Duplicating the Garand's original WW2 finish

By 1943, (the) Springfield Armory was using China Wood oil for the (M-1's) finish.  China Wood oil is not a term that is often used today.  Nowadays the most often term used for this is Tung oil (found in any good paint or hardware store).  To give your stock an appropriate finish, sand the wood until it is reasonably smooth, then use a small brush to completely coat the stock -- both inside and out.  One or two coats should be sufficient.  Let the stock dry for 24 hours. Keep in mind that you are duplicating a military finish.  The stocks coming out of the Springfield Armory were not perfectly sanded up to an 800-grit finish.

Up until the latter part of 1941, raw linseed oil was used as a finish for Garand stocks.  This was replaced with the China Wood oil due to problems experienced with the linseed oil smoking and leaching out of the wood when the rifles were fired extensively. The China Wood or Tung oil was much more resistant to the overheating and leaching problems.