Stripping the Stock ?

[hylander7]

I just got a 39 Tula 91/30

How do you get that hard shell Laquer Crap of the stock to refinish it .

I just did one of my other's with Mineral spirit's and 150 wet/dry.

Not that good a job .

How do I do it correctly, I want a nice stock when I'm finished.

[911rat]

I used Ready Strip by "Back to Nature Products" on my M44. The spray on stripper I used had no detectable odor and worked very well. It's supposed to be safer than other strippers. I also tried their "wash" and it left the stock very clean.

 

I now have most of the oil removed from the stock also. After washing it, I rubbed it down with mineral spirits several times. Convinced it wasn't working well enough but removing a lot of the oil, I put it in a padded vice and went over it with a heat gun wiping off the oil as it bubbled up being careful not to singe the wood. Afterward I washed it with hot water and dish soap. It looks dry now, but I'm letting it set for a few days before I wash it again. I'll do my sanding when it's dry at that point.

[Emul8]

I have a Romanian Mosin-Nagant M44 that, when acquired, appeared to be unfired and was in excellent condition, except for the stock. That heavy lacquer or varnish, whatever it was was chunked off all over the stock, or was triple-thick in other places, so I decided to get it all off and refinish the stock more suitably. Now, mind you, the wood of the stock was hardly anything wonderful to begin with...there was no beautiful graining or quality, but that poor little carbine just looked pathetic in a chipped-up stock.

 

The method I used to strip the stock was very time-consuming and labor-intensive...I scraped the original finish off with a dull single-edged razor blade in one of those scraper tools. In the recesses of the forend I used a brass utility brush to carefully remove the finish that the blade couldn't get. Now, I did it this way because I was a complete newbie to the art of stock (re)finishing, so I had the time/inclination to ease my way through the process. The hardest part of scraping off a finish is trying to determine where to start in case you get heavy-handed with the scraper and mar the wood...I was fortunate in that I didn't do any damage. But, once the finish coat is "broken" by the scraper, it seems to flake off pretty easily.

 

The best part is that the stock was somewhat burnished by my fairly gentle touch with the scraper, and there wasn't any oil in the wood that I could find, but I did scrub the stock down with a solution of Purple Power, got some "whiskers", and smoothed those away with fine sandpaper to get a good, clean surface for a little custom stain and a few coats of Tru-Oil.

 

The gun has been out on quite a few range trips in a variety of temperatures, though none remotely around freezing. The finish has held up spectacularly, much better than I deserve with my slip-shod approach.

 

If I get a chance I will try to get some pictures of it and post them.

[RGRWJB]

To replace that finish use good ole varnish. It is very close to the original.

[FC]

I sand it off and start all over. It's not a valuable rifle, so no loss really, and if you are a decent refinisher it looks better, that's for sure.

[Emul8]

Yeah, on my Romanian M44, the wood was nothing to write home about, but the stock did look a bazillion times better after I finished it...and that was when I was a complete dummy about such things!

 

I didn't want to sand the finish off my very first stock refinishing project as I was hoping to get a smoother finish out of the wood...my mistake, if you want to call it that, was in washing the stock off to get the flakes and crusties off...it raised "whiskers" and I had to sand a bit anyway...still, the experience was valuable!

 

If I refinish any more M44s, I will probably do something similar, only without getting the stock wet with water-based solutions. I really like the effect of burnishing to smooth the wood.

 

 

[Grey Ghost]

[attachmentid=30]

 

My stock was covered with shellac, which seems to flake off every time the rifle is disassembled. I decided to remove the shellac. This was done by removing all the metal parts that can be removed. And a can of Easy Off Oven Cleaner. Very simple and works excellent.

 

 

Follow these steps:

1. Find a shaded area outside.

2. Use something to set the stock on.

3. Spray a nice thick coat of oven cleaner on all the wood.

4. Wait about 15 mins and then hose off with water. Garden hose with some sort of spray nozzle works great. You can see all the old finish rinsing away. You might need to do steps 3 and 4 several times.

5. Be sure you rinse all the oven cleaner off.

6. Allow the stock to dry over night.

7. Now very lightly sand, I used 180 grit. Then followed with fine steel wool.

8. Blow off all the dust.

9. I used Orange oil. After about 5 coats you will notice a beautiful stock color appearing. Be sure to coat the inside also.

[thejim2116]

I just got a 39 Tula 91/30

How do you get that hard shell Laquer Crap of the stock to refinish it .

I just did one of my other's with Mineral spirit's and 150 wet/dry.

Not that good a job .

How do I do it correctly, I want a nice stock when I'm finished.

use some striper

[Guest ricrenz]

I just got a 39 Tula 91/30

How do you get that hard shell Laquer Crap of the stock to refinish it .

I just did one of my other's with Mineral spirit's and 150 wet/dry.

Not that good a job .

How do I do it correctly, I want a nice stock when I'm finished.

 

Here's how to strip old Ruskie shellac: Go to your local hardware depot and get a gallon of denatured alcohol and some rubber gloves. Find something long enough, like a wallpaper tray, to hold your stock. Pour the alcohol liberally (just like the liberals spend our tax money) over the stock and start rubbing it with #0000 steel wool pads until the old finish lifts off. You'll need to do this several times. Then wash the stock with clean alcohol soaked cloths (old tee shirt) or a lot of paper towels. Rub the stock down now with mineral spirits to lift any oil or grease and then go over it again with acetone to lift the residue from the spirits. Do not! Do not! Do not! use sandpaper on the bare stock wood or you will destroy all the historical cartouches. If you must clean some stubborn areas, use the #0000 steel wool lightly.

To refinish, get some Bullseye or Zinser 3lb cut ORANGE shellac and and cut it with 3 parts alcohol to 1 part shellac. This will give you a 1lb cut. For the first coat, take some of the 1 lb and dilute it about 60/40 alcohol to shellac and then with a clean, NATURAL bristle 2" brush, apply a wash coat of shellac and use the steel wool to smooth when completely dry. Then start applying the 1lb cut in smooth layers and build up coats smoothing with the wool between coats. Always move the brush in ONE direction only when using shellac. Your stock will now gleam!!

 

 

[Guest Guest]

 

Here's how to strip old Ruskie shellac: Go to your local hardware depot and get a gallon of denatured alcohol and some rubber gloves. Find something long enough, like a wallpaper tray, to hold your stock. Pour the alcohol liberally (just like the liberals spend our tax money) over the stock and start rubbing it with #0000 steel wool pads until the old finish lifts off. You'll need to do this several times. Then wash the stock with clean alcohol soaked cloths (old tee shirt) or a lot of paper towels. Rub the stock down now with mineral spirits to lift any oil or grease and then go over it again with acetone to lift the residue from the spirits. Do not! Do not! Do not! use sandpaper on the bare stock wood or you will destroy all the historical cartouches. If you must clean some stubborn areas, use the #0000 steel wool lightly.

To refinish, get some Bullseye or Zinser 3lb cut ORANGE shellac and and cut it with 3 parts alcohol to 1 part shellac. This will give you a 1lb cut. For the first coat, take some of the 1 lb and dilute it about 60/40 alcohol to shellac and then with a clean, NATURAL bristle 2" brush, apply a wash coat of shellac and use the steel wool to smooth when completely dry. Then start applying the 1lb cut in smooth layers and build up coats smoothing with the wool between coats. Always move the brush in ONE direction only when using shellac. Your stock will now gleam!!

P.S.

Someone above said to finish the inside of the stock too. Do not finish the inside! Leave it as is. If you finish the inside, any moisture between the finish and the barrel will stick to the shellac when the barrel gets hot from shooting and will glue the barrel to the stock and you won't be able to disassemble it without damaging the wood.

[48mauser]

Shellac is thinned with alcohol so you should be able to cut it with alcohol. Something that should work at least as well and is much cheaper is ammonia. Washing with steel wool and ammonia should easily remove it. Ammonia will also wash the nonpolyuretane varnishes off as well. Be sure to do it outside as the fumes are hard on your lungs. (i'm a painter by trade though I've never played one in a movie). Good luck and let me know how it works for you, Paul P.

[Critter183]

I would never refinish anything that I wanted to keep for histpric or collector value. That said, when I do refinish something, I start with my old boatswain's knife, holding the blade perpendicular to the wood and lightly scrape off the heavy stuff.

 

I don't like using WMDs or chemical weapons on wood, so once I have the heaviest of the varnish off the wood, I start with 100 grit sandpaper to take all the color and remaining varnish off. Then I step to 150 grit, then 220 grit and finally some steel wool to get it nice and slick.

 

I apply whatever stain I am using and then 4 or 5 coats of Birchwood Casey Tru Oil, with a good steel wooling with 00 steel wool, between coats.

 

Here's a Romanian M69 done that way:

 

 

The pictures suck but the finish is sweet!