September 2012, A Early War Winchester M1 Carbine

Another great find, a Winchester M1 Carbine dressed in "early war" motif.

Right side view overall, you can see there is no bayonet lug.

One of the bad spots, someone has ground the ears off of the front sight.

I believe the wood is what is known as "high" wood.

The rear sight is an early L type rear sight. Safety is the push button type

The stock sling cut is of the early "I" type. However, this is the second bad spot as someone has filled the sling cut in. How they did it is to be determined later.

Left side, front sight with wings removed.

Early type bracket missing the sling loop.

Lefts side view of breech area,, trigger guard and sight.

Another view of the filled sling cut.



A full view of the left side.

 

So far, I have had this totally apart, cleaned it thoroughly with 0000 steel wool and Hoppes #9. Every part that I could identify is a Winchester part. So in the near future I will be looking for a Winchester front sight and trying to determine the best way to clean out the stock sling cut as this is an early stock. However, the stock has been scrubbed of external markings.





September 2012, A "Duffle Cut" Type 99 Arisaka Rifle

I been waiting to post this until I caught up some of the older RV entries.

I recently purchased a Type 99 Arisaka Rifle. However,  I neglected to take pictures of it's original condition while it was in the shop. However, at this point it has been completely disassembled and all metal cleaned with 0000 steel wool and Hoppes #9. During that cleaning period I found the stock finish was made by the Japanese from a poison Sumac and that sanding the stock could be detrimental to your health. Therefore, the stock was scrubbed with Formby's Furniture Refinisher and sprayed with a semi-gloss Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane to cover the original finish while still resembling it.



Right side, full view.

Muzzle, sight and forward end cap. All there but the through screw is worn and does not screw up tight.

Forward band, missing mono pod.

The action and trigger guard are all there.

Two piece butt and butt plate.

Sling swivel, left side.

Left side action and rear sight.

More of rear sight, and lower band.

Left side, muzzle, front sight and end cap.

Rear sight is missing some small screws and "wings" for use of sight against aircraft. A parts search is underway to restore the sight in the future.

Complete with Chrysanthemum.

Upper rear of bolt, missing the dust cover which is not unusual.

The duffle cut. It took me longer than it should have to figure out why the upper hand guard was loose. Even though I knew the lower band screw went through the forearm on the wrong side of the break.  But it came together when I finally realized the stock minus hand guard was one piece not two.

Another angle view on the duffle cut. A Duffle Cut is defined as a cut in the stock, often under a band, to allowing returning soldiers to bring home their trophy in their duffle bag. In this case, I believe the duffle cut kept people from using this rifle over the years because the handgusrd was "broke."

I am still mentally working out the procedure I want to use to restore the stock. to it's one piece condition.

A large boo-boo on the left side of the stock.