Finish on Finnish M91 Mosin Nagant ...

[M100C]

Hey All,
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

I recent picked up a Finnish captured Tula-made M91 dated 1896. It is nearly fully correct, but it has had a Russian (shellaced) handguard added. So, the finish on the Finnish stock is authentic, as is the arsenal refinished handguard, but they do not match.

Any tips for removing the shellac on the handguard and applying a reasonably good Finnish type finish to the handguard?

Chris

 

[LAGS]

I just use regular paint and epoxy remover like from Home depot
I like the Jasco brand, but others work just as well.
Re-finish the handguard with stain to match the stock, and seal it with Tongue Oil or Linseed Oil, or even Watco

 

[morcey2]

The shellac can be removed with denatured alcohol quite easily. As for the Finnish finish with which to finish the handguard, they were usually done with pine tar. Cut pine tar and turpentine 50/50. The original post in this thread describes the process quite well:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=85350

I use pine tar from a tack shop intended for horses et. al. and it works quite well.

Matt

 

[M100C]

Thanks so much for the tips and link to an excellent resource. I'll post back before and after pictures.