New Pics of my K31 before stock refinishing.....

[AlaskanGuy]

Here are pics of my New to me K31 Swiss stock before I take it all apart to refinish..... THis stock is gunna be a bit harder to make purty as it has a lot of Gouges and scratches..... It also went through a fire in a gun safe, and has a bit of smoke staining.... So consider these the Before Pics....

95209 95210

95211 95212

95213

[AlaskanGuy]

Continued

95214 95215

95216 95215

95217 95217

[sav300]

WHY ???? I shoot and use mine as is.I see no need to remove the as is condition of military rifles.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I can see from the pictures it's beech with an orange shellac finish. If you strip it, you'll find it tough to steam out the dents, etc, though you will be able to clean up the wood. I'm not a fan of shellac at all, but the only finish that looks right on these K31's with beech stocks is the original shellac.

BTW, you can confirm it's shellac by using a rag soaked with denatured alcohol. It'll strip right off.

[Hang Fire]

WHY ???? I shoot and use mine as is.I see no need to remove the as is condition of military rifles.


Why? it is his rifle to do with as he chooses.

[AlaskanGuy]

Nope, guys, I want to do the stock... I am a stock guy... I don't wanna make it al shiny and glossy, i will do the stock so it is smooth, and the proper colors, so that it is serviceable, water tight, and looks nice.... Kinda like these fine re-do's show...
95262 95263

95264

As you can see, i do not want to butcher it... I just dont want it to be shoddy... And I want to make it mine... When you spend a week or 2 working on a stock to make it just so, it becomes yours through careful attention...

So that is what I will do cuz that is what I want to do... :bigsmyl2: i just wanted to document the process with before and after pics....

AG

[462]

You go, AG!

It's yours, do as you like.

[Bored1]

After the other thread I saw (I believe it was your work on your wife's rife?) I am definately interested in a before/after pic thread with some how tos!!! Got an older M1 carbine laying around could use some work. Before everyone gets all in a tizzy its a Iver Johnson and not original WWII era.

[starmac]

You go, AG!

It's yours, do as you like.

Ding ding, correct answer right there.

[CastingFool]

I don't know how stripping the stock would make it tough to steam out the dents. I would certainly try it on a couple of them to see how they come out.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I don't know how stripping the stock would make it tough to steam out the dents. I would certainly try it on a couple of them to see how they come out. Stripping the stock won't make it tough to get the dents out. But the beechwood the stock is made out of and the nature of the dents/dings makes it tough to get the dents and dings out. I know this from personal experience, with a stock exactly like that one. You can sand them out, but they're generally too deep to steam.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Nope, guys, I want to do the stock... I am a stock guy... I don't wanna make it al shiny and glossy, i will do the stock so it is smooth, and the proper colors, so that it is serviceable, water tight, and looks nice.... Kinda like these fine re-do's show...
95262 95263

95264



Your top left pic is tiger striped (the vertical strips you see) birch, not beechwood with the original orange shellac finish. The top right is walnut (see the dark in the grain pattern?), can't see enough of it to know what the finish is. Bottom left rear rifle is a walnut (warm brown with dark stock with really nice grain (brain fart, I want to call it heel grain, but that's not the proper name, came from a certain area of the tree), probably Swiss aftermarket , likely not milsurp, though it could possibly be milsurp, as you see nice ones time to time. Bottom left front right I can't tell (can't see if it's got a line of light reverse "half-moons" like yours has in a line running alone the bottom of the buttstock to the gouge), could be either birch or beach, not close enough to see the grain of the wood. But both rifles appear to be finished with orange shellac.

Be aware the orange shellac is what the Swiss used, but isn't always "orange" persay. Shellac is the poop of the shellac bug usually cut (mixed) with denatured alcohol. Being something that occurs in nature, the color varies somewhat from poop to poop, as it were.

Shellac isn't a particularly good finish for water though, sadly. Tends to stain with water marks. If you want a fine finish, be prepared to do some sanding and research your choice of finish really well. Pick a finish that works well with beech wood.

As an aside, I've finished a small ton of stocks, everything from "shiny as a new penny" to a perfectly matched to the era military stock. Here's a thread on a refinish I did on birch stock for my son in law's shotgun:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?213059-quot-A-man-shouldn-t-have-to-sell-his-Father-s-guns-quot&highlight=

This stock had a ugly red, dull and crumbling off finish from the factory, blobed on and totally hid the birch underneath. The finish it has on there now is very water resistant, easy to renew, a nice flat shade for a hunting gun and is pretty inexpensive. It is also what the Finns used to finish their Finn Mosins before and during the WWII era.

[AlaskanGuy]

I remember that thread dave.... You did an awesome job on that H&R.... Really enjoyed that...

And that top pic of the K31 tiger stripe was a before and after in e same pic.... The top part of that pic was the finished product, and the bottom part is the old wood before...

95313

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I remember that thread dave.... You did an awesome job on that H&R.... Really enjoyed that...

And that top pic of the K31 tiger stripe was a before and after in e same pic.... The top part of that pic was the finished product, and the bottom part is the old wood before...

95313

Hard to tell when he didn't post the same side in the picture and my old eyes aren't what they used to be (I'm overdue to get new glasses as well, hate forking that dough over). From looking closely, he stripped the old finish, cleaned the grease, water stains (lots of snow in Switzerland you know) and pine tar (at least I think some of it is, tough to tell on an old milsurp, but the black stuff on mine was sticky like old pine tar) off, then refinished with shellac.

If you look a bit closer at the lower pic, you can see the dings still in the stock after refinishing. I swear I believe those guys used their rifle butts for driving tent steaks or kicked them a lot with hobnail boots. Hence why the comment on getting the dings out. The dings and gouges were so deep on the one I had I couldn't steam them out and if I had sanded them out, the wood would have been taken below the outline of the steel butt plate.

I can't remember who has them, but someone sells a beautiful walnut replacement stock for those. Walnut is much, much easier than beech to finish and make look pretty. I have seen one beech stock I wouldn't trade for a walnut and that's on my wife's CZ .22 rifle. It's a junior size stock (she's not real tall) and made of beach. Has so many of those half moon things on it, it looks like stars on the thing and they did a beautiful job of staining the stock brown, then finishing without hiding the beauty. I'll try to dig it out and post it for you. Might be a way to pretty up that beach some.

[Hang Fire]

Nope, guys, I want to do the stock... I am a stock guy... I don't wanna make it al shiny and glossy, i will do the stock so it is smooth, and the proper colors, so that it is serviceable, water tight, and looks nice.... Kinda like these fine re-do's show...
95262 95263

95264

As you can see, i do not want to butcher it... I just dont want it to be shoddy... And I want to make it mine... When you spend a week or 2 working on a stock to make it just so, it becomes yours through careful attention...

So that is what I will do cuz that is what I want to do... :bigsmyl2: i just wanted to document the process with before and after pics....

AG

This is my 1941 K31 walnut stock after do over by me. It went back to the arsenal in 1954, refinished and had a new barrel installed.

http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/publishImages/early~~element87.jpg

http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/P1010652.JPG

[johnson1942]

beech has a lot of movement in the grain, ive done some beech stocks over and they deff. have stripes. it is a very strong wood but shinks easily. never set it by a heat source to dry or you will keep refitting the metal to the stock. for a good strong stock i prefer beech over walnut. it wont crack with sharp recoil as some times walnut will.

[Hang Fire]

Those beech maggots in the wood is a big detractor for me.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

This is my 1941 K31 walnut stock after do over by me. It went back to the arsenal in 1954, refinished and had a new barrel installed.

http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/publishImages/early~~element87.jpg

http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/P1010652.JPG

Tough to beat a walnut stock when it comes to refinishing. Yours looks really good and doesn't show any signs it had the deep dings and gouges a lot of the Swiss rifles show.

[Wayne Smith]

Dave, whatever else you do to that stock do NOT play with how the barrel is mounted into the stock. It is a very non-standard mounting and trying to change it to a standard one will screw it up badly. I remember seeing a very good thread on this once, I don't remember if it was here or on Surplusrifle.com, but it is well worth finding. It may have been one of Gusian's write-ups on Surplusrifle, come to think of it.

[TheGrimReaper]

I want a K31 so bad. I wish I had gotten on when they were 79.99.....but ammo was not to be found. Someday maybe I'll have one.

[Multigunner]

The Swiss rifles were unlikely to have seen combat, so dents and dings are most likely from carrying during training or getting knocked around in the closet or under the bed when kept handy by the reserves.

As shown a good refinishing greatly improves the appearance of these rifles, some very nice wood can be found on some of these.

[Herb in Pa]

1946 vintage with the ugly beech stock...................

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

Herb,

I'm guessing that's the original shellac finish on that one? Sometimes one gets lucky, there's no hobnail or stake marks on the butt, at least on the side you took a picture of. How about a closeup pic where we can see the grain of the wood?

[Ray1946]

Great job on that stock! NOBODY likes a crappy looking stock. When you take a decent looking stock out of the case at the range, your shooting session will improve because of the confidence you have in a great looking rifle. Don't worry about collectors value; they made 582,000 of them! It would be different if it were a Singer Colt from 1942, but it isn't.

[AlaskanGuy]

Herb, i would be all over that stock... Looks like an easy re-finish... Add a good stain to darken it up, and it will be beautiful... Use the roger method on it, and it would be gorgeous...

AG

[Herb in Pa]

958329583395834Ok, good guesses guys............this stock was what I like to call restored for me by a good friend who made his living refinishing very high grade shotguns. It was pretty beat up when I got it, but he steamed out the dents and lightly sanded before applying Danish Oil to approximate the original finish. If you look closely at the one photo you can still see the small square cartouche.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well, if it was mine, i would have done it a bit different.... If you call it an ugly beech stock, to me, that gives you license to make it whatever you want it to be... I would make it a bit darker, and brought out some more contrast on the wood grain... That can happen with a dark stain....

AG

[Herb in Pa]

My personal preference for military firearms is to try and retain the original stock finish appearance if possible (but that's just me). It would be a dull world indeed if we all had the same tastes.........

[AlaskanGuy]

Hey herb... How about naming them rifles from the top down??? They sure are nice, but to a rookie milsurp guy like me, i cant I.D. Them....
I do see what looks like a Mauser on top... The ones with the funny round thingie on the back of the bolt, cant quite remember what those are.... Mosin Nagants????.... But the one on the bottom???
AG

[Herb in Pa]

Hey herb... How about naming them rifles from the top down??? They sure are nice, but to a rookie milsurp guy like me, i cant I.D. Them....
I do see what looks like a Mauser on top... The ones with the funny round thingie on the back of the bolt, cant quite remember what those are.... Mosin Nagants????.... But the one on the bottom???
AG

Top is a 1917 Eddystone (30-06)
Next is a Remington 1903 A-3 (30-06)
Third is a Krag (30-40)
Last is an H&R M12 (22 LR)

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

958329583395834Ok, good guesses guys............this stock was what I like to call restored for me by a good friend who made his living refinishing very high grade shotguns. It was pretty beat up when I got it, but he steamed out the dents and lightly sanded before applying Danish Oil to approximate the original finish. If you look closely at the one photo you can still see the small square cartouche.

He did a good job with the Danish Oil, which is an oil mixed with a varnish, so you get the shiny like the shellac but also get better waterproofing with the varnish. I'm guessing he had to sand a good bit and that your dings/dents were not quite as "gouge like" as the ones on the stock I had. Either that or he sanded a great deal and reduced the size of the butt plate a bit. To get the one I had to that point he got that one, I would of had to take 1/8" off the out size of the steel buttplate.

[AlaskanGuy]

Started the re-finish work on my K31 a few days back.... Some of the gouges were pretty deep... Got it as sanded as much as I dare and lifted the dents..... I am going to use a dark shoe die with a bit of red tint like roger does... Found some nice rain under there, and wanna bring it out some.... Should be pretty nice and smooth when I finish her up maybe this weekend, but we will have to see how it goes.....

AG

[AlaskanGuy]

Ok, this is after die stage.. Ready to start Truoil stage.....

9724897249

It is gunna look awesome I think....

[Hang Fire]

Bubba did this and Bubba did that. Do more than touch a milsurp except to clean and one is labled as a Bubba.

Recognize this gentlemen in photo below? It is Simo Hayha, the famous Finnish Sniper, who in less than one hundred days had 540 confirmed Russian kills during the winter war of 1939-1940. Two of those guns in photo are sporterized Mosin Nagant rifles, notice the ring on cocking knob to assist with safety on second rifle from the bottom? Now I very much doubt anyone is going to call Simo Hayha a Bubba?

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/Finn20sniper3.jpg (http://s3.photobucket.com/user/TANSTAAFL-2/media/Finn20sniper3.jpg.html)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/TANSTAAFL-2/iso-8859-1QSimo20HE4yhE45B15D.jpg (http://s3.photobucket.com/user/TANSTAAFL-2/media/iso-8859-1QSimo20HE4yhE45B15D.jpg.html)

[AlaskanGuy]

Finished....

97706 97707

97708 97709

Please don't beat me up cuz I refinished the stock.. I wanted to...

I did not take out all of the marks on the stock, and left enough to give it charecter, but took out all of the deep gouges and such, and made it purty again in my opinion... :D I will be posting it in the Roger Stock method...

AG

[starmac]

Looks good to me.

[2AMMD]

+1 for 462
2ammd

[W.R.Buchanan]

AK guy: I see NOTHING WRONG WITH WHAT YOU DID! In fact the gun looks much better than when you started.

The idea of not modifying or Bubbaing a gun, where there were 6 million made and the one you started with wasn't exactly a museum grade gun in the first place, completely bypasses me. I say" Plenty more where it came from",,, and you should get the maximum amount of satisfaction from whatever you do to it.

The thing about guns like this is they make great "Practice Pieces." So when you do a nice gun you will know a little more about what you're doing!

Now if that gun had been some rare model or odd configuration I could see not altering it too much. However I would still clean it up and do my best to enhance it back to as close as I could get it to stock as issued, or more properly "Re Issued."

I won't hesitate to modify a generic military issue rifle to suit my tastes. Done it before and will do it again.

Now if you simply make a mess and the gun is noticeably worse off for it, well then,,,, You Bubba!

Randy

[AlaskanGuy]

Thanks WR..... I love it.... Waiting semi patiently for my swiss products clamp on scope mount.... Then we can really see how she shoots....

AG

[AlaskanGuy]

Scope mount came in today from swiss products..... Here is the finished product... Ready to be sighted in.... I cant wait to get to the range....

9850598506

[Ivantherussian03]

I agree....a customized rifle is very interesting and much more fun for the owner. In my mind a guy should want his gear customized to his specifications. I do that with vehicles, snow mobiles, atvs and even rifles, and other things I cant think of right now. Just a no brainer.

Good job too ...looks great!

Plus, I can tell your a real Alaskan. Your kitchen looks cramped.

[madsenshooter]

A good way to get that scope a lot lower is a set of Redfield 47432 rings for grooved receivers.

[w5pv]

Very nice work,not a bubba at all.

[nitrohuck]

congrats on a great refinish job,

I refinished my beech K31 for basically the exact same reasons you refinished yours, I didn't buff the rifle's dents out at all though, I just pretty got a fresh coat on her to seal the wood and bring it back to life a bit,