Refinish K31 or not?

[kentucky_smith]

Got my Aimsurplus k31 on Wednesday, walnut stocked 1944. Blueing is fair, on top the reciever is a splotch that looks like someone either started to attempt to reblue or not.

Stock is beat to hell. Along the top and bottom of the butt it looks like it was used as a hammer, the varnish looks horrible and even the handguard has cuts in it. After fieldstripping it and holding the walnut in my hands though, I can make out some beautiful grain and fiddleback

The dilemma. I'm pretty handy with woodwork, I just finished making a stock from a 2x6 for an old .22 that belonged to my grandpa and am feeling good about my wood-working skills. Should I sand this bad boy down and refinish it. I know the original finish was shellac, I was thinking a couple of coats of real tung oil and a top coat of TruOil, to bring out the nice walnut. It's gonna take a bit of sanding, but this thing is pretty thick anyway and could use some downsizing.

I don't want to bubbify it, I've got a clamp-on mount in the mail coming soon. It's not like I can't just leave it alone and shoot it as is, but I've got an urge.

I just want to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Course, I'm also thinking about making a seperate Alpine Sporter stock for it.

 

[lycanthrope]

Get both! One more for originality and rework the one you have.

If you only want the one, I wouldn't sweat reworking the wood. I think you plan sounds like a great idea.

 

[rust collector]

go for it

If you're like me, you like the fact that these guns have a little history behind them, but you also feel they deserve a little TLC. The owners re-arsenalled them from time to time or repaired stocks, etc when they became unserviceable. Why shouldn't you do the same?

The only caveat is to do your homework and do the job right. The world doesn't need another crude slash job on these old veterans. Keep the lines straight, don't shortcut the necessary finishing steps, and end up with something you can be proud of.

Some are tetchy about aggressive refurbishing of any old military gun, but the K31s now in the pipeline are not museum specimens. They are wonderful shooters that deserve to be used and enjoyed, in my estimation. Let us know how your project turns out.

 

[DMK]

Another option: You can get a replacement stock from Boyds. (Look for Schmidt Rubin)

 

[dolanp]

I stripped the original finish from mine, lightly sanded the stock, and reapplied amber shellac. I like it much better now. The dings and cartouche are still there mostly so it's still got it's 'history'. Color is just much more uniform and attractive.

I have the clamp-on mount w/ a 3-9x on it, very nice.

 

[san408]

I bought a walnut K31 from AIM and refinished it by going over it with sandpaper and then putting about 8 coats of Tung oil on it. I hadn't ever done anything like this before, but I'm happy with how it turned out. After Christmas I'm thinking about picking up a Birch to go with it.

 

[chrisTx]

i got the dirt and oil out of the stocks and put a fine coat of tung oil on it, but don't think i'd ever sand anything out. i like the dings and dents. if i wanted a nice pretty gun, i'd buy a new one.

 

[san408]

I didn't sand that much off. I was trying to get some of the old finish off, and I thought that woudl be the easiest way. Like I said, this is the first time I've ever tried anything like that. It still has plenty of "character".

 

[Sheldon]

I got a used Scunci steamer for $20 recently and started to try steaming a couple stocks I have, one of which is my K31. I sanded the stock down and steamed up a lot of the dents. The dirt seems pretty deep in the grain of that stock though. I tried to sand it down, but the stains just keep going. I have smoothed it up some, but don't want to sand it down till the stains are gone because I think it would change the dimension of the stock too much. I started to coat it with tung oil. It still looks dirty as hell!!!

 

[-C4-]

I got a used Scunci steamer for $20 recently and started to try steaming a couple stocks I have, one of which is my K31. I sanded the stock down and steamed up a lot of the dents. The dirt seems pretty deep in the grain of that stock though. I tried to sand it down, but the stains just keep going. I have smoothed it up some, but don't want to sand it down till the stains are gone because I think it would change the dimension of the stock too much. I started to coat it with tung oil. It still looks dirty as hell!!!

I haven't tried the steamer method, but I did use about a half a bottle of M-Pro 7 which took pretty much all of it off. Other methods I have heard of include the dishwasher, boiling it in water, soaking it in hot water with tide mixed in.

-C4-

 

[dolanp]

A lot of people say a good degreaser like Simple Green will take a lot of that stuff out.

 

[Azrael256]

Dionysusigma did a bit of an overhaul on mine. The steamer idea worked really well, and the vast majority of the dings in the wood swelled out. I don't know exactly what his refinishing process was, but I think it only involved sanding, some ordinary stain, and a bit of linseed oil. He also hit it with some fresh bluing, as the muzzle end of the barrel was almost in the white. He made it look a good bit better without removing all the nice character the rifle has. I recommend a similar approach. Don't redo it to make it a new rifle, but spiff it up a bit to make it look and feel better.