IDIOT MOVE OF THE DAY!

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I'm so F'in mad at myself!!!!!

Received my 1st ever Mil-Surplus rifle, a Hex receiver 91/30 Nagant. Purchased it online and had it shipped to my FFL, paid the $10 upcharge to have it "hand picked" and was shocked how nice it was!!!! the metal is great, the bore and rifling was awesome! and the stock and finish was better than I'd seen. I'm so F'in happy! I got a great firearm for $100!

So, this morning I get up to clean it up and take it to the range. After reading a few things on cleaning these rifles ( and mine didnt not have much cosmo ) it seemed like a little bit of brake cleaner was the way to go....... Setup some cardboard in the garage, took the bolt out and apart and set the rifle down and gave each a few quick squirts of brake cleaner. Instantly I realized my mistake, as the brake clean hit the stock I could see what was happening ( as it ate away the finish ) I hurried to clean of what I'd done, and the damage was minimal ( a drip line and some splatter marks ) Or, so I thought. Because the rifle was laying down, the squirt of brake cleaner had run out the trigger housing and on to the backside ( from the trigger guard are to the hand grip area ) Because I didn't realize this right away it had a few minutes to sit on the finish, or shall we say the now "lack of finish"

I AM SO f'IN MAD AT MYSELF!!!! had I thought for 2 seconds I would have realized this!!

and suggestions on how to fix?

dumbass of the day drb
 
Don't stress over it. It's a lesson learned and now you can practice refinishing a stock. Be glad it wasn't on a 1000.00 rifle.

Tom
 
Easy fix, you can relax. First way: a little mineral spirits on a brush; brush with the grain. This will dissolve the surrounding finish and blend it in with the rest. Work fast, it becomes tacky quickly. 2. You can also blend in a little Zissner's Amber shellac, cut with mineral spirits and cover the area the same way. I did this to the whole stock of my matching '39 Ishavek and blended in all the imperfections. The shellac will bubble and split when the thin stock gets hot at the range anyway. Just sand down the bubbles and blend with the cut shellac.

MS

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heres a few.....

Thats an easy fix. Take some dentaured alcohol and gently rub the area where the finish is damaged. It'll soften and remove the surrounding shellac enough to where you can mix a batch of touch up shellac and rework the area. For a touch up mix I'd go 1 part amber shellac/2 or 3 parts denatured alcohol and mix it well. Try a small ammount of the 1 to 2 mix on a piece of old furnitire first to see if it covers well enough. If it seems too thick or too dark, mix it 1 to 3 and that should work. I wouldn't go any thinner than 3 parts denatured alcohol because you won't get much coverage.

Once you get the hang of how thinned shellac works after practicing on some old furniture, you can blend in the affected area on your stock but you have tow ork quickly because it dries very fast. If you do it right, you can blend it in with the old finish and no one butyou will ever know it was there.

Worst case scenario is you may have some trouble blending the finish. If that happens, just rub down the stock with dentaured alcohol and give it a light overall finish.
 
wow, thanks for all the great help!! I've been complaining all day about my stupidity and as it seems it may be working in my favor! You guys have given good fixes, and my wife is so sick of me complaining she told me to " go order another gun!! " Sweet, now I can order the 8mm Mauser they had!!
 
heck, just continue with a muzzle to butt plate brake cleaner cleanseing, get rid of that shelac. I got tired of looking at the peeling flakeing areas around the reciever and removed the shelac finish and applied a quick coat of tung oil. I also took a chance on GB on a mosin 91/30 and was very surprised with the barrel and crown condition. My rifle almost apeared to be sprayed or dipped in shelac as it was every where, even the metal???
 
Thats damn near exactly what I did, except I did it with Break Free powder cleaner. Damage was so bad I ended up refinishing the whole gun. Now I have to get another one so I can keep the finish original.
 
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