Mil stock refinishing

[1903Collector]

Any one out there good at or know someone who is at refinishing military stocks, cuz I stink at it. Have a couple of 03 stocks I am thinking of refinishing. Tried it on a stock that was NG and it did not go well. Appreciate any tips, I may get brave and try it again.

 

[SKS Ray]

Any one out there good at or know someone who is at refinishing military stocks, cuz I stink at it. Have a couple of 03 stocks I am thinking of refinishing. Tried it on a stock that was NG and it did not go well. Appreciate any tips, I may get brave and try it again.

I love doing it and have done quite a few of mine, but don't go to the extent of steaming out dings, sanding, getting every ounce of cosmo out, etc.
What did you do to yours that made you unhappy with the results?

These are a few that I refinished. The Romak was a mix of blonde and dark wood when I first got it, and the Yugo K98 was almost black it was so dirty. I like sticking with the original finishes whenever possible.

 

[Pilgrim]

Short of steaming dents and patching the wood, it's not that hard.

Never use sand paper...you'll change contours and eliminate or ruin stock stampings or cartouches.

Mineral spirits rubbed onto the wood with 000 or 0000 grade steel wool, will removed all the grease and years of grime to reveal a much prettier wood. Go easy around the stampings.

If the wood was varnished or polyurethaned, use an appropriate remover for that but don't over do it. The final bits can be taken off with the spirits and wool.. Shellaced wood succumbs to the mineral spirits and wool treatment pretty well.

After getting the wood as clean as you can, rub a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil or tung oil on with a rag. Rubbing it, not just wiping it on is the secret. I use full strength BLO, some use 1/2 BLO 1/2 thinner. You'll probably find that the first few applications get sucked into the wood very quickly. BE sure and coat the inner parts as well to make sure that the wood with withstand moisture evenly, inside and out.

If it soaks right in, keep giving it more coats until it appear not to soak in and takes a while to dry. Then sit it somewhere over night.

Next day, rub it with 0000 wool and give it another coat. Set it aside for 24 hours. and repeat until it's as smooth and shiny as you want it. It may take 8-10 coats.

It's easy to get a nice finish, you just can't rush it.

 

[1903Collector]

I love doing it and have done quite a few of mine, but don't go to the extent of steaming out dings, sanding, getting every ounce of cosmo out, etc.
What did you do to yours that made you unhappy with the results?

These are a few that I refinished. The Romak was a mix of blonde and dark wood when I first got it, and the Yugo K98 was almost black it was so dirty. I like sticking with the original finishes whenever possible.

My goal was to get out all of the oil, steam out a few dents and refinish. Someone suggested using oven cleaner to remove most of the oil, which it did but there were some very dark areas that I couldn't lighten up to match the rest of the wood. I wanted that reddish finish that my other 03s have but wasn't sure how to get it so I gave it a couple coats of boiled linseed oil. The stock had a fatal crack in it so this was more of an experiment so it's no loss that it didn't come out good. I have a smith corona stock that I want to do because it's really rough and much of the original finish is gone. I suppose I'll try again but need some better advice. Yours came out beautiful..

 

[1903Collector]

Short of steaming dents and patching the wood, it's not that hard.

Never use sand paper...you'll change contours and eliminate or ruin stock stampings or cartouches.

Mineral spirits rubbed onto the wood with 000 or 0000 grade steel wool, will removed all the grease and years of grime to reveal a much prettier wood. Go easy around the stampings.

If the wood was varnished or polyurethaned, use an appropriate remover for that but don't over do it. The final bits can be taken off with the spirits and wool.. Shellaced wood succumbs to the mineral spirits and wool treatment pretty well.

After getting the wood as clean as you can, rub a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil or tung oil on with a rag. Rubbing it, not just wiping it on is the secret. I use full strength BLO, some use 1/2 BLO 1/2 thinner. You'll probably find that the first few applications get sucked into the wood very quickly. BE sure and coat the inner parts as well to make sure that the wood with withstand moisture evenly, inside and out.

If it soaks right in, keep giving it more coats until it appear not to soak in and takes a while to dry. Then sit it somewhere over night.

Next day, rub it with 0000 wool and give it another coat. Set it aside for 24 hours. and repeat until it's as smooth and shiny as you want it. It may take 8-10 coats.

It's easy to get a nice finish, you just can't rush it.

Ditto on yours as well, beautiful work, thanks for the advice. Maybe I did rush it, as I have gotten older I find I have a lot less patience I'll give it another shot...Thanks.
Walter

 

[SKS Ray]

Theres lots of home made cosmoline removing ovens people make out of pipes, trash barrels, etc. Some even throw their stocks in the dishwasher.
Oven cleaner will actually bleach some woods and is way too harsh to use. I've seen it recomended on several sites but I just think its way too aggressive. If I have a stock that is absolutely too dirty to clean by using gentle methods, I reach for Purple Power degreaser sold at Wal Mart. It does involve a water rinse and I know some will flame me for saying water and wood in the same sentence, but I've never had ill effects with using this method. In fact on my CMP 03A3, I used a GE hand held steamer to blast the grease off the stock and actually raised a few dings with it. After it dried for a few days I applied BLO followed up with a 00 steel wool buffing and wipe with a tack rag, then more BLO and it looks great to me and everyone else I've showed it to, even the hardcore Springfield shooters at my club.
The best thing about using Purple Power is you can take a toothbrush and scrub nooks and hard to get at areas free of dirt and grime, then rinse with water and its clean.
Tons of info here: http://p102.ezboard.com/CR-stock-/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34
but most of its not recomended for the purists.

 

[1903Collector]

I generally like to leave them be, but this stock is in such poor conditon it requires a little tlc. between you and Pilgrim I have got some new things to try so I'll give it another shot. Will post some before and after photos when complete (depending on outcome ).
Walter...

 

[1903Collector]

OK, gave it another try and it came out much better http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeplbht/index.html
It's the smith corona rifle that I did, picture does not do it justice but there are many coats of straight BLO on it. Thanks for the tips and advice guys.

 

[SKS Ray]

Looks good from what I can see. Nice traditional finish.

 

[1903Collector]

Thanks, I think I'm going to buff it out more and put a couple more coats of BLO.

 

[Pilgrim]

See ! I knew you could do it!

 

[1903Collector]

Thanks again

 

[PatMcD]

I use oven cleaner all the time. I usually do it outdoors near the hose. Blast the stock with Easy Off, let it sit for a minute or so, lightly scrub it with a green pad, hose it off, let it dry out in the sun. Steel wool it down, nail it with BLO a few times. Done.
I've done dozens of M14 stocks, M1's, 03's, etc. with very good results.