Refinished stock, now what?

S

Starsfan

New member
Hi all,

I just refinished the wood on my MAK-90. I couldn't stand looking at the old ugly yellow varnish that was on it any longer.

I used Red Mahogany, and it turned out dark and beautiful like an M-1 Carbine stock. I bought some Min-Wax spar urethane outdoor lacquer for it, but I'm having second thoughts. Wouldn't it be better to apply a coat of oil instead to prevent the wood from cracking? What do you guys use, or think would be best for me to try? My buddy uses virgin olive oil on his stocks! I love shooting his Garand and Carbine, but when I do, I get hungry for pizza. :)

Any ideas? Thanks for your time!
 
i just applyed a clear coat(about 10) on mine after sanding off that yellow stain they use.its very light and looks very good.
 
Stars.....
Rub in a couple coats of minwax Tung Oil...DON'T LET IT DRY and wipe it off withing about 5 minutes. Then repeat fot a rich, low luster finish.

Good Luck

Karsten
 
Karsten,

Do they sell that Tung oil at Wally-
World? I saw a lot of wood finishing products, but I don't remember seeing any of that.

*starsfan*
 
If you have the energy, try simple boiled linsead oil......couple
of coats.....rub in well and let dry for a few days between coats.....
dark satan finish...kinda like Win M70's of yesturdays..............
Dan
 
Last edited:
I strongly suggest that olive oil is not suitable for wood.
There are too many finishes available to suggest them all. I'd just pick one and give it a try.
There's nothing wrong with using the spar urethane, it's give a good looking, durable finish.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I've read a lot of posts about which oil is best for a stocks finish. I've never refinished a stock before, so I wanted to find out what works best. Some suggestions have been linseed oil, Kroil oil, Tung oil, Pledge furniture polish (?), in other words, there's a lot of stuff out there that would probably work. I just want the stock to be protected from moisture, and the wood protected from drying out.

I appreciate the ideas.

Does anyone know what the military used on the Garand and Carbine stocks?
 
Star...Olive oil is for cooking...like Basil, Scallions and mint....not of wood.
Home Depot, Lowe's or what ever...Send me the darn stock and I will make it nice.

Karsten
 
Gewehr98,

That is one mighty nice rifle in that photo. :) Is it an '03 Springfield? The stock looks fantastic! I also went with the MinWax Red Mahogany stain. Mine didn't turn out as nice as yours though. It's that darned Chinese wood!

I decided to go with the Tung oil. I bought some at Wally-World today after work. I rubbed in a couple of coats, and it's looking pretty good. Thanks to all who replied. I appreciate the help!

Safe shootin' to ya'.

Stars
 
When I got my Russian M-44 Carbine, it had an orangish, sticky, scratched and scabbed-up finish on the stock and was, of course, inundated in cosmoline. The exposed metal was almost completely silver-colored from having the bluing worn off. I used Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber on the grease, and some lacquer thinner when I ran out of that. I totally disassembled the gun and cleaned all the parts. On the stock, I used stripper, sanded, then used minwax natural stain. For a final coat, I used clear gloss polyurethane. This procedure made my M-44 carbine really look great. I also reblued all the metal with Birchwood Casey blue. I was absolutely amazed at how good the blue job looked for just using something out of a bottle.

[Dan, that Dark Satan finish? Sounds kinda scary to me . ...:eek: :D ]

-10CFR
 
As horrible as it is, If you used Minwax Red Mahogany, you really can't use a lot of finishes. That particular stain is pretty much limited to their fast-dry polyurothane. Anything else will generally cause the stain to thin out of the wood. I tried some linseed oil over it, and ended up having to completely restain a table and coat it with urothane. Their other stains don't have this problem.
 
Humm, I have redone 2 other walnut stocks and a Birch M14 stock and used Minwax stain and Mini Wax tung oil with out a problem.

58447_M1Ascp.jpg




Karsten
 
Last edited:
MinWax Red Mahogany is fussy...

You can only apply it, then wipe off the excess shortly afterwards, rubbing hard with a clean cotton rag. Otherwise, it will indeed bleed out into the linseed or tung oil finish as you apply it. I found out the hard way earlier with a 1905 Remington Model 8 that I restored. So when it was time to do the wood on that Springfield 1903A4 restoration pictured above, I was well prepared, and it wasn't a problem with the 20 hand-rubbed coats of boiled linseed oil over the MinWax stain.
 
***I have to repost this below***
***I messed up the attachment trying to change it***

. . .DANG ..:mad:
 
Last edited:
10CFR,

Nice. Very nice. I've seen a lot of those M-44's for sale at the gun shows.
Are they pretty good shooters? What caliber are they?

Stars
 
Here goes again. Here is the M44 refinish & reblue job I did. Any comments appreciated. Starsfan, thanks for the compliment. These little rifles are 7.62x54R. They are not tack-drivers, but I mine shoots plenty well enough for a home-defense or fun gun. They shoot better with the bayonet extended. That is the way they were meant to be used. Also, unlike the FR-8's, I haven't heard any horror stories about any Nagants blowing up. I guess the Polish ones are considered the best. I like the Chinese Type 53 too (the same gun made in China under Russian supervision). B-Square makes a scout type scope mount for these (it puts the scope a little high for my liking).
 

Attachments

  • m44 refinish.jpg
    m44 refinish.jpg
    96 KB · Views: 103
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top