ETA: Finished, so I'll post all the pictures here.

Parkerizing was easier than it looked. Brownells wanted you to spend another hundred dollars on a pre cleaner and post treatment solution, but after some research on the web I found brake cleaner and WD40 would work fine.

Overall, I think it turned out nice. The color of the metal is pretty much the same as the color of the metal on my Garand that has never been refinished.

Here are the pictures.

Nasty old rifle


Restoring the wood




Parkerizing the metal





Finished Rifle


Family Picture



The Carbine is getting it this weekend!

[This message has been edited by OleRock02 (edited 2/23/2011 4:33p).]

The stock is a replacement, since it doesn't have the grasping grooves on the forend. What you have there is a re-arsenaled M1903, with the barrel also being a replacement.

I would disassemble it, then clean the stock/handguard with lacquer thinner (with solvent resistant gloves, a green scrubby pad, and a 5 gallon bucket), then re-oil it with True Tone 400 Tung Oil finish. I've posted several stock refinishing threads here, if you can find them. They may be in the FAQ.

http://truetone.masterchem.com/tt/actnGeneric.do?zaction=pgTtProductDetail&zverb=T400&zproduct=pgTtOilBased

Log's method is on page 15 of The AR Thread

I highly recommend it.

Thanks guys. Thanks Chili for finding the old thread for me.


I'm on day one of a modified Log's method. I scrubbed the hell out of it with lacquer thinner and a scotch brite pad. Then washed it in hot water. After that I ironed the dents out and sanded with 220 and steel wool. I rubbed it down with mineral spirits to get an idea of what it's going to look like when finished, and found there are a few places that need more sanding. I'm done with it for the evening, but I'll have more time for it Wednesday afternoon.


Thanks guys.

iphone pics of the bare wood.

If you are interested in getting rid of that sling let me know...otherwise, give it a nice long soak in Neatsfoot Oil.



[This message has been edited by Puryear Playboy (edited 2/7/2011 10:29p).]

If there is still excessive oil soaked into the stock, you may want to "cook" some of it out. I use a small space heater I got for $5 at a pawn shop and some HVAC ducting from Lowe's/HD. Put the stock in the vent pipe, turn the heater on and put it in the end of the pipe so that the air blows down the pipe. Give it a little bit of distance so the stock isn't right on the heater. Check it about 30 minutes later, clean any oil off, and swap ends. Repeat until it quits sweating oil heavily.


HVAC duct parts similar to these:
http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Materials-Heating-Venting-Cooling-HVAC-Parts-Accessories/h_d1/N-5yc1vZapt7/R-100200159/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Materials-Heating-Venting-Cooling-HVAC-Parts-Accessories/h_d1/N-5yc1vZapt7/R-100125106/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

PP - I'm going to hang on to the sling. I haven't messed with it yet, but it should clean up ok. It only has a few small cracks in it.

Log - I tried the oven cleaner to get the crud out of all the tight spots. That stuff is AWESOME. After the oven cleaner I sanded some more and pretty well got all the knicks out. Then I started applying boiled linseed oil. Please don't think I'm one of those guys that asks for advise just to do the opposite, but this is how I finished my Garand and I want this one to come out similar.

I've got 3 coats of boiled linseed oil on it right now. I assembled it to take the pictures, but I'll put a couple more coats on it and finish it with two coats of tung oil. That will give it an ever so slight luster.

Here are some pics from the last couple days.

Oven Cleanered

Applying Boiled Linseed Oil

Forgot to mention I ordered the chemicals from Brownells to reparkerize the metal. It sounds DIY friendly. We'll find out next week.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=24778/Product/PARKERIZING_SUPPLIES_ONLY
http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/learn/Inst-482%20Parkerizing.pdf

The stock looks nice--good job.

What's the difference between yours and an A303?

Thanks, SA-Ag.

The biggest physical difference is the rear sight. The M1903 has the "Quigley style" rear leaf sight while the 03A3 has a traditional rear sight. The M1903 was the early model that saw action in WW1, the 03A3 didn't come out until just before WW2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1903_Springfield

Thanks, Rock. Your project is coming along nicely. Nice grain on the stock, for sure.

I've got an 03A3 in the gun safe that was given to me by my wife's grandfather, Class of '44.

At the range, it's accurate as all get out at 50 yards with cheap Winchester Powerpoit 150 grain ammo. But, in verifying its accuracy, it's turned my shoulder into hamburger.

My goal it to take a whitetail with it--should be able to do that this November.

[This message has been edited by SanAntoneAg (edited 2/12/2011 12:07a).]

Added pics of finished rifle to OP.