Just finished my build so I wanted to post a picture and thank Tim for his great work. Back in the 60's, when my dad had retired from active duty and began a new career as a sheriff's deputy, he got a call on a possible prowler. He drove to a woman's house out in the country, stomped around the bushes and didn't find anybody. As he was about to take off, the woman said "officer, one more thing - I want you to take this nasty thing with you! It was my late husband's and I don't want it!" She led my dad to the garage and there was a wreck of an M1 Garand. The husband had filed down much of the metal work - including the op rod handle for some reason - and thinned out the stock so much it cracked at the wrist. From my single digits through high school, the rifle sat as a rusty paperweight in the corner of our garage. I was always curious about it and would occasionally pull it out of its scabbard to check out and cycle. After I graduated from college, one of the first things I did with my newfound income was to mail order a $99 kit of Korean parts to rebuild it. I kept the 5-digit receiver and original trigger group, most everything else was replaced. A local gunsmith headspaced the barrel. It was a true Frankengun, part blued, part parkerized, with the ugliest GI stock I'd ever seen, but I loved shooting it and called it "my favorite plinker." Nothing like having those .30-06 shells flying over your shoulder. Nothing like ammo cans full of surplus M2 ball for $60 either! During lockdown I decided it was time I showed the Garand some more love, so I sent it to Tim for reparkerizing and the Mini-G treatment. Calico Hardwoods is in my home town, and after a few rejections around the country the good folks at Wenig Custom shaped a blank that I'd picked out from stacks of pallets. So here it is, reborn and ready for another 80 years of service -

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