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Refinished 91/30
Ok, this is my 1943 Izhevsk Arsenal Mosin Nagant 91/30 with my refinished stock. <$30 and about 5 days at around 30 minutes per day total time, preserving cartouches/markings/stamps.
Large, zoomable image Large, zoomable darker image Refinishing steps I took (In other words, what I felt like doing after reading several reputable refinishing guides): 1) Stripped the stock of shelac using denatured alcohol. Using #0000 steel wool, rubber gloves, and a can of denatured alcohol i got at Lowe's I heavily saturated the steel wool pad (until it was pouring through it) and started rubbing all wood surfaces that have shelac. It slowly vaporized and rinsed off. THe steel wool rubbing the wood also pulls out any residual oil, dirt and even cosmoline. 2) The next day I removed any dust or lint or whatever dried on the surface by lightly rubbing more steel wool (#0000) over the entire surface, then using a lint free towel to wipe any remaining surface residue off. Having picked Minwax "cherry" colored stain, a simple foam brush (can use normal paint brush probably), and gloves I shook the can to mix the stain, then applied a generous coat to the wood stock surface. NO big deal...took an entire 5 minutes to make sure it was even and generous without any dripping or running. I let it dry 24 hours. **If you decide NOT to stain the wood (most the wood used on these rifles is beautiful as is), maybe sand with a 400 or 600 grit paper and then steel wool before going to step 4** 3) RUb with steel wool again to get any built up stain deposits or raised wood "hairs" out. Once smoothed with steel wool, wipe down again with lint free towel and apply another coat of stain. Repeat this step until desired color is obtained. THe stain can says it takes a good 15 minutes after staining to see the final color. 4) After desired stain is in, now you can seal it up and make it shiney! I used Formby's Tung Oil (low gloss). With rubber gloves on and some blue shop paper towels, I soaked a section of towel and did about 12" of one side of the stock at a time rubbing it in good until it wasn't slick anymore. I rubbed the oil in vigorously so as to create some heat (since i didn't like using my bare hands initially) which makes it penetrate better. I went from butt to muzzle and finished this part in about 10 or 15 minutes. Let sit for 24 hours. 5) Rub down with steel wool before adding more coats, continue until desired amount of coats is reached. Applying additional coats of oil makes it thicker, shinier, and more water resistant. I only applied 4 coats of oil on top of 2 coats of stain but I've read of psychos putting as many as 7 coats of each on..and that's way too much rubbing for me and probably no more water resistance than 2 coats of oil...though I'm sure it was a smoother finish. ANd since my rifle is carefully stored and babied at home, and only used at the range to shoot paper in favorable weather conditions, I don't even need water resistance. As you can see in the pictures, it's not much different than the original shelac'd finish. THe shelac'd finish didn't bring out the grain nearly as good and looked like it was plastic more than wood. |
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