Thanks, all!

M1-Garand tools en route, USG en-blocs and sling in hand.

I decided on getting some pure Tung oil and will play with that when it warms up enough to work in the screen porch.

I haven't finished anything since high school days (back in the Tyler Administration) - wood shop and a part-time gig at a screen-printing company - but I do remember that these types of finishes can cause their rags to spontaneously combust as I caused a small incident with linseed oil rags back then.

It appears (in addition to special care for the used rags) that the trick with Tung is to cut the first coat about 50/50 with solvent so it gets in deeper, then go with 100% for subsequent coats, drying and light sanding between.

You don't have to thin it. It'll just take longer to "dry" (polymerize from exposure to air). Rubbing it in by hand, with that friction and body heat, will help thin it without any chemical additives.

And pure tung oil alone doesn't have a strong smell. It's just oil, and doesn't have any petroleum solvents/thinners included like most hardware store wood finishes and "oils".

I apply pure tung oil without thinning, and do it inside, plus hang to dry inside as well. Done that way, it can be done year round.

Zombie thread alert....Maybe?

After some delay I am now in the process of disassembly prior to thinking about putting a finish on the stock.

Annnnndddd.... they cram a lot of parts in this sucker! I bet a lot of them do something!

I got the trigger group out, and the next step in the process.....doesn't seem possible, at least not as I received the rifle.
Theoretically, the operating rod gets unlatched next, after the trigger group is out. The video from Brownells seems straightforward here, as does the manual that CMP shipped.

The fly in the ointment? Nowhere can I find why there's a big honking piece of white (plastic?) that prevents access to where I think this unlatching is supposed to get done. The white piece isn't in the Brownells video, isn't shown in the diagrams, isn't mentioned in the process and doesn't seem to be referenced in the part number diagrams.

So, I'm hoping someone here, familiar with CMP/Garand, knows what this white beastie is and what I'm supposed to do with it. If so, please advise.

Top view:


Side view:



The miracle of cellphone cameras being imperfect, I can take better/other pics as needed, if these don't suffice.

Thanks in advance for any help, suggestions.

That white piece is to keep you from loading 30.06 into a .308 rifle. If the M1 in the video you were watching was in 30.06, that white piece won't be there.

It’s a spacer intended to keep people from putting 30-06 ammo in the 308 gun because the gun was born as a 30-06. It won’t interfere with you using 308.

We had several M1s at the armory and one was 308 (someone had removed the spacer) and the Chief once loaded 308 in a 30-06 rifle, made cool straight brass empties and didn’t shoot worth a damn.

There's a pin you need to drive out first. It's next to the drawing numbers by the plastic block in your second picture. It only goes out one way, tap from the smaller end.

Thank you!

I'm going to engage further tomorrow. Knowing the white plastic thing has a function and belongs there is a great help. I'm not quite sure how I'll get that op rod unlatched with the spacer there though.

Also - Is there a trick to getting the front ferrule off the stock? I loosened the screw and thought that'd help, but the ferrule's hanging onto the stock for dear life even with the screw backed way out.

Remove the operating rod spring and follower rod from the follower arm before trying to remove the follower arm pin or removing the operating rod.

With the rifle unloaded and the bolt closed, flip the barreled receiver upside down. Then grab the follower rod and pull it straight forward toward the muzzle to disconnect it from the follower arm. You may need to hold on to the follower arm with your other hand when doing so.

Once the operating rod spring and follower rod are disengaged from the follower arm, the follower arm pin should pretty much fall out or push out with little effort. If you need to drive it out, something is amiss.

Good call. I wrote that up first, then second-guessed myself and deleted it. It's been too long since I've had an M1 apart, I guess.

OP, be careful when you pull that follower rod. Maybe degrease the part you're going to grab onto. If you pull it and it slips from your grasp, you have what amounts to a little steel jaw with two teeth flying at whatever digits may be in the way, propelled by the oprod spring under load.

You guys are great! Definitely had to hold the follower arm. Got the spring compressed enough where the engagement became visible, then it was a piece of cake.

Also found a reference video to help with the ferrule-removal conundrum. That'll be tomorrow's job. This video is on an old stock, while mine is pristine, but I think the techniques will apply.

If your stock ferule screw is not staked (you can take the screw all the way out), you can just take the wings that the screw runs thew and the swivel goes between and bend them outward to spread them. At that point you should be able wiggle the ferule off the nose of the stock without much effort.