Shellacking a Mosin

[morcey2]

I did a shellac over pine-tar finish on an M38 that was in really sad shape. Pine tar was a 50/50 mix of turpentine with tack shop pine tar, used on livestock Shellac was amber bullseye shellac from ACE hardware. Shellac over BLO or tung would work also. Heck, a good tung-oil finish would be really good also. A coat of paste wax over the shellac can enhance the protective powers of the shellac. It's not polyurethane but if it chips, it's trivial to repair it, unlike poly. I don't like poly finishes on any guns. It just doesn't feel right, especially on milsurps.

Matt

ETA: If the finish looks blotchy, that's the pine tar in the grain of the birch. That's how it's supposed to be.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

What I think I am going to do is give the gun a coat or two of BLO, and if that looks good, I will continue. If not, I will go for the shellac.

Also, roughly how much shellac flakes would I need for a finish?

 

[rondog]

I don't know, but judging from the looks of my 91/30's finish, if you want an authentic Russian finish you're gonna need some shellac that's been frozen a few times and some filthy nasty socks to apply it with. My M38 was even worse.

 

[OilyPablo]

I would just buy the spray can of shellac. Worked fine on my AK.