Hello all,

I am new to the C&R world and new to Finnish mosins as well. About a year ago I picked up a 1944~45 Finnish mosin that had been put into a Monty Carlo plastic stock and I want to bring it back into proper form.

Just recently I picked up what appears to be a new old stock and metal (picture attached) is there any way to tell if the stock is unfinished? Is there any way to tell if the stock was made during the war production or if it is new production? How do I finish the metal? And the big question, how do I finish the stock?

Some things to note, the stock is rough to the touch, and it consistent in feel throughout. There appear to be some split ends on the area where the receiver hole cutout was milled, leading me to believe this stock is unfinished.

Thank you all in advance for the help, and I'm looking forward to getting this project moving along!

It's a post war stock from the splice.

It looks like you're restoring a M39 judging by your stock and pieces parts, make sure you are sure though because Finland manufactured several different Mosin models in 1944 and the parts and stocks aren't compatible between them. It's possible your post war stock already has a wood finish on it. Many of those "blond" post war M39 stocks appear unfinished when they actually are and attempting to apply a new finish over the existing one usually turns out poorly. If your stock is unfinished the correct wood finish is called Kiväärintukkiöljy (Rifle Stock Oil) unfortunately it's basically unobtainable in the U.S., even it's exact recipe is debated. It appears to be a mixture of BLO, bitumen and turpentine although the exact ratio is still unknown as a Finnish company owns the recipe and isn't telling.  If you Google "Finnish rifle stock oil" you'll find a number of posts on Gunboards and some other sites concerning this topic.

Yes I am restoring a m39. Is there a good test to see if the stock is unfinished or not? I was thinking about trying to scrape a small portion of the stock behind the buttstock plate and see if the wood is consistent in finish. Is that reasonable?

I'd ask the guys over on Gunboards in the Mosin section. They know everything about everything Finn Mosin related. They would be able to tell you about your stock.

You should be able to tell just by touching it.  If you can't use a bit of denatured alcohol IN the barrel channel and see if it changes color.  That stock looks unfinished to me.

You're stock is what is referred to as a transitional splices M39, characterized by the pointed splices that join the two pieces of the stock. These are late post war made replacement stocks and have a different look than the wartime or immediate post war made stocks. Yours looks consistent with others I've seen so I'd be hesitant to do much to it. Here are a pair of my M39's that have similar stocks for comparison. They are as I found them.

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I have confirmed that there is no finish on it, would BLO suffice as a finish?

And what is the best way to go about restoring the metal?

20 to 25 years ago, I recall seeing unused and unfinished surplus Finn M39 stocks for sale in Shotgun News advertising.  I think they were maybe $25 plus shipping.  I didn't buy any because I didn't need any at the time.  I am seriously regretting that decision.  Discussion at the time on the old Cruffler mailing list about the finish that Finland used centered on a diluted manganese based coating that accentuated the tiger stripe aspect in some stocks.  BLO will work in the absence of anything else.  Tung oil may be better.  Original Finn stocks in use do not have a sheen.

Sorry for going off topic but what scope mount do you have on your m39?

The rifle itself is one of the M39's that Interordnance modified into fantasy snipers using a base of their own design that's bolted into the left side of the receiver and allows the mounting of any of the Soviet style PSO or POSP scopes that fit on the SVD or PSL. The mount itself is an SVD/PSL mount made by RS Regulate and the scope is a Vortex Diamondback 4-12X. I wouldn't have done that to an unmodified M39 but it came to me in a trade already modified so I decided to play with it.

My brother has that and I was hankering to get one but was assuming you built it.

Thanks for the info.