Mosin-Nagant Stock Refinishing?

Originally Posted by Cardinal Ximinez

I just took the plunge and bought a hex receiver Mosin-Nagant of Tula manufacture from 1933. I must say that I really kind of like this gun. It's a very cool piece of history.

However, I am thinking about refinishing the stock and was wondering what other people had done. If you refinished your stock, would you mind sharing your experience? What did you use, and how did you go about it?

For my Hungarian M44, I used some mineral oil after sanding it down and then sealed it with tru oil, then I polished with some butchers wax. It worked pretty well, if you like a glossy look. I'll post some pics. You should understand that refinishing the stock will make the gun lose its value, I only refinished it because stock was junk and broken into pieces and it really couldn't get any worse. I picked it up for $30 so it's a win win
M44 Original 3.jpg
M44 sanded.jpg
M44 Shine.jpg
M44 with metal 1.jpg
Finished Product M44.jpg

Originally Posted by Marcus5aurelius

refinishing the stock will make the gun lose its value

Yeah, understood; however, I really bought it as a shooter.

Then it's really up to you, some people use boiled linseed oil or find a more authentic shellac.

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. It looks like you left a lot of the character of the gun.

I've had good results with the Krud kutter, cheese cloth and baking soda method for stripping. I've used easy off and citristrip with so so results. Then remove dents with an iron and damp towel. Then sand lightly with 400/600 sand paper. Then wood conditioner to even out the stain uptake, I'd say this very important especially for older stocks. Then for Russian guns either rit red stain, or a mixture of gunstocks/Sedona red stains. A few light coats until I get it where I want it in terms of color or depth. Then I thin boiled linseed oil with turpentine and start applying. In between each coat I knock down the tack with #0000 steel wool. Two coats a day dor about a week gives a nice durable satin finish.

Originally Posted by Sir_Macadoo

I've had good results with the Krud kutter, cheese cloth and baking soda method for stripping. I've used easy off and citristrip with so so results. Then remove dents with an iron and damp towel. Then sand lightly with 400/600 sand paper. Then wood conditioner to even out the stain uptake, I'd say this very important especially for older stocks. Then for Russian guns either rit red stain, or a mixture of gunstocks/Sedona red stains. A few light coats until I get it where I want it in terms of color or depth. Then I thin boiled linseed oil with turpentine and start applying. In between each coat I knock down the tack with #0000 steel wool. Two coats a day dor about a week gives a nice durable satin finish.

That sounds nice. Any pictures of the finished result by any chance?

Originally Posted by retroLS1

That sounds nice. Any pictures of the finished result by any chance?

Yes, I have some. I'll try to post some later tonight. Actually, I just re-did a set of AK furniture - making a "Ghost AK" I just made that name up. I started with surplus bulgy furniture, stripped it, then I first stained the wood with a light coat of ebony stain to set the darks, then a few coats of classic gray to give it a washed out gray look. I like to the look of it. Maybe I should just make a thread... We'll see how much time i have tonight to mess around and post some info.

Sir Macadoo has it right. I forgot about it, but I also used the damp cloth with a hot iron to try to get some of the dents out (most were too deep to really help) and I also used 0000 wool in between coatings to help the next layer bond and avoid uneven distribution.