[alawrence]

Folks,
I have stripped the flaking shellack of of my 91/30 stock and have removed the soaked in cosmoline and oils via heat.

I am left with a stock that has a lot of darkness left. It looks like someone at the Soviet armory took a torch to it before applying the shellack.
I gently sanded a couple of areas of darkness with 220 grit and 000 steel wool. It made zero difference.
Has anyone seen other MN stocks like this? Any ideas as to removing the dark areas? The stock looks like it is birch.
Thank you,
Andrew

 

[gunscrewguy]

Arctic birch would be my best bet. Who knows what we'd learn if those stock could talk.

AC

 

[alawrence]

After doing some research via the all knowing internet. I believe that this type of birch has soft and hard wood characteristics. I suppose that the soft wood areas of the stock took in the staining of the shellack and or oils and that is what's giving the blotchiness to the wood.
I may just try to paint it if the stock doesn't look like it will take Tung Oil well. I don't want to bother with using shellack or polyurethane.
Andrew

 

[flatsneck]

I would say to try a small spot with Oxalic acid (wood bleach ) to see if it pulls out some of the color, Ive had great luck in the past on small projects. you may need to do a few applications, but if youre thinking about painting it... it couldnt hurt to give it a try.

 

[luisyamaha]

Try scraping it. When I did mine I scraped the finish off. Never used sandpaper, although I did use steel wool before staining it. It got stained Light Red Mahogany, and then coated with Antique Oil Finish. Unfortunately I'm not sure I remember the brands of these products. I think the stain was Mohawk (alcohol or ether based? NOT oil) And Minwax for the finish. Some of the Antique Oil Finish was rubbed in with steel wool. Mine came out quite nice, but I don't remember if it was splotchy at all. You should remove all the metal, also. Good luck!

Luisyamaha

 

[Chipmaker]

Antique Oil Finish is likely a Minwax product. I use it a lot on woodturnings and carvings. Comes in red pint an quart cans and most Ace Hardware stores carry it.

 

[alawrence]

I fiddled around with some stain today and as I suspected, it did not work well on this wood. I also attempted Tung Oil with poor results. I tried these finishes on different portions of the stock and they actually made it look worse.
I showed the stock to a friend and he suggested to just leave it be with the colorations it has and to clear polyurethane over it. I think I will try that and use a semi gloss poly. I will definitely have a one of a kind look to this rifle when done.
I will post pics when finished and I want to hear what you all think of it.
Andrew

 

[kingstrider]

I would try bleach first. If that doesn't work I would either source a replacement or just use a dark walnut stain.

 

[alawrence]

Well I went the polyurethane with a dye route and after four coats this is what I got for a finish. Not exceptioanally happy, but it looks and feels much better than before. The cartouches showed up much better after the refinish.
Andrew

 

[10acres]

I like it.

 

[olcop]

It certainly looks better than many I have seen refinished---I suspect the darker areas are still saturated with cosmolene, but your method may seal it up fine, just use it and enjoy it----they ain't making them any more---and, if you do get bleed through, just refinish it again.
oc1

 

[alawrence]

It certainly looks better than many I have seen refinished---I suspect the darker areas are still saturated with cosmolene, but your method may seal it up fine, just use it and enjoy it----they ain't making them any more---and, if you do get bleed through, just refinish it again.
oc1

After several weeks there has been zero bleed through, even when out in the sun and heat.
Andrew

 

[shawlerbrook]

I did one a few years back. Stripped, stain with walnut stain and then used multiple coats of Satin rub-on polyurethane. I will post some pictures later, but I think it looks pretty good. On a side note, they used to be dirt cheap, but not any longer.