Refinishing 91/30 stock

[Catch22]

OK. I'm used to the more amber look that Tru-Oil gives. I used it on a stock I reworked for my boys' 22. Good stuff and leaves a nice finish on it, for sure.

I'm also kicking around gun wax over the BLO for a little more luster once I get the BLO to where it's good to go. From what I understand, I could throw the TO on top of the BLO, I would just have to make sure and give the BLO time to cure properly.

If I do a refurb on a refurbed one at some point, I might get with you on the die you used if you don't mind. Not sure what my next "project" will be, but another Mosin is on the radar at some point, be it a 91/30, M44, or maybe even a T53.

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[Aragorn243]

You don't need 30 coats to get a "shine" with BLO. Half a dozen or so will get a nice finish that has a bit of a sheen to it once rubbed down and polished. This is the level I go to get most of my firearms. I just went further with the two 91/30's partly to see if it could be done and the wood on these doesn't take a shine as easily as the woods from most other nations.

[WarPig1976]

I have to disagree there MC. Tru-oil looks pretty on a sporting rifle until you actually use the rifle at which point the high gloss top coat rubs right off. I could go on a rant but I'll just say Tru-oil is not an appropriate finish for any military stock.

IMO, if one is refinishing a 91/30 use shellac why? because the Russians used.... Shellac!! Or for a more subdued look "which I prefer" use BLO. Whatever one chooses remember the durability and longevity of the finish depends on wood preparation so do your best to remove as much cosmoline as possible....

[WarPig1976]

You can see in old photos that the "original" finish was not high gloss shellac. I agree with Aragorn it was oil of some sort.
A caveat to my post, If you want your rifle to look like it did when you picked it from the crate....Use shellac.

I also agree with TSS, I would have left the stock in question alone.

[Catch22]

I considered it leaving alone, but had several cracks that you can't see needed secured so they didn't get worse. It also had grime that just came out and off just by handling. If I had to guess as to the "finish" on it when I got it, I would say it was a cosmoline rub. The pics of the butt were the cleanest spots, which is why I posted them. Forward of there was awful.

This wasn't a perfect condition weapon I opted to strip down and rework, it was bit of a fixer-upper I tried to keep as original as possible.

[SVT-40]

I also don't believe that shellac was used pre-war and during ww2 that's a post war thing. My M-44 is dated 1945 and has an oily finish like linseed or tung oil it's pretty beat up with a lot of gouges and deep scratches, no sign whatsoever of having any shellac put on it. All the rest of my Russian gun's are all refurbs with shellac.

quick question,, what's the difference in linseed oil and Tung oil ?

[Catch22]

Have a look at this, SVT. I think it'll cover what you're after as far as differences.

BLO vs Tung Oil

[Aragorn243]

As per "The MOsin-Nagant Rifle" by Terence W. Lapin, page 238: "The original treatment of Mosin-Nagant stocks appears to have been a basic military-type oil finish."

He also goes on to say that many of the carbine stocks were given a heavy coating of clear varnish. Arsenal-refinished imports have a clear lacquer rather than varnish.

Given that every stock I've worked on has been soaked to the core in oil underneath the lacquer, the lacquer finish is obviously not original to these rifles. In that every rifle I have that has not gone through refurbishment has an oil finish. I think it's safe to assume that these rifles got that crap put on during refurbishment. If you want to leave it on, that's fine. I've left it on most of mine but I have taken it off of two as I plan to use them and don't want the crap coming off on my car seats, etc.

[Catch22]

If I get a refurb and decide to refinish, I'd likely put the shellac on it as that's what's "original" for the refurb. I've seen some nice looking ones done like that. Not sure how soon I'll have that kind of project, though. There's others on the list above another Mosin for now.

[WarPig1976]

Don't forget about the black paint they slopped on along with the shellac during refub/storage.
I'm in the camp that is convinced they were oiled. All one has to do is look at war photos, they ain't glinting in the sun and also can you imagine how hard it would be to hold onto a wet muddy shellacked stock?