Swiss K31 cheap project rifle

[BigBill]

I always wanted to build a bull barrel 98 mauser in 308. But being frugal i just never got around to spending the $$ to do it. I just received a swiss k31 on special of $69 from "A". It looked in fair+ condition but after cleaning the stock and steaming the dings and dents out I have an excellent looking stock now. I stained it with Behlen Master Solar-Lux stain in medium walnut after it dried I took 320grit sand paper and lightly sanded the stock to reveil the harder wood grain that turned a lighter orginal wood color.(whiter) I then took the Behlen Master Solar-Lux stain in orange-yellow color and stained the stock all over again. I now have a two toned wood color that looks awesome the two colors blended in but not exactly it looks great i like playing with stain colors. Just to have something different that looks great. I purchased a Tru-Glo 6-24 target rifle scope with 4" sun shade from sportsmans guide and the st marie scopemount from grafs along with the st marie muzzle brake too and its a long scope too. I found the 3/8" 1" high scope rings at CDNN for around $6. Its not a 308 but with the 7,5mm swiss having the reputaion for accuracy i'd figure i would build one. I think its going to be a real tac driver when its done.

I was thinking of getting another swiss k31 and installing the st. marie dioptler sights on it too(peep sites). I think it would be neat to have these two swiss toys to play with. I have a few put away in orginal condition too.

 

[hminsky]

pictures!

 

[SKS Ray]

I've got a link at the top for Swiss rifle finishes. It goes into detail about amber shellac flakes. Its a little involved but I like my rifles as close to original as possible.

 

[BigBill]

Don't let these lesser condition swiss k31 rifles fool you too because underneath that old finish is a perfect swiss miss waiting to get out and show her self off.
I redid a few swiss k31's already and i used the Behlen MASTER Solar-Lux Stain in Orange-Yellow and it matched the orginal color perfectly on the beech stocks. This color matches the Albanian SKS's orginal orange color too. The walnut stocks aren't orange they seem more of a lighter walnut. I've used the Behlen MASTER Solar-Lux in Medium Walnut on those. Either way they come out looking awesome. Then I apply about 6 to 10 very thin coats of Formby's Tung Oil Finish using 0000 steelwool between coats. The last coat again i use 0000 steelwool then apply a coat of johnsons wood paste wax. They look awesome it just brings these old war horses back to life.

I have redid and repaired so many stocks in the past i hate using poly on any stock. I have repaired the bad poly jobs that bubba did too using formby's right over the poly. Bubba loves his poly. I just use a coarse steelwool or a 0000 steelwool depending on how bad the bad spots are the go lightly over the whole stock with the 0000 steelwool then apply the formby's tung oil finish. The trick is you need to apply very thin coats. Its so fool proof that anyone can do it.

I had a really nice orginal '95 chilean 7mm rifle that bubba had runs in the poly he put on. After going over the bad areas lightly with a coarse steelwool i took the 0000 steelwool and did the rest of the stock. I applied 3 or 4 coats of formby's tung oil and she looks as good as new again. I saved the bubba'ized '95.
I have taken the sks's with chipped stocks that i didn't want to strip to bare wood and lightly sanded or used a coarse steelwool to the chip area then go over the whole stock with 0000 steelwool then apply the formby's tung oil again on the whole stock. If the stock finish is ok except for the nicked or chipped area. You can save the stock and still have the orginal look so easy to work with. My point is anyone can do it too.

I have repaired the modern rifle stocks in the sameway with scratches just steelwool them even with the finish "0000" steelwool the go over the whole stock, then wipe clean and apply the formby's it will hide the scratch and the stock will look new again.

You just apply the formby's tung oil with a soft cloth it doesn't get any easier.

Its great for the guys who never did get finishes right because its so easy.

I'll have to learn how to post pics here I have some great looking orginal stocks and some awesome two tone colored stocks too by blending the base coat of a walnut color with the top coat of the orange yellow and i have done the same thing with the mahogany red color too using the orange yellow as the base color. The wood grain looks awesome it just speaks to you.

The behlen master solar lux in red mahogany matches my Finnish M39 VKT perfectly too.

 

[Coyote33]

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[SKS Ray]

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Close up of Romanian trainer with the stock refinished with MinWax Red Mahogany stain followed up by many coats of Formby's Tung Oil with the first couple of coats tinted with the stain.

I know its a bot off topic, but there... a picture.

 

[BigBill]

Sorry How do i post pics?

Thats one purdy piece of wood too I like it. It sure makes all the work worth it in the end when they look purdy. The slower we go the better they look.

Yes thats the wood grain i'm getting with a two tone color by using two stain colors a dark one under and a lighter one over it after using a coarse steelwool to bring out the lighter spots to bare wood again the restain with the other color. This can really make a difference on solid ordinary stocks.

 

[SKS Ray]

Sorry How do i post pics?

QUOTE]

You can get a free account at Photobucket.com as long as you don't host too many pictures. I think the free accounts limit you to 2 or 3 pages worth of images. I pay $3 a month for a premuium account and can host movies, picstures, etc. all I want. Once you upload a picture from your computer to your photo bucket page, you click on one of three links they list for that particular image. Bottom link works for here its "image" [IMG] format.
Theres also a pratice area on photobucket you can use to test your links and posting.

 

[JonJ]

I have 8 pages on my free Photobucket account so far. I think they give you about a gig of space. The limit is the bandwidth through their server.

 

[BigBill]

Just to touch on using Formby's Tung Oil Finish. Its a matter of applying very thin coats one every 24hrs between coats and going over the stock with a 0000 steelwool after the coat is dry before the next one is applied. I have done a few really bad stocks and the thinner the formby's is applied the quicker and harder it dries between coats. I like to use the "Glossy Finish" we can always tone it down a bit at the end by lightly using 0000 steelwool at the finish when its done. Wether you apply a Johnsons wood paste wax is up to up to you too. Just 5 to 6 coats may do it for the normal gun and for outdoor hunting use i will do about 10 very thin coats and maybe more until i have the glass smooth finish. I do the seams too plus the inside for just a few coats too if its going to be hunter and see the weather too. My surplups only go out in sunny weather to hunt but in the northeast i seen sunny days turn into blizzards too we all know that. I don't like getting any wood stock gun soaked with water the synthetic stocks are for that but just incase there sealed really good to be safe.

Some guys say formby's is no good but they didn't apply enough coats so it will build up the proper amount of protection. It will soak into the wood then as you apply many coats it will build up ever as you go. Remember to use a soft cloth and go in the same direction applying the same amount of Formby's to the wood and try to keep it even as possible too.

My scoped surplups are done with many coats of Formby's, lets face it there going to get hammered most of the time. I take care of my guns and all my very first hunting rifles from the early 70's still look new today after all there all collectable too now ever think about that?