Refinish question: staining surplus Bulgarian AK-74 stock

[Armchair Bronco]

I'm planning to buy an Arsenal SGL-31 AK-74. While I'm saving my money, I want to get started with a stock refinishing project for the AK-74.

I just bought a $25 surplus Bulgarian wood stock from Apex Gun Parts. It looks just like the one pictured below:

The stock is much lighter in color than the handguards. I'd like to refinish all 3 wood pieces in a Combloc Red finish, like this from Innovation Arms:

Is this doable given the lighter stock? If so, what are some tips? Is the stock beech, birch, or something else? Thanks.

 

[dfariswheel]

The Bulgarian stock is beech or birch and has a yellow-white color.
The lower handguard is some sort of European walnut and has a darker walnut color.
The upper handguard is laminated wood, probably birch or beech.

Getting a perfect match on all three is difficult due to the natural color of the woods used.
The finish is some sort of varnish-like surface finish mixed with a Tan-Brown stain.
Once the finish is off you have the natural color of the wood, with possibly some darkening due to oil soaking.

The hand guard and stock will come out pretty much the same color, with the lower handguard a little darker.
You can balance this out by staining the lower handguard a little lighter by thinning the stain you use.

One of the best stains for this is Tandy Eco-Flo leather dye. This is a water based dye that can be thinned with alcohol to give a lighter tint.
These dyes work better than most anything because they soak in instantly and give true colors.
Buy the Eco-Flow, NOT the Eco-Flo Cova. The Cova is more a paint for leather.

I refinished my Bulgarian hand guards with Tandy Cordovan dye, which is a Red-Brown color and finished with satin gloss polyurethane.
The butt stock is an Ironwood Designs laminated, but I also finished the Bulgarian original the same way. The match was very close.
I just very lightly thinned the full strength dye for the lower and used it full strength on the stock and upper handguard.

I do recommend experimenting on scrap wood to get the colors right.
A 5 gallon paint stir stick makes a great test strip since it's a light wood and paint stores usually give them away.
If you don't like the color of Cordovan and want a more orange look, buy Red and Yellow or Orange and mix your own.
Remember, real Russian wood color ranges from light dirty Orange, to a Red-Orange, to a Red-Brown.
Real Russian wood is not Red

Here's a site with pictures of real Russian wood:

http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/bstakwood.html

My upper and lower Bulgarian hand guards. Remember pictures usually make the color look redder than it is. .

My Ironwood Designs laminated stock:

 

[Armchair Bronco]

Wow, thanks for the detailed response. I really appreciate it.

I don't mind if the furniture looks like a mix-n-match fiesta. My goal is to have as many different Combloc parts on the gun as possible. Here's what I'm planning so far:

• AK-74 : Arsenal SGL-31, so I'm starting with a Russian gun with some US parts & a US barrel for 922r compliance
• Furniture : used Bulgarian furniture with mismatched wood as noted above
• Swivel : Romanian
• Swivel screws & Tang Screws : East German
• Pistol Grip : East German
• Muzzle Brake / Flash Hider : Chrome-lined East German Zig Zap muzzle
• Sling : Polish
• Magazines : Bulgarian (and probably others)

For the furniture, I'll be trying for a darker red stain across all three pieces, but I know in advance that it'll be tough to get a consistent shade and finish. That's not a problem.

 

[Armchair Bronco]

Here is a finish option from Innovation Arms called "Iodine Orange". On another site, someone suggested soaking the stock in iodine for a few days to add some character to the stock. I'm tempted to give this a try.