sixgunner455
Member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2006
- Messages
- 3,052
Love my K31. Love it. Comfortable to shoot, and accurate. What's not to like?
Which Swiss rifle?
- Thread starter Girodin
- Start date
- Status
madcratebuilder
Member
Very well done sir. You still have a clean cartouche mark and the edges are nice and sharp, and it's not to shinny! I've finally found a beech stocked rifle I'm going to strip, lightly sand and refinish. I hope my hand does not burst into flame when I pick up the sand paperI'm no expert but I do have a K31 that is really interesting and fun to shoot. I just refinished mine recently. Refinishing might upset some of the purists but it feels much better and looks much better IMO.
Some photos:
Before...
After...
I have not always said kind words about sanding a mil-surp.Tim the student
Member
What kind of primer is on GP11? Boxer or Berdan?
How does other stuff (boxer primed) stack up to it?
How does other stuff (boxer primed) stack up to it?
It's Berdan primed. For issue ammo it is probably the finest the world has seen. Time has robbed me of the chance to compare it to some LC 67 match 30-06 I used to shoot, but the LC out of a Winchester 70 featherweight, was comparable to the GP-11 accuracy wise, out of my 1911 and K-31
deadeye1122
Member
Dentite,NICE refinish on your K-31. Any tips to the process? Steam and sand/scuff pad,what kind of finish/sealer? how to save any marks on your stock. How long it took? I"m undecided on what to do on my K-31. thx deadeye
Tim the student
Member
Thanks Jkingrph.
Madcratebuilder and deadeye1122:
Thanks for the nice words. I tried to keep it looking "military" while making it much nicer to hold and to look at.
Yes...steamed out what dents I could, then started with sanding...trying to balance removing dents while not changing the lines, etc. Started with 150 finished with 220.
I definitely wanted to keep the cartouche...in fact when buying the rifle I had two in hand and the deciding factor on which one I bought was the one with the deeper cartouche because I knew I would likely refinish it and the deeper one would give me more wood to work with.
Stained with simple Minwax "special walnut" stain and then finished with Minwax "Tung Oil Finish". It's not a true tung oil...it has some dryers and likely some polyurethane like substance in it.
Apply the finish with a foam brush, let sit a few minutes and then buff it off (like waxing a car you will remove much of the applied finish). After the first coat has dryed overnight I reapply fresh finish then use 400 wet/dry sandpaper and wetsand the stock using the freshly appllied finish as a lubricant. Then buff it off and let it dry. Repeat a few times. You end up with a matte finish but it's very smooth to the touch.
I'm no expert but this works for me.
Also this is a totally random tip but to make a platform I found that the two holes in the stock under the buttplate (not the screw holes, but two larger non-threaded holes) were about the right size for some 7.62x25 brass to fit in the holes snug. I took a piece of plywood, drilled out the primers in the brass and screwed the brass to the wood sticking up spaced so that the holes in the stock would slide over the brass and it would be snug enough the stock would stand up for drying. Better than hanging and less chance for messing up the finish.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the nice words. I tried to keep it looking "military" while making it much nicer to hold and to look at.
Yes...steamed out what dents I could, then started with sanding...trying to balance removing dents while not changing the lines, etc. Started with 150 finished with 220.
I definitely wanted to keep the cartouche...in fact when buying the rifle I had two in hand and the deciding factor on which one I bought was the one with the deeper cartouche because I knew I would likely refinish it and the deeper one would give me more wood to work with.
Stained with simple Minwax "special walnut" stain and then finished with Minwax "Tung Oil Finish". It's not a true tung oil...it has some dryers and likely some polyurethane like substance in it.
Apply the finish with a foam brush, let sit a few minutes and then buff it off (like waxing a car you will remove much of the applied finish). After the first coat has dryed overnight I reapply fresh finish then use 400 wet/dry sandpaper and wetsand the stock using the freshly appllied finish as a lubricant. Then buff it off and let it dry. Repeat a few times. You end up with a matte finish but it's very smooth to the touch.
I'm no expert but this works for me.
Also this is a totally random tip but to make a platform I found that the two holes in the stock under the buttplate (not the screw holes, but two larger non-threaded holes) were about the right size for some 7.62x25 brass to fit in the holes snug. I took a piece of plywood, drilled out the primers in the brass and screwed the brass to the wood sticking up spaced so that the holes in the stock would slide over the brass and it would be snug enough the stock would stand up for drying. Better than hanging and less chance for messing up the finish.
Hope that helps.
- Status
