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Refinishing my Universal |
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Bungalow Bill
Recruit Joined: Apr 02 2020 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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Posted: Jun 14 2020 at 1:58pm |
I love my Universal carbine, but I’ve never really liked the stock. When I bought mine used, it came with the metal heat shield, which I wanted to replace with a traditional wood handguard, and I also disliked the light color of the stock or whatever finish Universal had put on at the factory. It was dull and flat and made the stock look plastic.
I finally replaced the heat shield, and the new handguard mismatching the stock convinced me it was time for a refresh. First, I sanded off all the old finish. Then, because I wanted a darker look, I applied a coat of walnut stain. Then came the Tru-Oil. I applied five coats in all. I let the Tru-Oil cure for 10 days. Today I applied the conditioner, and here’s the result. Still a little mismatch between the stock and handguard, but much better than before. |
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Road Rat
On Point Joined: Feb 02 2018 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 43 |
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Looks good.... I use Tru Oil a lot and really like how it turns out.
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Retired USAF MSGT
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Crusader_6
Recruit Joined: May 04 2020 Location: Puerto Rico Status: Offline Points: 19 |
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I have a similar issue. I have a Universal Redux, and I also want to change the metal handguard for a wooden one. It’s a work in process. Yours look good even The mismatched between the stock and handguard doesnt look bad to me.
Here’s mine: And here with a wooden Handguard.
Edited by Crusader_6 - Jun 20 2020 at 9:40pm |
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floydthecat
Hard Corps Joined: Oct 13 2016 Location: Mississippi Status: Offline Points: 1996 |
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It can be iffy to find a USGI hand guard that will perfectly fit a commercial stock. One can get lucky, but some of the metal hand guards on commercials are longer than GI guards, so the band spring spacing in the stock can be different. I have had Universal wooden guards that fit perfectly. GI guards are a bit shorter. You see a lot of commercial carbine band spring noses that don’t fit correctly in the band notch. Sometimes you can adjust the wood to make it all work. The spring nose flat needs to catch the back of the band notch to lock it in place. A band will shoot loose and the guard will pop out if the spring nose flat doesn’t retain the band. You can romp-down on the band clamping screw to retain the band, but it can also be easily stripped.
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Bungalow Bill
Recruit Joined: Apr 02 2020 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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I found a Universal handguard online after some digging around. It was the right length, but still needed some inletting work to fit around the barrel and operating rod.
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RClark9595
On Point Joined: Oct 30 2017 Location: WVC Utah Status: Offline Points: 136 |
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To each his own, that's what makes the world such an interesting place. I have a late Gen 3 Universal (I know what a Gen 1 and Gen 3 are, what's a Gen 2?).
That has the metal heat shield, and quit frankly I like the looks of the metal over the wood, now I have to wonder, if the GI Carbine came with the metal heat shield and the Universal came with the wood, what say you then?
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Ron
USAF 4535 CCTS F4 Combat Crew Training Vietnam era Vet. |
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floydthecat
Hard Corps Joined: Oct 13 2016 Location: Mississippi Status: Offline Points: 1996 |
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I think it gets fuzzy at each transition, but Gen 1 to about 100,000. Gen 2 out to around 190,000 and Gen 3 from there to cease of production. There is no definitive clean cut and features of either generations are found a few thousand serial numbers on either side.
If not already found it....go here for detailed information.
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Bungalow Bill
Recruit Joined: Apr 02 2020 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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That’s a good question. To me, the metal “cheese grater” heat shield would be most useful on an M2 carbine. If my carbine could be shot full auto, I’d want a metal heat shield to help keep the barrel cool. Oh, and a 30-round mag too.
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RClark9595
On Point Joined: Oct 30 2017 Location: WVC Utah Status: Offline Points: 136 |
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floydthecat said
I think it gets fuzzy at each transition, but Gen 1 to about 100,000. Gen 2 out to around 190,000 and Gen 3 from there to cease of production. There is no definitive clean cut and features of either generations are found a few thousand serial numbers on either side. If not already found it....go here for detailed information. http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal.html ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I guess the only way to address a Type 2 is to say it is what a Type 1 and Type 3 are not, in other words, transitional. Looking over that link (I've read that whole section as well as all the others before), I am reminded at how much work has gone into putting all this information together and posting it in a understandable way. We really do owe Sleeplessnashadow a Lot of gratitude he's the one who has done all the research and posted it all for our education, he says he has much more to post. So give him our gratitude and encourage him to post what he still has and hasn't posted yet. For those that don't know it, Jim is a retired researcher for the police force. He once told me his biggest gripe as a researcher is when a researcher dies and leaves information not posted, Jim you're getting up there, don't be one of those you hate. Edited by sleeplessnashadow - Dec 21 2023 at 6:41pm |
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Smokpole
Hard Corps Joined: Oct 21 2019 Location: Madison ohio Status: Offline Points: 1052 |
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A 15 round full lasts about 1.1 seconds at full auto in an M2. A thirty will last you just under 2.25 seconds. That's a lot of ammo in a very short time. It gets expensive to feed those little beasties. That is why I no longer have mine. It was eating me out of house and home!
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