How to remove Mosin-Nagant stock finish

[Junior1942]

What's the easy way to remove the shiny varnish-like finish on a Mosin-Nagant M44's stock? I don't like the shine, so I want to remove it and give it a dull/matte oil finish.

PS: A redneck trigger block safety like this one is $100 each. Cheap.

Here it is:

http://www.castbullet.com/makeit/photos/rr06t.jpg

[Pigslayer]

I sat at my desk one night with a sharp pocket knife in one hand & a Mosin stock in the other. I scraped all the finish off in no time . . . it's only thin varnish. I then sanded it well using a palm sander & finished with steel wool. After several coats of Tung Oil it looks real nice. See pic of my Mosin on the gun rack.

[nicholst55]

It's just shellac, and most anything will remove it. I expect that even denatured alcohol would do the job; can't remember what I used on mine - maybe mineral spirits.

[waksupi]

Junior, I had a Weatherby type stock I had to strip, and went to Sherwin Williams. They have a "boat and aircraft stripper", that works great.

[skeet1]

Junior,
I have done just what you are considering. I used Acetone on a rag and the shellac dissolves right off. I did not sand the stock so all of the sharp edges stayed the same I just used some 0000 steel wool to remove any wood whiskers that may have been there. I then used some Danish tung oil and the results were very good.

Ken

[Junior1942]

I sat at my desk one night with a sharp pocket knife in one hand & a Mosin stock in the other. I scraped all the finish off in no time . . . it's only thin varnish. I then sanded it well using a palm sander & finished with steel wool. After several coats of Tung Oil it looks real nice. See pic of my Mosin on the gun rack.A pocket knife did the trick and did it easy and fast. Thanks for the tip! I'll give you credit when I finish an article about it.

[wallenba]

I sat at my desk one night with a sharp pocket knife in one hand & a Mosin stock in the other. I scraped all the finish off in no time . . . it's only thin varnish. I then sanded it well using a palm sander & finished with steel wool. After several coats of Tung Oil it looks real nice. See pic of my Mosin on the gun rack.

I discovered that trick too, by accident. Only I used a flexible 6" stainless steel rule, and I stripped it down very fast. I got into the finger grooves with the rounded end of a thick feeler gage from a folding set.

[trail troll]

I just did mine, steel wool and alcohol, no sand paper at all. Stain with deep mahogany oil stain and Tru Oil on top, nice low luster finsh and easy to touch up.

[Junior1942]

Mine's hanging from a front porch rafter as we speak. Got a thick coat of boiled linseed oil soaking in it. I'll keep putting coats on it until dark. The shine is gone, gone, gone.

[Junior1942]

Heads up! I looked up linseed oil on Wiki just for the heck of it. Due to its chemical makeup it's especially prone for spontaneous combustion on an oily rag! After wiping something down with it, THROW AWAY THE RAG!!!

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I just finger dunk linseed oil. Never had a finger spontaneously combust yet!

[waksupi]

Heads up! I looked up linseed oil on Wiki just for the heck of it. Due to its chemical makeup it's especially prone for spontaneous combustion on an oily rag! After wiping something down with it, THROW AWAY THE RAG!!!

Better expand on that a bit. Don't throw it away in a trash can in a building. Best thing is spread it out flat, and put it out side to air harden, or burn it.

[odfairfaxsub]

i used isoporpanol alcahol lol and 0000steel wool. then i finished it with min wax red finish and 2 coats of satin poly and it looks so original that no one could tell.

[Junior1942]

Better expand on that a bit. Don't throw it away in a trash can in a building. Best thing is spread it out flat, and put it out side to air harden, or burn it.Words of wisdom! Y'all listen! I'm damnnnnn lucky. I've had a can of boiled linseed oil on my back porch with the original oily rag on top of the can! It's been there 4 or 5 years...... I saw no need to get a new rag every time I wanted to re-finish something. In addition to the normal summer heat, there's a deep freezer, a refrigerator and a hot water heater on that back porch!

[Char-Gar]

I refinish military stocks on a regular basis with BLO. I first strip off the old finish with Formbys, or another high quality stripper. The old finish just melts off. After drying a day, I give a good rub down with 0000 steel wool. I do two BLO scrubs, followed by single hand rubbed coast of BLO, always waiting at least three days between coats to try. After 4 to 7 coats, I apply two coats of Tom's 1/3 wax or Johnson Paste wax.

I will not sand the stock. I will not steam out dents anywhere near stock markings.

I keep a three gallon can of water beside the bench. I use high grade shop paper towels instead of rags. I drop the oily towels into the water and come garbage collection day, I squeeze them out, put them in a sealed plastic bag and put them out with the trash for pickup.

[3006guns]

Heads up! I looked up linseed oil on Wiki just for the heck of it. Due to its chemical makeup it's especially prone for spontaneous combustion on an oily rag! After wiping something down with it, THROW AWAY THE RAG!!!

Nothing against you at all Junior, but I'm amazed at the number of people who don't know about linseed oil and spontaneous combustion. Actually, ANY oily rag can do this but linseed is much more prone to it. We were taught about it in grade school back in the fifies when I was a kid, along with the hazards of gasoline, etc. by the local fire department. In any case I'm glad you found out and removed the rags.

There was a bad fire in our local school district offices this year from a county employee who left some linseed oil rags piled up in a corner. Not really his fault for not knowing, but brother can those things take off!

Looking forward to your article on refinishing!

[Char-Gar]

Nothing against you at all Junior, but I'm amazed at the number of people who don't know about linseed oil and spontaneous combustion. Actually, ANY oily rag can do this but linseed is much more prone to it. We were taught about it in grade school back in the fifies when I was a kid, along with the hazards of gasoline, etc. by the local fire department. In any case I'm glad you found out and removed the rags.

There was a bad fire in our local school district offices this year from a county employee who left some linseed oil rags piled up in a corner. Not really his fault for not knowing, but brother can those things take off!

Looking forward to your article on refinishing!

Actually, not any old oily rag will spontaneous combust. Petrolium based oil won 't do that. My Step-Son is an arson investigator with a major fire department and I asked him about it. Oils from plants like linseed oil, cotton seed oil and the like will spontaneous conbust as they oxadize if crumpled or folded up.

[Pigslayer]

A pocket knife did the trick and did it easy and fast. Thanks for the tip! I'll give you credit when I finish an article about it.
Glad I could help![smilie=p:

[Junior1942]

My stock turned out great! Pre-linseed I sanded it with medium grit sandpaper just to remove small spots of leftover shellac/lacquer/whatchamaycallit and to roughen the surface. I sanded lightly so as to not remove or harm the several Russian cartouches in the stock. That left the brown to dark brown stains in place, so the stock is now a mottled dark tannish to brown to dark brown camo. Not sanding the surface smooth left the now-oiled stock with a non-slip surface. I like it! A rifle named "Rain Rifle" and meant for use on rainy days ought to have a non-slip surface, IMHO.

After I put a matte black or maybe matte green finish on the barrel I'll post a photo.

[Char-Gar]

BlO will not protect against rain, water or even moisture in the air. A stock with nothing but BLO on it will take on water like a sponge. The stock will bubble and warp.

That is why the military had their troops wax their stocks every whip or stitch. For over a hundred years they used a mixture of 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 BLO and 1/3 turpentine. In the Corp this was called "Gunny paste". You can buy this stuff as Tom's 1/3 wax, make your own or just use Johnson's Paste Wax. If you make your own you can substitute mineral spirits for the turpentine and it will smell better, unless you like the faint smell of turpentine.

On a stock newely finish with BLO give two coats of wax and then another coat every so often as needed.

It was common for the troops to give the inside of their stocks where there was no wax two coats of shellac with special attention to the end grain. I do the same thing, but use Tru-Oil instead of shellac. I put on the Tru-oil with a small brush until the wood is filled. That stuff will stop water absorption.

The stocks were initially finished by dunking them in a vat of BLO and later Tung Oil (dries faster), but that was not intended to be the final finish. The officers and non-coms made certain their troops finished the job with more coats of BLO and then wax.

We have some very good stock finishes these days, but a few of us like BLO on old military stocks. If we are going to do that, we need to realize it's limitations and finish the job. The Russians took the easy way out and just shellaced the wood.

[Junior1942]

BlO will not protect against rain, water or even moisture in the air. A stock with nothing but BLO on it will take on water like a sponge. The stock will bubble and warp. . .That doesn't match my actual experimentation on an untreated pine board with BLO on one area, spillage from my work on the stock yesterday. I poured water on the BLO area and on a plain area and let it sit for several minutes. It beaded on the BLO area and mostly soaked in on the plain area. I turned the board and poured off the water, and the BLO area was dry, and the plain area was wet.

[Char-Gar]

That doesn't match my actual experimentation on an untreated pine board with BLO on one area, spillage from my work on the stock yesterday. I poured water on the BLO area and on a plain area and let it sit for several minutes. It beaded on the BLO area and mostly soaked in on the plain area. I turned the board and poured off the water, and the BLO area was dry, and the plain area was wet.

Suit yourself Junior...I guess your board is the definitive test and 100 years of experience by the United States Army doesn't matter. Your rifle stock and how well it sheds water really is of no interest to me. I was just trying to be helpful.

[Junior1942]

Suit yourself Junior...I guess your board is the definitive test and 100 years of experience by the United States Army doesn't matter. Your rifle stock and how well it sheds water really is of no interest to me. I was just trying to be helpful.All help is appreciated! Thank you!

[Beekeeper]

Junior,
I have 6 Mosins and I hated the red Shellac finish everyone seems to covit.
I used a spray finish remover I bought at Home Depot to remove it and found some rather beautiful wood underneath.
After a ruddown with (0000) steel wool I used a finish I got the recipe for from a man I met at the local gunshop.

A couple of coats of boiled linsead oil.
Mix linsead oil and amber shellac 50/50 and start to apply.
4 coats on and rubdown with (0000) wool and keep applying coats.
Gradually increase the shellac in the mix until you have about 65% shellac and 35% linsead oil and keep coating and rubbing until you get the finish you want.

It is impervious to water, oil , or gun cleaning solutions such as ED's Red and will darken with age.


beekeeper

[wallenba]

I did one in Minwax Cherrywood that looks very nice, another in Colonial Maple that looks very very close to the Mosin finish. A third one I did with Minwax Walnut. That one looks like the devil...got to live with it.

[nicholst55]

After I removed the shellac from mine I applied Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner, and allowed that to dry. Then a coat of Chestnut Ridge Military Stock Stain, followed by Tru-oil with a few drops of Pilkington's Red Spirit Stain mixed in. This leaves the stain both in the wood and in the finish, so it's more durable and easy to touch up. This left the canoe paddle-grade wood with an appearance similar to the original red shellac, but much, much better looking and more durable. Not applied by a drunken Russian with a 4-inch paint brush, either!;)

[emrah]

Going back to the original question of how to remove finish from a Mosin, what about sanding? I refinished my M44 (herecy, I know but whatever) I used 220 grit sandpaper by hand.

I sanded mine down to bare wood, then applied multiple coats of a dark brown/reddish stain. I then applied several coats of clearcoat varnish. It actually came out very nice and not Bubba-ish like I made it sound.

Emrah

[Char-Gar]

Going back to the original question of how to remove finish from a Mosin, what about sanding? I refinished my M44 (herecy, I know but whatever) I used 220 grit sandpaper by hand.

I sanded mine down to bare wood, then applied multiple coats of a dark brown/reddish stain. I then applied several coats of clearcoat varnish. It actually came out very nice and not Bubba-ish like I made it sound.

Emrah

When I was a young man, good Krags, 03s could be had for $35.00. Good 03A3s, Mauser 98s 1917s could be hand for $25.00. We cut em, chopped em, and sanded em, as they were cheap and seemed to be in endless supply. In the process we destroyed rifles that today would bring $600.00 to $1,200.00. The prices will continue to go upward.

Today Mosins are cheap and there seems to be and endless supply. One day they will be all gone and those that have not been destroyed by sanding and other abuses will climb up and up in price. There are ways to restore these rifles without destroying them.

The bottom line is, we hope that folks can learn from the past and not destroy a piece of history with sandpaper. A refinished but undsanded stock can always be taken back to the original finish.

[skeet1]

Char-Gar,
I agree! That is why I used acetone to remove the shellac. When you put acetone on a rag and wipe the stock the shellac comes right off. The only thing I did that even resembles sanding was to use some 0000 steel wool to remove any wood whisker that may have remained.Using steel wool like this does not touch any of the factory markings or change any of the sharp corners of the stock. If I want to return the stock to the original I can with some cheap red shellac that the Russians used.

Ken

[emrah]

That's why I also bought a 91/30 to keep stock. I used to think that messing with ANYTHING on a milsurp was punishable by death, but then I decided it's my rifle and I'm much happier with the finish on it now than before. It actually came out really beautiful. My opinion.

Emrah

[Junior1942]

That's why I also bought a 91/30 to keep stock. I used to think that messing with ANYTHING on a milsurp was punishable by death, but then I decided it's my rifle and I'm much happier with the finish on it now than before. It actually came out really beautiful. My opinion.

Emrah+1 on the "came out really beautiful." I like mine!

[TommyT]

Denatured alcohol removes the Russki red shellac easily. Much nicer to use than acetone. After the shellac is removed, give the stock a few coats of BLO allowing for about 24 hours between coats. A good stock wax applied over the top or the BLO is the best finish. I prefer Tom's 1/3 mix also. This combo has worked well for me on hundreds of military gunstocks.