Do you refinish/restore milsurp firearms?

[LoginName]

Obviously, it's something you shouldn't do to a rare/collectable/historically significant/mint/matching numbers firearm.

But, what about the average or slightly above average milsurp guns?

Do you leave them as is or sand that stock down, refinish it and reparkerize it?

Sometimes there's a lot to be admired about a nicely worn patined finish. Other times you just can't leave well enough alone and a nicely oiled stock and repark job isn't going to change the value of the gun by much.

 

[madmarc0]

I personally leave them alone, a refinished gun in great shape has less value than an original with a worn finish.
I'm going by what I collect, 1911's and other US Prop. stuff.

 

[JuergenG]

Cleaning and oiling them - yes, but no restoration at all.
They've been in service and they ought to look like that.

 

[Twigg]

Obviously, it's something you shouldn't do to a rare/collectable/historically significant/mint/matching numbers firearm.

But, what about the average or slightly above average milsurp guns?

Do you leave them as is or sand that stock down, refinish it and reparkerize it?

Sometimes there's a lot to be admired about a nicely worn patined finish. Other times you just can't leave well enough alone and a nicely oiled stock and repark job isn't going to change the value of the gun by much.

Complete agreement here. I have a Mosin 91/30 which shoots very well but the thing is a mixmaster. The numbers not only are mis-matched, but some of the parts have different arsenal markings. This is going to be a winter project for me.

Chemical removal of the old finish and spot steaming to raise the dented wood. As a woodworker, I mix my own finishes so the rest will be easy. I don't know if I'll attempt to refinish the metal though.

 

[Moderator]

Cleaning and oiling them - yes, but no restoration at all.
They've been in service and they ought to look like that.

I don't own any surpls but I feel the same way.

 

[Chuck]

these rifles didn't come from the factory soaked in cosmolene

But the M1 I just ordered through the CMP yesterday (wahoo!!!) probably will. I'll want to get all that shit off. You are not saying that cleaning will lower its resale/collector value, are you? Cleaning to me means cooking the cosmo off in a "cosmo oven" and if the wood is dry putting a fresh coat or 2 of boiled linseed oil. The metal workings get good and scrubbed.

cheers,
Chuck

 

[Pilgrim]

All I do is clean everything, metal and wood...if they need it.

After thoroughly cleaning the metal parts, if the wood is really dirty and discolored, I'll wash it down with mineral spirits and 0000 steel wool, lightly rubbing it until the dark dirt is gone, revealing whatever marks/stampings are there. I'll never sand any wood, just clean it in this manner.

After a thorough cleaning, I rub in several coats of boiled linseed oil, letting each coat dry before applying the next.

Some might think this affects the value but I don't. All I'm doing is maintaining the gun just as it would/should have been cared for originally.

Many of you saw some of my US milsurps at the Pumpkin Shoot. I don't think they look 'restored' in any way. They just look cared for.

 

[dreppucci007]

Cleaning and oiling them - yes, but no restoration at all.
They've been in service and they ought to look like that.

I don't own any surpls but I feel the same way.

+1 Same here

 

[SKS Ray]

I do as Pilgrim said.
Stuff like Mosins are usually fine as is and just require a little cleaning to the wood, others like some Mauser types are so greasy and grime filled that you have to scrub the stock and re-oil. If anything a Mosin Nagant stock can be touched up by dabbing shellac thinned with denatured alcohol just to keep spots from flaking if the finnish is getting brittle. The touch up blends right in and keeps it in original configuration. Other rifles like Finn Mosins often have dry wood with very little finish remaining to protect it. On those I usually use a rub of the 1/3 mix that I posted a while back just to protect the stock.
The most sanding I'll ever do on any stock is a light rub with something like 600 grit to get rid of the fuzzies after degreasing/cleaning the wood before oiling the stock. After all, these rifles didn't come from the factory soaked in cosmolene. Most were greased up and put away in dirty storage facilities in case war ever broke out and the need to arm people came up. I see nothing wrong with making them as clean as they were the first day a soldier held it.
Some exceptions like the recent flood of Russian capture K98 stocks can be stripped down of the Russian shellac and redone with tung oil the way they were originally with no harm done to collectable (if any) value.
Now if a stock has already been sanded be it a re-arsenal process or done by Bubba with a strip of 80 and some spray poly, anyone with basic woodworking skills can patiently remove sanding marks and finish accordingly depending on what was used originally. I've seen plenty of stocks that people have half ass refinished and have been bought back to original by a collector that knows how to.
As for rebluing, unless theres rust and pitting on the underside of the barrel or below the wood line on the receiver and its been left untreated, then maybe I'll do some work on it. After all left alone it could go further and be safety issue eventually. If theres any pitting or rust where I can see and get at when the rifle is fully assembled, I just stay on it with 00 steel wool and quality oil.

 

[stoneypete]

My RC K98K, I removed the shallac and put on BLO.

My 1911A1 had been shotpeened by the previous owner and was in the white. I had a proper park put on it.

All other millsurps have only received a cleaning, a lubing and a generous feeding of ammo.

 

[Skald]

Ok, here is the question though.

I brought the Luger I just acquired to a person to help ID it some and said the condition on it was horrible (lots of pitting and the barrel is attrocious).

Would extra time be bad to bring the beauty of this gun back to light or let it bear the ugly scars of neglect? (Granddad's gun, was put away and only found a few years after his death so not deliberate on my friends part on the neglect).

 

[Pilgrim]

If it's pitted, there's not much you can do to make it right.

If it were mine, I'd gently clean the rust off, oil it and keep it as a piece of history. After all, how many people do you know that have a genuine WW2 bring back, in any condition?

 

[Skald]

thats true.

 

[JonJ]

Best stuff for the rust is some RB-17 and 0000 steel wool. RB-17 works like a charm.