Yugo M24/47 Mauser refinishing a stock ?

i picked up a M24/47 GSS and cleaned it up...its a pretty nice all matching gun that could be a good shooter... it does have rust pitting on top of the receiver and under the wood around the barrel floor plate etc... it not bad but it there you know... bore is pretty clean an shiny... anyway i would like to refinish the stock to bring out that nice walnut wood... I'm thinking just to sand lightly with superfine paper just to get rid of the roughness and then apply some wood oil...

so my question is would this devalue the gun?

i know there not worth much know an this has rust an all... but who knows what will happen in the future... so any advice on doing it or not?

Attachment 73462

thanks all for the feedback...

mike

Generally speaking, sandpaper is a huge no-no. I can indeed reduce the value of your rifle in the eyes of many. But, anytime these rifles went through the re-arsenal process which most did, guess what, they were sanded. So I guess a lot of it is determined by how much it has already been sanded if at all.

Advice, use only steel wool to get the fuzzys off and then oil it.

ok thanks allot for the advice Aragorn... this rifle looks like it was re-arsenal an never issued just put in storage an sometime in storage got wet an an started to rust...

mike

I did notice the rust stains in the wood. They are hard but not impossible to get out. Most cleaners won't do much with them. Only luck I've had is with wood bleach but you have to be prepared for the stock to be a completely different color as you have to clean out all the oil in the process.

yeah in some spots especially under the forearm the rust bleed into the wood... i really don't want to change the color of the wood i kinda like the looks... i just want get those "fuzzy" off and make it smoother an maybe also have the walnut grain come out more...

I’m still not done but I’ve been using a heat gun and the wiping with mineral spirits to draw out the cosmoline... its better now but it still needs some work... when I first started the wood seem to be water log with the stuff...

mike

---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

i guess thats why those fuzzys formed... ?

I've had luck in the past swabbing nitric acid onto the wood in the areas where there is rust staining. The acid will dissolve the rust out of the wood. You need to dilute it and go lightly. Rinse well with water.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Claven2

I've had luck in the past swabbing nitric acid onto the wood in the areas where there is rust staining. The acid will dissolve the rust out of the wood. You need to dilute it and go lightly. Rinse well with water.

---

Nitric is stronng stuff, and is actually an oxidizer, ie. Causes rust. Better choice is hydrochloric acid, also called muriatic acid when diluted ( swimming pool additive), which is a very good deoxidant, ie dissolves rust, which is a form of iron oxide.

I've never tried it on wood but have tried it on other things and it works great. Lemon juice. Citric acid. spread it on and put it in the sun. Disappears, don't know where it goes, don't really care.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aragorn243

I've never tried it on wood but have tried it on other things and it works great. Lemon juice. Citric acid. spread it on and put it in the sun. Disappears, don't know where it goes, don't really care.

---

Citric acid is excellent, so is vinegar, so is phosphoric acid, which is specifically formulated get rid of rust. But nitric, sulfuric, etc. are all bad news, especially to skin!