I've never seen such a clean bore as my K31's

[DMK]

I just picked up three K31s for cheap from Century Arms. One's a 1944, one a 1943 and one a 1934 with all the numbers matching. They were "cracked stock" specials, and are pretty beat up and used with really worn bluing, really dinged up stocks and a little surface rust here and there but none of the three has a crack that I can find.

But here's the amazing thing. All three have mirror bores. After pushing three patches wet with Hoppe's #9 through them and getting all the warehouse dust out of them, the patches came out clean as new. I've got a pretty sizable collection of surplus rifles, many off the bargain rack like these. I have never seen bores like these on a surplus rifle. I soaked the bores with Hoppe's and left them overnight. In the morning, there wasn't even any green or blue streaks! Heck even NIB guns have some copper fouling from test shots. Those Swiss must have been as fanatical about cleaning as benchrest competitors are.

I can't wait for my GP11 to get here so I can try these babies out.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

DMK - You are going to LOVE the K31. How cracked are the stocks? Any papers identifying original ownership under the buttplates?

Mine is so well machined that the empty brass spins in the air at exactly the same spot every time I eject a round. While shooting offhand, I can shoot into the 7-10 ring and then grab the spinning brass out of the air and put it into my jacket pocket.

The combination of my pre-WW2 rifle and GP11 ammo is scary accurate. The whole rifle is just plain old solid. Even the funky safety makes a lot of sense.

I certainly would NOT want to invade Switzerland.

 

[DMK]

DMK - You are going to LOVE the K31. How cracked are the stocks? Any papers identifying original ownership under the buttplates?

No cracks at all in the stocks, just lots of dings, scrapes, and gouges. They'll never look anywhere near new or unissued, but I think they will clean up fine. I know it upsets the purists, but I'm going to strip the finish on all three and rub in five or six coats of pure tung oil to preserve them. The metal I'll just clean with mineral spirits, steelwool the rust and oil/protect with FP-10. I just want to halt the decay of these fine rifles. They deserve better than to just rot away just because that's the condition I got them in. They certainly look like they are going to be nice shooters.

I just checked and the '43 and '44 both have tags. I hoped the '34 would since it's the only one that's all matching, but two out of three isn't bad.

I can't make heads or tails of the tag though. Nothing seems to match the tags they describe at Swissrifles.com

 

[Sheldon]

From what I have read, the Swiss have never used corrosive ammo on those rifles, so that would account for the great condition of the barrels. I got one recently too from Big 5 Sporting and the barrel is super nice too. I'm trying to refinish the stock now. I'm still debating whether to go with tung oil or amber shellac.

 

[Ivy Mike]

If I might make a suggestion regarding the finish on a stock.

After stripping off the old coat, instead of rubbing in oil or applying a stiff shellac, consider polyurethane.

Now, polyurethane won't give you the depth and grain of oil nor the shine of shellac. What it will give you is a natural (glossy if you choose) look to the wood as well as a tough exterior coat that resists water, dust, UV.

The other nice thing is that polyurethane is easily removed should you decide to refinish later and do something nicer.

I did it with a Mosin-Nagant. The birch they use is really nice and doesn't deserve that nasty reddish varnish they slather the wood with.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

If I might make a suggestion regarding the finish on a stock.

After stripping off the old coat, instead of rubbing in oil or applying a stiff shellac, consider polyurethane.

Now, polyurethane won't give you the depth and grain of oil nor the shine of shellac. What it will give you is a natural (glossy if you choose) look to the wood as well as a tough exterior coat that resists water, dust, UV.

The other nice thing is that polyurethane is easily removed should you decide to refinish later and do something nicer.

I did it with a Mosin-Nagant. The birch they use is really nice and doesn't deserve that nasty reddish varnish they slather the wood with.

Would you mind posting a picture of your MN?

 

[rust collector]

Easy to take off polyurethane? That's always been my big problem with it: it wasn't readily strippable (and there was that gloss issue, too). I know we can kill the gloss or use matte versions, but when did it become easily removable?

It's always looked way too synthetic to me, but maybe there's a kinder, gentler PU I should know about. It does protect better than oils and varnishes, so maybe I should try it on a truck gun. What type and brand is your preference?

 

[DMK]

If I might make a suggestion regarding the finish on a stock.After stripping off the old coat, instead of rubbing in oil or applying a stiff shellac, consider polyurethane.

I like polyeurothane for a lot of things, but I just can't get bring myself to coat a graceful old piece of wood with plastic.

Actually, I love real tung oil (real tung oil, not Minwax or Formsbys "Tung Finish" which is varnish with a little tung in it). It requires a lot of patience because it requires 24 hours to polymerize and you really need to put 6 or more coats on so you're looking at a whole week of just rubbing oil in your stock, but it creates such a nice waxy satin finish. It's probably just as water resistant as poly, but softer, more pliant and more can easily be wiped in as maintenence later(it's even good for the metal). I think real tung oil is the perfect finish for a "beater" or just a beat up stock.


These rifles were all refinished with real tung oil:
(except the one in the fiberglass stock obviously )

 

[Oldnamvet]

I find that a mixture of boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits, and varnish gives a very nice warm looking finish without the glassy look of varnish alone. I use equal volumes of the three ingredients and wipe on a thin coat with a rag. (discard the used rags in a can with water to avoid the chance of spontaneous combustion) After drying (usually the next day), I put on a second, third, etc. until you are happy with the finish. I usually put on 6 coats. Takes a while and is not a real "hard" finish so it will flex somewhat. If you get a ding in the stock, the finish doesn't chip off.

 

[brentwal]

I'm with DMK on the polyurethanes, if our stocks have "cracked stocks" look into realmilkpaint.coms dark tung oil.

 

[dasmi]

Nice find!
I bought a mosin-nagant M44 at Big-5 a few months ago, with the same sort of bore condition. I'm not even sure it was fired before I got it.

 

[JJohnston015]

DMK, what are those marks on the side of the MN (above the magazine)? It looks like an octopus got his suction cups on it.

 

[DMK]

DMK, what are those marks on the side of the MN (above the magazine)? It looks like an octopus got his suction cups on it.

They are wood repairs. I believe the Finns did that when stock was cracked or had some kind of flaw in it.

 

[jbweld]

They are wood repairs. I believe the Finns did that when stock was cracked or had some kind of flaw in it.

Yup, the plugs are where knots were. You see it alot on M39's .. The knots must make the stock weak.

 

[WHITEY338]

Stock finishing

As I have been a painter for the last 12 years, I would strongly advise against the water-based polyurethane for a rifles finish. It simply doesn't have the resilience or even the look of solvent based finishes, my opinion is that it looks cheap. My top recommendation for anyone is as DMK stated, real tung oil plain and simple. As for plastic finishes, if you have access to spray equipment, use pre-catalyzed self-sealing lacquers. Otherwise if you use non catalyzed lacquers water and/or any moisture will make the lacquer blister and flake. The only other finish I would consider suitable for a gun stock would be conversion varnish. It is a 2 part finish and not for the beginner however it is the toughest clear wood finish I know of. It is around 40 dollars a gallon kit at your local Benjamin Moore retailer. As far as stains go, the only one I have anything good to say about is the water based dye stains from Lockwood in New York. They have any color you want and the color is easily adjustable. It comes in powder form and you add water, for stock I like the color range that 1 oz. per one half gallon gives you. But that's me.

 

[cracked butt]

Polyurethane on a rifle stock? HERESY

Polyurethane is a finish that once its scratched cannot be touched up. Shellac, BLO, Tung oil, and even Tru-0il can be touched up or easily repaired.

For K-31s, use a 50/50 mix of Zinsser orange shellac mixed with BLO, it doesn't mix well, more of an emulsion, but the oil helps lubricate the application of the shellac to get a nice even coverage. Finish it off with 'Howards Feed and Wax'