Can I get some help refinishing my Mosin stock?

check out Youtube, there are several methods posted. below are just a few and you might find another that works better for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Uis6p31fE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhJaW7wF3kM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOhnr9AENLU&feature=related

I just bought a Moslin on Monday but I went with the aftermarket ATI for now. I have all the parts and may refinish the wood later. Right now I just want to shoot it. I think reblueing is going to be my first project, if that goes well I try my hand at refinishing the stock. here's a reblueing link if you are interested

http://www.surplusrifle.com/carbinenagant/reblue/pdf/reblueing.pdf

Don't have detailed pics of my mosin I refinished however it is real easy. Take the stock wood off including butt plate, hang the stock (I used a small screw and wire screwed into the area under the plate), go to walmart and buy furniture stripper and Nitril gloves. Spray the stock liberally and let sit for 10 minutes. Follow the instructions with stripping off remaining finish. Might have to spray,strip it twice. Use 0000 steel wool with the grain of the wood to get it ready for the new finish. I use Birchwood Casey Tru-oil though a lot of guys use Boiled Linseed oil (also in the walmart paint area). After applying the first coat and letting it dry for 24 hours, use steel wool (new piece) to buff the finish. Repeat with the tru-oil and process until desired results.
Here is a Baikal 12ga O/U I just finished cutting down (due to pitting) and refinishing.

If you prefer the more classic/arsenal look, you could try a couple of fairly easy techniques:

1. Stain - like sedona red - and oil (BLO or low gloss tung oil) after dry. Be conservative in the application of the stain so as to not make it too red.
2. Try orange or red shellac, as many originals were finished. I refinished two this way. The nice thing about shellac is that it dissolves in denatured alcohol. If your stock doesn't have many dings and you simply want a more even finish you can dissolve the old Shellac with denatured alcohol and refinish it with zero sanding. This will allow you to keep all of the stock markings intact and give you an original looking finish.
3. Some folks have said they put a touch of dye in clear shellac, when they couldn't find orange or red shellac

Again the second is my preferred option, but I'm more from the "less is more" "do no harm" school YMMV...

The Soviets did it the easy way, like described by wojownik.

Take the stock off the barreled action, used a varnish stripper (Denatured alcohol is labeled as such) from a can or spray on the varnish that was put on it for storage purposes. Follow the directions on the can and then get a rag and wipe the wood down down several times with Boiled Linseed oil,, then allow it to "sit" and then a few more wipes with a soaking time between and when it can absorb no more, reinstall the barreled action. Maybe a day or so in time at warm temps.

Please do not use sandpaper, you will be removing more than the finish.

That is what the Soviet soldier would have done at the same time as he removed the cosmoline that was put on to protect the metal............though the oil may have been different, its fairly easy and clean if you use rags and a catching bucket.

Easy and correct, with great results.Oil the wood ever few years to keep it nice, and enjoy it as its supossed to be.

This guy on a well known ammo penetration site has a good step by step on just that process. I don't want to mention the site but it starts with the box. Just be sure not to use a gloss finish. Ugh.

My Mosin 91/30 looks like it was "refinished" by a Russian soldier with a can of varnish, a dirty sock, and a bottle of vodka in one hand.

Personally, I strip rifle stocks with Dawn Power Dissolver to remove the old finish and oil/grease, sand lightly with 180-200 grit paper, then refinish with Fairtrimmer's Military oX, which is a mix of oils & solvents with a tad of pigment added. It's not really a "stain". Then I'll rub 'em down with a few coats of 100% Pure Tung Oil (NOT Tung Oil FINISH!) and wipe off the excess. After a few weeks of drying, I finish with a couple of coats of Tom's 1/3 Military Stock Wax, which is equal parts of either Tung Oil or BLO (can't remember which), turpentine, and pure beeswax. Good stuff.

Anyway, that's how I like to do 'em.

Greetings,

I had to chirp in on this post. Everyone has missed mentioning the cosmoline that is probably still in the stock. Cosmoline is a preservative that looks like brown petroleum jelly. It was used for long time storage of weapons. Any left in the stock when cause problems. It is often present even after stripping/sanding as it seeps into the pores of the wood. People have used a couple of different ways of getting rid of it. I was taught to put the stock in the oven and heat. I have done this on a few stocks. It will bubbly to the surface where it can be wiped off. It sometimes takes more than one time to get it done.

You can often get small dings out by steaming them. By putting a wet towel over the ding, you can heat it again with an iron. It raises the fibers of wood.
You can strip it using any stripper from the home improvement stores, etc. I have found the spray is easiest to use. I have tried the oven cleaner also from the dollar store. You get mixed results with it.

Sanding can be done easily a described above. You need to go with the grain and not use too course of a grit. Sandpaper & steel wool is graded by number, the higher the number, the finer the grit. Military OX recommends two hundred grit sandpaper if I remember correctly. If you use painters’ masking tape, often colored in blue or green, you can mask off any cartouches and sand around them easily. I know there is one on the rear butt stock.

I mixed tie-dye in a red champagne color with the Military OX for my stock. It turned out real well.

I’m sure others can provide any details that I may have missed or clarify.

There is NO reason to sand a perfectly good stock.

You will obliterate any makings and doing absolutely NOTHING to improve the stock.You can easily effect the metal to wood fit with too much sanding, not good.

If its broke and needs repair , or has damage that requires such attention, then saning has its place, but to simpley remove varnish , it is not a nessessary step. Removing coso is a good idea, but I only wipe mine away and I just dont shoot it hot enough to have it drip, but I live in a cool/cold/very cold and dry environment.
Hot country may have quite an effect on the cosmo in the stock, depends on the stock, and the climate.

Do not use an oil base stain on military stocks, a oil base stain will act like a sealer on the wood surface and prevent any type oil finish from penetrating into the wood. A water or alcohol base stain should be used to allow the raw linseed oil to penetrate deeply into the wood.

Only raw linseed oil was used on military stocks and modern BLO is a very poor substitute for the older actual boiled linseed oil or raw linseed oil. Real actual boiled linseed oil was used on parade ground pimped out rifles that needed to have a high gloss shine. (only raw linseed oil was used on combat weapons)

Only shellac was used on Russian and communist bloc weapons and I have never run across any that were done in linseed oil or tung oil.

The triple mix is made up of 1/3 "raw" linseed oil, 1/3 Beeswax and 1/3 turpentine. NO modern BLO should be used as the chemical driers add will cause the linseed oil to harden. This 1/3 mixture was also used by the woman of the house as furniture polish. During the American Civil War this same triple mix was used as cosmoline for weapons storage.

American and British military stocks were dipped in a tank of hot raw linseed oil and the oil was allowed to soak deeply into the wood. From 1943 till the end of the war American stocks could have also been dipped in a tank of hot tung oil but after the war raw linseed oil was the main oil used on all wooden stocked firearms.

I collect milsurp rifles and if your going to give out advice on refinishing a collectible military stock, then you need to do your homework before giving out the wrong advice.

Here are two of my favorite pieces of misinformation on collectible milsurp stocks.

Sand your stock. (remember to sand with the grain)



Put your stock in the dishwasher.



Below on the left is a Enfield stock finished in real boiled linseed oil, the real BLO was used because this rifle was accurized by an armourer and used in competition. The stock on the right is as issued and finished in raw linseed oil.



Nine months after the evacuation of Dunkirk the message below went out to all British military units on how to protect the Enfield rifles used in combat.






Before the war the British armourers during the yearly complete tear down inspections would place the stocks in a tank of hot raw linseed oil soaking over night. Because of the war all metal parts below the wood line were painted, linseed oil was issued to the troops and the rifles were torn down as necessary for repairs. (if it ain't broke don't fix it)

You are on the right track. Sanding without a block will create uneven wood as your fingers press into the softer areas. So always try to sand with a block. Start at maybe 120 and lightly go over it. Then onto 220 and the first coat of finish. Wipe all the dust off before you finish or add a coat.

If you want a dark stock, you'll need stain. Minwax will do, but there are stains that come in tung oil like TungSeal that will let you add color and finish as you wipe on - your choice. Once you have a dried stain - may take a few days - you can add a coat of TruOil and let that dry. From then on, it's light "dressing" with the steel wool and another light coat of Oil. It's never a good idea to add a lot. It's the layers that make it tough, not the tickness.

I usually get a smooth dull or semi-gloss finish (based on desired results) at around 10~15 coats. By then it's well sealed and tough enough. TruOil requires very little maintenance after finished. BLO will require a recoat each year or so.

The area behind the action, where the right hand holds the rifle is most likely disolored from use by the soldier who it was issued to. He used it, held it there, and sweat, oils, heat and pressure from his hands use discolors it.
The rifle has screwd in sling estucions, indicating it was a prewar stock, probly served In the Great Patriotic War well , survived and was put through arsenal refurbishment for WWIII and hence the cosmo and varnish.

The Soviets only put the Varnish on the stock for STORAGE purposes, just like the cosmo.
The Soviets would have stripped it and oiled it, fixxed bayonetts and shot it.

If there no damage to the wood, then theres no need for sanding.
............ but if you want damage to something thats not, then sand away as you can, and that 100$ rifle, after all that work will be worth much less , in both value and looks to anyone who values a a rifle in its issue condition.


Its yours, so hopefully all thats done to it will be improvements for you. You have the eye of the beholder.

Go to a site called The Box o Truth-Ammo Penetration testing. Go to the educational zone. Look at item #60, it is a safe, easy and realistic method for refinishing mosin and other stocks that were originally poorly finished. I have done three this way and it is the fastest and gives the most durable results. I happen to dislike hi-gloss finishes on rifles.

Follow wojownik's instructions on stain and BLO. Rub lots with the towels soaked in the BLO since the effort will pay off.

Click to expand...

Little warning, after you are done with those BLO soaked rags put them in a metal container with an air tight lid or in a container full of water. Or burn them. Whatever you do, don't just toss them in a pile in the corner. They can start making heat and burst into flames. Don't ask me how I know this.