"Final" CMP garand refinish.

[2meterB]

I always hated the original CMP finish job. In bright sunlight, (or my workshop lights) it had a nasty yellow/green hue to it.
I originally refinished it, by stripping with citristrip (nearly useless) and light sanding. But after finishing again with tung, the ugly CMP stain came right back.
So this time I stripped it fully with citristrip, (california) mineral spirits, purple power... and light sanding. When it fully dried, i wiped it with turpentine to "preview" the wet color... Still nasty green CMP stain. It took a LOT of sanding. Mostly with a small mouse sander. Finally broke through to fresh walnut. Starting in August, I applied raw linseed oil. Despite my patience, by March, it was still yellow-- and the VERY mismatching wood shined through. Yuck.
So I'd heard about using leather dye - and I got some Fiebing's medium brown. It took a lot of trial and error, some light sanding to get the wood to absorb - and finally got the stock more or less evenly coated. I topped that off with Tom's 1/3 military wax. Overall, I'm very happy with the tone. The mismatch is way less apparent. Next summer, I'll strip it all the way down, start with ONE coat of BLO, then hit it with the leather dye to get it nice and even.

Album:

http://imgur.com/a/zKeLo

Original finish:


Raw Linseed Oil top, Dyed bottom:

[BigStiCK]

They both look nice. Thats some purdy grain on that there stock.

[Ponchsox]

Very nice job OP. I still prefer the nicks and imperfections of a nice USGI stock.

[bigdrunk92037]

When all else fails I also reach for the Fiebings medium brown. That stock looks great

[bounty1]

Nice Job Pard looks Super...

[teetsjones]

You know, it would have been easier to photoshop it.

Turned out great.

[Freedom_shooter]

It's got the look for sure. I've heard mixed info on dyes though, some people have had it bleed out when wet. As the dye has trouble sometimes seeping into the wood and just stays on the surface.

[2meterB]

The dye stopped at the surface in a lot of places but after hitting it with bronze wooll it started seeping in.


The water based stuff I tried initially was total garbage though

[G-Man WC]

Nice job OP.
-g

[Enfield47]

Looks good. It would be nice if the stain they choose for the stock would have more red in it so it would look more like a GI stock.

[smoothy8500]

Did you mix the dye with denatured alcohol? That lets the dye penetrate.

[2meterB]

Did you mix the dye with denatured alcohol? That lets the dye penetrate.

In some areas yeah.

When I do my carbine stock, I'll just do 1 coat of oil, then diluted dye until I'm satisfied.

[sofbak]

Put the leather dye on raw wood first-then the oil. You'll get much better results that way.

[smoothy8500]

In some areas yeah.

When I do my carbine stock, I'll just do 1 coat of oil, then diluted dye until I'm satisfied.

That could be why you had issues getting the color you wanted. Diluted dye applications on raw wood until you get the shade you desire. Then seal with BLO or tung. Over-all, your stock looks really good compared to the original. I've used Feibings in the past and currently have some Angelus Shoe dye. Either work great when mixed with the denatured alcohol.

[smoothy8500]

Handguards were new Boyds dyed to match the original stock