This Winchester thing is getting me down!

[Punch The Clown]

Well after 8 months or so this thing is still not finished. I'm into it for a small fortune and I still have some more spending ahead. Anyway, I was thinking. It will be all correct but the colors and the wear are all different. Some parts fresh park, some almost in the white. Would a trip to Shuff be in order? Stu

[seaninmich]

Go ahead and put a new park job on it. It's a Winchester garand, nothing you could do would make it any uglier than it already is

[Punch The Clown]

Sean, It really is ugly. Put it next to a Springfield and the difference is obvious. I can't believe I let Orlando talk me into buying one of these abominations.

[paid4c4]

Stu, a trip to be Shufferized is in order. I know the purists will also say that will ruin it, hog wash a refinished rifle is/was part of their life cycle. Shuff has parked several of my Winchesters, the pretty girl always gets ask to dance.
Bill

[Prince Humperdink]

I love every grind mark and rough surface on My WRA,it's what I would expect a warrior to look like...not a smooth faced Prissy thing like an SA,IHC,HRA. ;)

ps,Stu,all that matters is what You like.If You want a factory fresh matching rifle,go for it..it's Your Rifle.I kinda like 'em worn and stuff.

[checkmate19]

Magna hand picked a field grade for me recently. I asked for a WRA barrel and he called and said he found a field grade that looked ok with a SA 44 barrel so I went ahead with it. I had a WRA bolt that looks nice on it and it come with a uncut 9SA op rod . I just put one of the 59.00 GAW s on it. All around its a god looking rifle now still a mix master but kinda neat with the WWII parts. Its pretty crazy what the WRA barrels sell for. Im in a selling mood so may be I had better walk away from the puter. LOL.

[redheep]

People act like we're talking about painting an original classic car with 0 miles on it just to change the color. Like has been said, the collectors need to realize that parkerizing was part of the rebuilding process. You don't have an original rifle with 0 miles on it, so what's the harm in doing what any government contracted arsenal would have done anyway?

Someday people will realize that the "collector grade" rifle they bought was really just a more expensive rifle. I happen to like the fact that my HRA has a bunch of parts on it that may or may not have been put there during it's lifetime and that my NPM carbine probably wears the same parts an armorer rebuilt it with sometime between '47 and '53. To me, that character is much more important than scouring the earth looking for parts stamped the same.

[seaninmich]

Stu, a trip to be Shufferized is in order. I know the purists will also say that will ruin it, hog wash a refinished rifle is/was part of their life cycle. Shuff has parked several of my Winchesters, the pretty girl always gets ask to dance.
Bill


"ruin it"??? what can you possibly do to ruin a winchester garand that satan himself did not already do to it? They make great boat anchors, though

[REHRIFLE]

If you are going to shoot it, protect it with park, else oil it and put it in the safe.

[Orlando]

Heck I remember the some of the Danish returns were so worn of park they were completelty silver. I never had one of them rust on me ,I just kept it oiled

[Cal30M1]

Go ahead and put a new park job on it. It's a Winchester garand, nothing you could do would make it any uglier than it already is

As much as it galls me I must agree with Sean on this point.

Friends don't let friends own Winchester Garands.

They make firearms! You'd think they could produce a better finished product than they did.

I've seen "last ditch" Japanese weapons finished better than Winchester Garands.

Hideous. Over priced. Over hyped.

I tried to warn ya Stu baby. You wouldn't listen to reason. Abomination is nearly correct. Not the war room so I'll leave it at that.

[Punch The Clown]

Cal, I'm into this thing so deep that I can't get out. I know of a NEW lend-lease Springfield that would have only been a few hundred more. I'm telling you, it's like a money magnet.It's rougher than a box of rocks. I did order some special Winchester Grease @ $49 an ounce. Maybe that'll smooth it out.

[Punch The Clown]

I know I'm going to get "Moderated" but I had to post this file photo of the WRA QA staff taken in 1943.

http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo140/Stumedic/Chimp-1.jpg.jpg[/IMG]

[Schriv]

That is awesome. Got any pics of their skilled tradesmen working the machinery???

[LEAD POISON]

HMMM I have 2 made in 43.I always wondered who made them & how they got away with that unquality.
#136225X & #136704X. 99& 44/100's Correct.Both are lead dipped. Still looking for something in between.:o

[Punch The Clown]

If I'm going to get Moderated, I might as well go out with a bang. 2 more photos from the WRA archives.

http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo140/Stumedic/Browningandchimp.jpg

http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo140/Stumedic/chimpwithgun.jpg

[Orlando]

Thats the fun about restorations, the search for parts. Its not something you do in a few weeks or months. Sometimes it takes years for the right parts to come by at the right price. Just put the rifle in the corner and wait for the parts, you will find them.
Patience Weedhopper

[seaninmich]

better idea: it's a winchester. put the rifle in a corner and forget it ever existed. You'll thank me some day

[Prince Humperdink]

better idea: it's a winchester. put the rifle in a corner and forget it ever existed. You'll thank me some day

The corner should be reserved for the sissy HRA's and IHC's that have never done anything but fill racks. $auto$

[Punch The Clown]

Ryan, do you still need a follower for your build? I have a spare WRA 13. PM me if it'll work for you. Stu

[axemurderer]

Stu,
I hate to see you suffer like this. I will rush over right now and give you $50.00 for it. then send it to Shuff for a mag fed G mod. What do ya say there buddy????????


Mike

[Punch The Clown]

Mike, maybe I'll just jump on the gangplank and drop it by your house-save you the toll.

[axemurderer]

Stu

See I knew that all those stories about you were untrue. You are a great guy. I will be waiting, I have a shipping box ready and waiting.


Mike


Mike, maybe I'll just jump on the gangplank and drop it by your house-save you the toll.

[Punch The Clown]

Mike, I'll be on the corner of Henderson and Alaska in about an hour. I'll have on a dark hoodie with a red handkerchief in my back pocket. Just yell out "Hey Hamster" so I know it's you.

[dogboysdad]

I have a nice WWII WRA barrel in the Trader section of this forum. Let me know if you are interested.

[timshufflin]

I have a nice WWII WRA barrel in the Trader section of this forum. Let me know if you are interested.

Great idea Mr. Moore, great looking barrel sir.

[dogboysdad]

Tim, I understand that if you park over an ink stamped barrel, the stamp still shows up. Is this true?

[timshufflin]

Tim, I understand that if you park over an ink stamped barrel, the stamp still shows up. Is this true?

Well of course sir.

[Orlando]

Ink stamped barrel? Tell me more

[CollectorChris]

I ended up in the same boat your in. I got totally put out on finishing my "43" WRA when it came down to finding the rear sight parts, and small stock hardware parts. I am going in another direction, and putting in into late WWII rebuild condition. I am going to slap a T3 rear sight on it, a 9 SA uncut flat side oprod, and an SA gas cylinder (parts from late 44-45) and say done.

[axemurderer]

Stu

lets make that Alaska and the Terrece, across the street from the junk yard. The other is to residential for my taste.

Mike

[Dave]

Part of the challenge of doing a restoration is in finding not just the "correct" parts but also parts that match the overall wear and patina of the action your starting with, whether its a bare receiver or a near original rifle. If you jump into it thinking its something your gonna get done quick, and by quick I mean 1 year minimum, then your most likely not going to like the results. Unless you have access to a secret goldmine of original finish parts then you are going to have to be patient, and these days with so many more folks "into it" it takes even longer than it did years ago and cost much much more. I've got some rifles that took years to get done, and thats when parts and wood where much more prevalent and cheaper than they are now. I have one WRA that took ten years to finish, all because of needing a WB stock that I was always a day late or a dollar short on. One day my time finally came, right place at the right time and now its done. You can't expect this stuff to happen overnight, unless its a post war gun as those parts are still readily available but even those are starting to get more expensive. Look at post war wood. Was'nt long ago you could buy mint stocks for under a hundred bucks. Their still out there but you ain't buying mint post war stocks that cheap anymore, heck you can't even buy a commercial replacement that cheap anymore.
Don't give up, just be more patient. It may take years or longer, but eventually it all comes together. If your not a patient person then best to sell/part it out and move onto something different.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a305/M1Riflenut/garand%20pics/WRA-rec-collage2.jpg