Pre-War Mosin Nagant Stock Finish

[usabaker]

I found this tonight on a GunsBoard Forum from 2016. I would assume the "boiled oil" is BLO?

All prewar instruction mention VK-1 (including repair manuals). 1930 production specification (for just adopted M91\30) mention that walnut stocks must be soaked with boiled oil, birch stocks were painted to the colour of walnut (with mordant), then soaked with boiled oil, than polished. So in 1930's finish was changed. I have no doubts that some stocks in Izhevsk during war were issued without laquering. I have one like this, seems that it is soaked with boiled oil (and it is not the only that I saw).

This is interesting, I have never seen this before. Now I'm going to have to go back into research mode. Thanks...

[Singer B]

Just a quick update, after removing the action, you can see that this stock was red shellacked at some previous time. It is the light colored wood (maybe birch) underneath. The current finish seem to be a combination of some type of varnish with standard green spray paint over it. Whatever it is, the Citristrip is having a difficult time removing it!

[usabaker]

he current finish seem to be a combination of some type of varnish with standard green spray paint over it. Whatever it is, the Citristrip is having a difficult time removing it!
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Rub some coconut or olive oil on the stock, then wipe it off. Then use mineral spirits to remove the paint. The coconut or olive oil will help protect the existing finish. I hear GOO GONE works too but I have not tried it. The stock is Baltic Birch

[Singer B]

You were right, it is a nice light birch. You never know what you are going to find when you strip a stock. Strangely, there are no arsenal or refurbishment stamps that I can find. There is one strange mark that I found on the bottom of the grip behind the trigger well (possibly a small T, see photo). It has several interesting repairs that could have been done at an arsenal but nothing else.

[Aragorn243]

It is my personal belief that Mosin Nagant stocks pre war were basically just oil finished. Lot of debate on this but there are several reasons that lends serious credibility to this. Finn rifles never have shellac. Spanish rifles never have shellac. Wartime photos show a mix, some with, some without. It is believed the red shellac replaced oil once the Germans invaded because they wanted them to get out of the factories as fast as possible and soaking in oil takes time. Slapping on the shellac was fast and gave some limited protection. Postwar refurbs stayed with the shellac. I've also talked with a lot of Russians about this at re-enactments and they concurred that original finish was oil. I personally own a Finnish 91/30, no shellac. I also own an 1891 no shellac that went through Austrian and Bulgarian hands before arriving in the US. I reviewed a lot of period photos and the rifles are either dull (oil) or have the worst shellac finish possible as the crap only lasted a few days in the field. The finish is severely flaked. Unfortunately we may never have a definitive answer on this because the Soviets didn't keep good records and those they did they don't share so it's more of a guessing game than anything else.

[Singer B]

Along with the research conducted by you and usabaker, my own indicates that many believe "oil" or "boiled oil" was the factory preference before the war. I even found one reference to the wood stocks being roasted at 360 to 400 degrees. I decided to go with the BLO treatment. The stock has been stripped and the 3rd coat went on today. After 7 or 8 coats, we will see how it looks. Each coat is being hand rubbed to generate heat during the application. After each coat has dried, it is rubbed down with 0000 steel wool wiped again with paper towels. I'm hoping it darkens up a little more but it will probably take a few years of oxidation to reach the correct color.

[Aragorn243]

I refinished one of mine. I used BLO. It was one of the first rifles I did this with and I put a lot of coats on it. Used to sit and watch TV in the evenings and rub one on with my fingers. I honestly don't know how many coats I put on it but when I was done, it had a finish that looked a lot like the shellac but will never flake off. Just be very careful with those rags. BLO can spontaneously combust.

[usabaker]

"boiled oil" was the factory preference before the war.

The definition of Bold Linseed oil is very loose in the text you will find. Early Boiled Linseed oil refers to the oil being utterly boiledd at temperatures over 400 (465) degrees. This is not true with modern BLO that you purchase in a hardware store. I doubt the BLO that you are using is the one in the text you read because 'driers' (lead, cobalt, manganese salts, etc..) were not introduce until the 1950's, Becareful with that stuff, it can cause really bad stuff to happen to your body.

[Singer B]

The definition of Bold Linseed oil is very loose in the text you will find. Early Boiled Linseed oil refers to the oil being utterly boiledd at temperatures over 400 (465) degrees. This is not true with modern BLO that you purchase in a hardware store. I doubt the BLO that you are using is the one in the text you read because 'driers' (lead, cobalt, manganese salts, etc..) were not introduce until the 1950's, Becareful with that stuff, it can cause really bad stuff to happen to your body.

Definitely! Do the best we can with what we got. Lots of clean up!

[Singer B]

Attachment 109067Attachment 109068Attachment 109069


Well, after 8 hand-rubbed coats of BLO and 0000 steel wool rubdowns between each coat, here is the finished product. I'm hoping it will darken a little more as time goes by but it is definitely an improvement over the "bubba" paint job. Hopefully I will get a chance to shoot it this week!