Im considering refinishing my mosin stock but i have never done wood work and dont know what to buy or how to do it any help would be great.

thanks

Post the question here to find out if your have some uber-rare stock before you refinish it.  Prepare to be called a heathen a lot:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_6/14_Curios_andamp__Relics.html

If it's not rare, then you'll sand off the shellac, steam or heat the cosmoline out, then refinish it.  If you have a Finn, I would suggest buying another $100 Mosin - even I draw the line @ screwing w/ Finns.

Gig 'em,

backbencher

Lacquer thinner will make quick work of the shellac.

I wrapped mine in rags, doused it with lacquer thinner, and wrapped it up in a plastic garbage sack.  This is outdoor work obviously.

A small amount of sanding was still required, but not much.  Then I sprayed it with truck bed liner, and finished with krylon.  You did ask for easy, not good.




No collector grade Mosins were harmed in this project.

Denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner will cut through the shellac that's on there currently.

Then it's up to you to decide how you want to go about the rest of it.  I suggest some careful 220 grit sanding on any rough spots (don't go crazy here, you want to smooth the surface, not cut 1/8" off of it–– don't destroy the finger grooves and make the buttplate stick over the edge).

Then do 5-10 treatments of heat (blow-dryer or oven, or stock in a plastic bag in the back seat of your car) to get as much of the cosmoline storage grease out of the wood as you can.  Heat it and wipe away the cosmoline with a rag soaked in denatured alcohol.  Do so until very little or no cosmoline comes out (this could take a LONG time).

Then put whatever new finish on it you want. Boiled Linseed oil, Tung oil, Shellac, polyurethane, spray paint, rhino lining, duracoat....

My personal favorite for old mil-surps is Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO).  with BLO and tung oil, you rub a coat into the wood, wipe off excess, let it set a day, and repeat as necessary until you have the desired finish.  Don't let excess sit on the surface or it will get crusty and sticky.  It takes a while, but it does a great job, IMO.

Haven't most of them been refinished by however imported them?

No.

What happened after WWII is that most all of the rifles in Soviet inventory (captured German weapons included) were broken down into each little piece, re-finished, then re-assembled (very unlikely with the same parts it was originally made with).  Everything then had a force-matched serial number stamped or electro-penciled onto it and it got put into grease and into a crate, and was stored for the next 60-70 years until they were bought and imported into the US.

I'm not sure what happened with the Finnish rifles, however, I have never heard of importers refinishing them.  The rifles were battlefield pickups that were refinished and reworked by the Finns and set into new stocks (two-piece construction) that are finished with a sort of pine tar if I recall correctly.  Again, I've never heard of importers refinishing them.  I would not refinish a Finnish stock, maybe put on a coat or two of BLO if it's dry, but that's about it.  The Finns did a good job re-working those rifles as is, IMO.

Finn rifles came in as they came out of the arsenal, too.

As for stripping the stock. I used some sort of finish stripper (the orange stuff maybe?) on my M44 that had the shellack coming off wholesale. It worked pretty good, as I recall. I went over it lightly with some fine steel wool to help remove the old finish. No sanding was required or preformed. I then stained the stock to make it look as close to original as possible and protected it with BLO or Tung oil (cannot remember which) I made no attempt to repair dings or scratches.

It came out pretty well. I may eventually re-do it in a more correct finish, but this is my "beater" MN, so I may not, too.

Most any finish stripper will work on the shellac, its not all that durable.  I used whatever Lowe's had, I don't recall exactly what.  A light touch up with some steel wool and then a few coat of boiled linseed oil.  Came out nice.

I used the citris strip at Walmart. Worked extremely well. It doesn't burn your skin either. I bled the stock twice. I used a couple coarse sanding sponges to sand the stock since my buddy is the largest importer in the country. I get his seconds for free.



I wanted to leave the battle damage on my 1938 and 1939 91/30's. I just lightly sanded them until the color was fairly uniform, then I stained with minwax red mahogany, then several coats of BLO.

I soaked both of mine in rubbing alcohol after stripping to get all the grease and grime out. Let it dry, sand then stain.

That's quite a ziggurat you've got in your back yard?  What are you worshiping there, exactly, & how did you get your Mosins to stick to the wall?

Gig 'em,

backbencher

Its my back stairs...looking down.

Yes, yes, I knew that but as an Aggie I have a reputation to uphold.  You missed a shot to spin a yarn there, but I guess you're having too much fun making fireballs.

Gig 'em,

backbencher

Did you chop the barrel or is that just a m44?

It is a 91/30 chopped to 17" with a muzzle brake I designed and built.