Stripped Type 38 stock

[ShaveTail]

On impulse I bought a Type 38 Bring Back the other day (I'll put up some pics when I get my camera). Metal finish is good, but no cleaning rod or dust cover. I bought it when I saw the intact mum and remembered Tales of The Gun from the History channel when I was a teen telling about the order to deface them...and really, it was the country missing from my Axis Guns.

Anyway, the stock has been stripped to the bare wood. Since the damage is done, what would you guys think is the best thing to do to it? I'm guessing I couldn't match the original lacquer, and I'm not thrilled with that look on guns (looks a little too Nagant-ish). I'm thinking of just rubbing in some lindseed oil.

Horrible idea?

Information

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[riceone]

What arsenal and series is you carbine? Tale of the gun is not a reliable source for info. In all the books I have read and studied no one has been able to come up with documented proof of who gave the order or even if an order was give about the grinding of the mums. I have a couple or so rifles that are too well preserved to have seen combat and they have the mum, so I don't think there is a hard and fast rule. Post the arsenal and series and I'll post a picture of the correct color for your stock. riceone

[ShaveTail]

Yeah, I know the McArthur debate; really just meant that that's where I remembered the gun from. Really could have gone either way with Shogan McArthur--either let it go on, or ordered it to feel important. Doesn't make it a rare gun, but I wouldn't have recognized it without the mum (or bought it, in all likelihood). It seems that most surrendered guns did indeed have the mum ground or struck for whatever reason and intact mums were pick ups. Or just missed in inspection.

If I've read the markings correctly it is a Kokura series 23 manufactured between 1933-1940. Based on traces of varnish left in the finger grooves the color was pretty orange.

Would you bother to laquer it again? And if you did, what would match the finish?

[riceone]

I don't think I would do anything to it. I have a carbine or two that the bare wood shows in places and I just leave it be. riceone

[Milsurp Collector]

Francis Allan's Type 38 book says the original stock finish was linseed oil, but it appears that later Type 38s used urushi, like Type 99s. One of my Type 38s has an (old) oil finish while my Jinsen Type 38, made shortly before the arsenal switched to Type 99 production, has an urushi finish. Here's another Type 38 with an urushi finish What stain/finish used on Japanese rifles and MG's

If the remaining original finish is orange it was probably urushi. Urushi is a very durable finish but it is hard to find and expensive, and there are tricks to working with it (it has to be cured by humidity and it can cause a rash). If you don't want to try using urushi you could probably simulate it by brushing on a semi-gloss lacquer http://doitbest.com/Paint+thinner+an...sku-780041.dib that has been tinted slightly dark red-orange with TransTint Dye TransTint Dyes - Rockler Woodworking Tools

[ShaveTail]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I did a little poking around and I found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-URUSHI-...item56389bd9fc

Nice selection of colors, but pricey. I've read that Urishi has a unique texture. Two questions: They have a list of colors with little squares, opininions on the right color for that type of rifle? Second...I'm curious what a serious collector of Ariskas would think of this idea. Riceone, for instance, would you value a rifle refinished more or less correctly more than one done with standard OTC hardware store stuff? Or, since it has been defaced from the original already is that damage done in your opinion? In other words, would the extra expense be worth it--or visible?

For the time beining anyway I'm just going to rub some lindseed oil in, but I find this very interesting.

[jmoore]

The linseed oil will darken the wood. Original is better than any refinish in monetary value, but a proper refinish will hurt the value less. Of course, we're not talking Doug Turnbull stuff here...

[riceone]

I'm posting below a Type1 stock that was stripped and was sent to my by the owner for refinishing. I think he bought it that way. Before and after pictures with another carbine for reference. Then a refinished Type 1 that I own that someone refinished before I bought it. It has the nicest wood I have seen on one, very solid and few dents. But the rifle would be worth $1000 more with original finish. Third picture is a refinished Siamese T66 that was a dog when I got it, black with bruises all over. Anything done to that stock improved it.

[ShaveTail]

The first picture look very close to the color of mine (though mine isn't a carbine). You said you refinished one of them yourself, may I ask what you used?

[riceone]

I used Antique Maple Stain from Brownell # 9A00ZAY

and

Behlen Solar-Lux Wood Stain - Light Orange Yellow go to this web site.

Behlen Wood Finishes - Solar-Lux Wood Stains

Brownell use to sell the solar-lux wood stain in liquid but only sell it in powder. I have some of the powder but never used it still have a little of the liquid.

From here on its strictly trial and error. I'm not a drinker but I found some large shot glasses and I use them to mix this stuff in. I would take a 1/2 teaspoon of the maple and then add the yellow till I got the color I wanted, trying it on raw wood. I use cotton swabs to test the color. About an ounce of liquid will do a stock.

When you get the stock the color you want I sometimes wipe on a coat of orange shellac. Steel wool and put on another to give it a little shine. Also a thin coat of Ture Oil will give a little shine for the last thing you do to the stock instead of shellac.

You need patience. riceone