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Posted: 1/3/2008 9:36:54 AM EDT
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So I bought this Yugo SKS at a gun show about three years ago for $165. I wiped off about 85% of the cosmoline and put it in the safe until yesterday when I decided to clean the remander of the grease off and refinish the stock. Here are a couple of before pictures: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/SKSBefore.jpg http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/BoltCarrierBefore.jpg As you can see, the rifle was in fairly good condition prior to my amatuer hack job. There were a few nicks in the wood but overall the stock was in good shape. There was also some minor pitting on the bolt carrier. So I did some reading on wood finishing and dove in. Below is a picture of the stock after I stripped it and scrubbed it. I used a standard, aerosol, chemical based stripper from the hardware store to get the cosmoline out and then I scrubbed the wood with a green scratch pad in some good old fashioned hot soapy water. (and yes, I gave up on that stupid pin so the top handguard stays on the gas tube for the entire project) http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/PostStrip.jpg Next step was pressing it. I used a damp wash cloth and a hot iron to lift some of the nicks out of the wood. Then I let the stock dry out (helped it a little with the hair dryer). Sorry, but I didn't take pics for the pressing. I taped up the metal on the gas tube prior to sanding: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/PreSand.jpg Then I sanded the stock until it was smooth. Started with a medium steel wool and then stepped down to some 400 grit sand paper. I don't know if I should have gone finer with the sand paper but it felt pretty smooth afterwards. Here's the wood after sanding: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/PostSand.jpg Then I wiped the dust off with a damp sponge and let the wood dry once again. Once it was dry I applied a gel stain (I think its Minwax brand) by simply following the instructions on the can. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/ApplyStain.jpg While the stain was drying overnight I turned my attention to the metal parts that still had cosmoline issues. I threw all of the small pieces (everything but the reciever group) into a tupperware bin filled with some more good old hot soapy water and scrubbed them with a toothbrush. Afterwards, I dried them and applied a light coat of oil. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/WashParts.jpg I didn't really have a plan for the pitting on the bolt carrier until I remembered that steel wool that I used on the stock. I scrubbed at the carrier with the steel wool in front of the TV until I got tired of it. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/ScrubCarrier.jpg The result is good enough for me until I can find a better way to polish it up: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/CarrierAfter.jpg I woke up this morning and checked out how the stain dried on the stock. It looks alright and now I am trying to decide if I want to go darker with another coat or if I want to put the clear coat on and call it a day. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/AfterStain.jpg So there is the progress so far. Let me know if I am doing something completely wrong or if you have questions. My next step after I put on either the second coat or the clear coat is to throw that reciever group in the bathtub and start scrubbing. |
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Ok, so I decided that darker would look better. As per the instructions on the can, I lightly sanded and applied a light second coat. Here's what it looks like wet. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/Wet2ndCoat.jpg We will see how it looks at 9:30 tonight when it is dry. |
I've got 2 unissued Yugo's on layaway at my local funshop....i'll be wanting to refinish the stocks on them when I get them. 
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According to the instructions on the Minwax can, I have to wait another 24 hours before I start to apply the clear coat. So this will be the last update for today. While the 2nd coat of stain was drying earlier, I scrubbed the remainder of the cosmoline off of the receiver group in the bathtub (hot soapy water again). After drying it, I applied a light coat of oil. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/WashReciever.jpg |
$270 per rifle  , but hey, they are in near perfect condition. I inspected both of them and the only blemish I could find were a couple of dings in the stocks from storage/handling and a couple of very minor scratches on the top cover and magazine.(from storage & handling) They also have a metric ton of cosmo on them.I should have them paid off by the end of the month. |
| I had to use some quick google-foo to figure out what in the world you were talking about with the "cartouches"hehttp://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/Marking.jpg |
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Everything is dry and reassembled now. Here are some after pictures. One with the wife: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/SKSAfter.jpg And one with its older brother the M48: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/armyoftruex/Yugos.jpg The Yugo M48 was a gift from my father in law on the day that I married his daughter. He bought it for cheap and refinished it into what you see pictured above. So to recap... I started with almost no experience in wood finishing, spent around 20 bucks and a few hours of my vacation and came out with a halfway decent looking rifle (if I don't say so myself). If I had this to do over again I would probably go with a wax instead of a polyuerethane finish on top of the stain. I have seen some good looking rifles that are shined with nothing more than floor wax (that M48 in the picture being one of them). |
That looks pretty good. Did all that ammo come with it? Have fun with it. I'm sure it won't let you down. |
My Yugo shoots great. I took it out last weekend and had a blast. I was shooting pop cans at about 110 meters with no problem. I used to shoot my step dads Russian sks when I was a kid and I had forgotten how fun these things are. There is very little felt recoil because of the weight. It really is a treat to shoot it.
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