Is it worth refinishing AK furnature?

[Shprockets]

I recently got a WASR 10/63 and the furniture is kinda beat up. I was thinking of refinishing the wood but its the only furniture I have at the moment and I wasn't sure if:

A) I would ruin it during the process or
B) the refinishing process would ruin the value of the furniture or
C) all of the above.

Is it worth the effort or should I just leave it alone and buy some plastic parts? Has anyone else refinished their wood stocks or AK furniture?

 

[BUMPA01603]

It's just a Wasr 10, keep it as-is. You can beat it up, rarely clean it, feed it cheap food, and it will keep working for you.

 

[bfm]

When I got a WASR years back, the laminated wood furniture was ugly as anything. I removed it all, gave it a light sanding and three coats of an oil stain.

I might use a different product were I to do it again, but I was very happy with how much better it looked after I was done.

I used Minwax and it is perfectly good, but I might use Tried and True Original Wood Finish.

Would require more upkeep, but I have started using it on some tool handles and been very happy.

 

[mikelawtown]

If it’s the newer version with the blond wood then yeah why not refinish it it’s not like it’s actual commie wood
When I get home I’ll send you a picture of some wasr wood I refinished

 

[Al-Jim19]

A picture or two would help.

I doubt you’d really ruin anything if you just sanded and stained.

 

[nordic alien]

just buy new furniture, they are plenty of nice wood or synthetic sets out there

 

[Shprockets]

Its from 2011, Ill post some pictures when I get home later. It's not the blonde wood, its a darker color. A few buddies keep telling me not to do anything to it but if a little sanding and stain make it look better why not. If I ever decided to sell it in the future I didn't want it to come back and bite me that I refinished it.

 

[FPrice]

Unless it some some collectable value as it is, I'd say that it is your rifle, do what you want to. Ain't no big thang.

 

[ToddDubya]

If it’s the newer version with the blond wood then yeah why not refinish it it’s not like it’s actual commie wood
When I get home I’ll send you a picture of some wasr wood I refinished

Please don't send pictures of your wood.

 

[Picton]

Have fun. DIY. When I got my WASR I wasn’t happy with the laminate or the LOP. I’ve got plenty of chunks of walnut, a drill press, some rasps and spokeshaves, and now I’ve also got a custom stock set I made in about two hours.

That’s if you’re handy. But seriously, a WASR isn’t something to spend a lot of money on. Whatever you do, do it cheap.

 

[greencobra]

When I get home I’ll send you a picture of some wasr wood I refinished

mike, any chance you could post that photo? i'm interested in what people do with the wood also.

 

[LoginName]

Rit Dye method is the way to go.

I've done it on two of my AK's and was pleased with the results.

Not mine, but some people have perfected it...

 

[Dench]

OP, do yourself the favor and just move on to another AK. A lot of us have had WASRs at one point or another and the consensus is they are bottom or near bottom tier AKs. I've had Chinese, Polish and Saigas and they were all considerably superior.

 

[daekken]

Current WASRs are using US-made furniture so I wouldn't worry about mucking with it as it doesn't have much inherent value. Replacing/redoing it is one of the first things many WASR owners do.

I wouldn't mess with a nice surplus set though (presuming it was finished).

Boyd's make a nice Russian red set, but it isn't cheap.

Also note that for WASRs the US furniture is one of the 922r changes, so if you want to remain compliant with it you need US furniture or to replace other imported parts.

I like my WASR a lot. The finish is not as nice as my Saiga, but it's accurate, reliable, and fun.
Some day I'll get that AK74 or get a 5.56 AK. That'll be polymer. But wood is always in style with the AK.

 

[headednorth]

Rit Dye method is the way to go.

I've done it on two of my AK's and was pleased with the results.

Not mine, but some people have perfected it...

View attachment 295154 View attachment 295155 View attachment 295156

That's nice. I used the Rit and some walnut stain mixed bit it came out too red for my taste. Had the blonde furniture that I think others are referencing which had little to no wood grain so its just kind of a boring red.

 

[mikelawtown]

This is actual WASR Wood

The 1set was the older wood and 2 set I’ll post is the newer blonde ( Beech wood)
This color is 4 coats of Minwax red mahogany and one light coat of red Rit dye , I also used a torch to bring out the grain. Finished it off with 5 coats of tung oil.

 

[mikelawtown]

Newer wasr Beech wood ( Blonde)
This one is Not my pic
But recipe was some

 

[daekken]

This is actual WASR Wood

The 1set was the older wood and 2 set I’ll post is the newer blonde ( Beech wood)
This color is 4 coats of Minwax red mahogany and one light coat of red Rit dye , I also used a torch to bring out the grain. Finished it off with 5 coats of tung oil.

What do you charge per hour for labor

 

[Shprockets]

This is actual WASR Wood

The 1set was the older wood and 2 set I’ll post is the newer blonde ( Beech wood)
This color is 4 coats of Minwax red mahogany and one light coat of red Rit dye , I also used a torch to bring out the grain. Finished it off with 5 coats of tung oil.

Looks awesome!

 

[Shprockets]

here are some pictures of the AK furniture I want to refinish.

 

[Picton]

here are some pictures of the AK furniture I want to refinish.

I can see why.

Not a lot you can do to make that look worse, that's for sure.

 

[citoriguy]

I would refinish that if it were my WASR. There’s not a lot to do but go slowly when sanding, a few coats of stain and some oil over top and be done with it.

 

[robjax]

I would leave it alone. I like the character. But your gun so do what you need to do....

 

[greencobra]

here are some pictures of the AK furniture I want to refinish.

no, no, no, no......

I would leave it alone. I like the character.

i'm with mr. robjax, i'd leave it. if the wasr was especially tired looking it'd look rather good i would imagine.

It's just a Wasr 10

maybe, but i bet over half the members here wish they even had "just a wasr 10." i know i regret not buying one or 2 when they were $499.

 

[Picton]

I bought mine at just over $600 and thought that was a bit high...

Crazy these days. They’re good guns. I mean, it’s an AK. The whole point is that cheap ones don’t really work any worse than expensive ones.

 

[daekken]

Looks like I have a new project...been wanting to darken up mine (not fond of the bright blond color)...almost got a Boyd's set but the cost was a tough pill to swallow. I think after my next WASR range trip I'll start the process of stripping it and refinishing. For US-made commercial furniture I think it's totally fine...anyone that knows me knows I won't countenance harming actual milsurp stocks of any variety.

 

[daekken]

I bought mine at just over $600 and thought that was a bit high...

Crazy these days. They’re good guns. I mean, it’s an AK. The whole point is that cheap Combloc-built ones don’t really work any worse than expensive ones.

FIFY. Go shoot an IO or one of the really poor US-made ones and you'll understand.

 

[Shprockets]

the best part is I was cleaning it and spilled hoppes all over the side of the receiver and the piston tube. Looks even better now with no finish

 

[Taipan01]

The wood you posted looks darker then any WASR I've seen. Someone may have tried a quick clean-up in the past.

I gave my WASR-10 a quick makeover. It looked a little bit worse then this because the LGS had it suspended from the ceiling with bare wire wrapped around the barrel and receiver and was scratched up some.

Not mine but close:



The only thing I questioned was the color. I either wanted it a jade green with the grain showing or as close to a classic red as I could get. I went with the red.

At the time they were going for a little less then $250.00 and came with a bunch of goodies like 2-30 round mags, cloth sling, oiler kit and so on. I spent another $20.00 on a proper grip, 1" rubber butt stock extension (still able to use the storage compartment), an actual new leather sling and a small can of china red stain. Everything else I already had on shelves like sand paper, orange shellac, blue remover, etc. It only had one of the issues that the WASR's had and that was a slight mag wobble which, in turn, is an easy fix by building internal dimples.

A rainy day came and I decided to do it with nothing better to do. I think it came out okay. One thing that doesn't show due to reflections is that while things were drying, I polished the bolt/piston to a mirror finish.

 

[daekken]

This is actual WASR Wood

The 1set was the older wood and 2 set I’ll post is the newer blonde ( Beech wood)
This color is 4 coats of Minwax red mahogany and one light coat of red Rit dye , I also used a torch to bring out the grain. Finished it off with 5 coats of tung oil.

Did you use pure tung oil or tung oil finish? I have some pure tung oil on hand from doing my CMP wood stock on my M1.

Did you use the Rit Dye powder or the liquid, and if liquid, did you cut the liquid ?