Fulton Armory M1 Rebuild

[omgb]

A couple of years ago I had a very tired Winchester WWII Garand rebuilt by the folks at Fulton Armory. I had it rebarreled with their "better" quality barrel, a new op rod and gas cyl were also added as was a match grade trigger and a new laminated stock. For kicks and giggles I also had the whole thing refinished and a nos butt plate installed. The whole bill came to around $1300. Last night was the first time I fully dissassembled the rifle and gave it a complete going over. I had put about 500 rounds through since getting it back, all of which was non-corrosive LC milsurp. This past weekend I ran a few hundred rounds of Korean KA milsurp (corrossive) through it and decided it was time for a complete teardown. I have to say, those guys did excellent work. The gun has always shot exceedingly well (under 1.5" at 100 yards) provided I fed it good ammo. I was just unaware how carefully those guys refitted and restored everything. Even the smallest pins were either replaced or refinished. A well maintained M1 should go together without tools and this one sure does. The follower assembly, a real bugaboo, just fell into place. No slop, just firm, fitted assemply. The stock fits as if it were cast on and the important areas have been properly relieved. I suspect they use Rig to grease the parts. It's white and it doesn't run much while fireing. I'm cheap so I regreased everything with high-temp axel grease. After shooting on Sunday, I had swabbed the barrel with several clean H2O/soap swabs and dried and oiled it. Last night I pumped hot H2O through it, filled it with Hoppe's copper solvent foam and finished it with Ed's Red. The bore felt and looked smooth as a baby's touchy.

I really like this rifle. If you're considering doing a rebuild, I can recommend these guys as real craftsmen. The wait was about 4 months but it was worth it.

[mike in co]

just to show you that there are two sides to every story.....
i wouldn't spend a time of my or your money with them.
their ar products are as all hype and mis-advertised.
thier employee's basically killed the old cmp/dcm section of the old
shooters dot com......
little or none of the competitive mil rifle family has anything good to say about them.

i'm glad your m1 is fine.

[omgb]

That's interesting indeed. I hadn't heard anything negative about them or their work before now. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's quite possible that your experience is the norm and mine was atypical. I'm very interested in hearing more as I'm contemplating getting another rifle from them. Can you mention some specifics?

[omgb]

For the record, the lube they used was most likely Tetra. I base that on the color and the hype they give it on the Fulton Armory site

[mike in co]

That's interesting indeed. I hadn't heard anything negative about them or their work before now. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's quite possible that your experience is the norm and mine was atypical. I'm very interested in hearing more as I'm contemplating getting another rifle from them. Can you mention some specifics?

the simplest stuff is thier past advertising of rifles for cmp/dcm competition that were not cpm/dcm competitive rifles. listing stuff that wasnt correct for the task/rules.

sorry to say the other items are propably lost forever in the shooters archives.
tho if one was to ask on national match . com one might find some data.

i'm glad your rifle was fine. i still suggest you look elsewhere for your next rifle.

[Ed Barrett]

If they kept everything Mil-spec on the M1, they used Lubriplate it was developed just for the Garand. It's white and is about the best lube for guns and other things I've used for the last 40 years. I bought three 1 gallon cans many years agoand still have 2 cns left.

[Jack Stanley]

Several years ago I was going to have them assemble an M1A for me . I was gonna provide the parts and I just wanted a estimate of how much to put the rifle together . He refused to estimate unless the parts were in front of him . That much I can understand if the rifle was to headspace , worn parts etc...... So I asked for what an assembly of the "average" rifle he's seen .... He still refused .
Shipping and insurance to get it there is a cost I can live with , but without a price to work with . I would be stuck having to ship it back and be out the money altogether unless of course I let him talk me into the package he wanted me to have .
I have no doubt he does very good work , that's why I contacted him . But I can't send him a rifle without a clue of what it will cost . All's well though , I ended up selling the parts kit for more than I had into it and the same for the reciever . I went out and bought a used M1A with the money .[smilie=1:

Jack