Cool.
Mike B

Edge1289 · February 12th, 2012, 06:14 AM

Yep, Danish return. Nice stock!!!! February 43 barrel, you did well. I have a Danish return with a Danish Var barrel, its my best shooter.

You might try a blow dryer to get the gunk off of the stock, then mineral spirits to clean it. Follow that with 4 or 5 coats of boiled linseed oil wipng off excess after it dries between coats. I wouldnt change that stock, if its got good lock up, you've got a nice piece of wood there........