Mosin Minus shellac

[Death from Afar]

I saw an interesting Mosin. What the dude has done is:


the cosmoline has been removed, along with the original shellac wood finish. the woodwork has been hand sanded, and multiple layers of boiled linseed oil have been applied to give it its superb look and finish as you can see in the photos.

boiled linseed oil not only highlights and brings out all the subtle military markings and the wood character and patterning, but it also restores the look and feel of the original wood.

I always prefer as original. Out of interest what do you experts think about this process? Adds or detracts?

 

[rightside]

Pics?

 

[Death from Afar]

Here you go ( once I figured out how to upload a picture:

 

[bedbugbilly]

Personally . . . I would say "to each their own."

I have never been a big fan of them. I'm old . . I remember when these rifles were considered "junk" and "cheap" many years ago. I had one that I paid $17.00 for many, many years ago but I never shot it and at the time (many years ago) when I went to sell it, I had a hard time finding anyone who wanted it

But . . . times have changed and several generations later . . . they are now popular. Just as when I was a kid, 45-70 Springfields were a dime a dozen but look at them now.

I have never liked the look of a Mosin - I do't care for the color/tone of the stocks, etc. Now, if I ran across one with a nice bore . . . I might consider it but I would clean it up thoroughly and I'd refinish the stock so it's a dark walnut tone . . . but that's just me and I'm guessing it's never going to happen now at my age. For someone younger who wants an "affordable" shooter . . I say "go for it" and have fun whether you want to keep it original or customize it to your liking.

 

[emcon5]

I actually did the same thing, except for the sanding part. (I do find it amusing he used "hand sanded" and "subtle military markings" regarding the same rifle)

When I was looking in to it, I learned some Mosins came with a oil finish, so I felt a little better about it. Plus shellac isn't exactly hard to find, so I can ugly them back up any time I want if I choose to do so.

I started by removing the shellac with Denatured Alcohol and 0000 steel wool, then cleaned and degreased the stock as much as I could. Next I applied an Oil Scrub with Boiled Linseed Oil, 4 coats with 0000 steel wool, followed by one hand rubbed. Finally I sealed it with 1/3 mix (equal parts Boiled Linseed oil, beeswax and turpentine)

I think they turned out pretty good. The wood underneath was pretty nice, even the toe splice on the blonde. Really interesting that both rifles came from the same factory, Izhevsk, in the same year, 1943 yet the wood is so different. I have read that the Soviets used Pine tar to treat some of their stocks, that it probably the case with the sniper.

The top photos are with the shellac, middle is after stripping and degreasing, and the bottom is the finished rifles.

Both are 1943 Izhevsk, the top is a Century Reproduction Sniper.

Enormous sized version of same photo

Enormous sized version of same photo

I had a hard time getting a photo of the blonde rifle that does it justice. Artificial light makes it look darker than it is, and sunlight, even diffused by the trees in the photo above makes it look shiny, which it really isn't.

Finally I got this photo, which is pretty close to how it looks in person (click to embiggen):




I love how the pistol grip area, and the area under the rear sight on the blonde is also considerably darker than the area around it. Almost as if some oily handed Russian conscript spent a long time holding it there defending the Motherland from the fascist invaders. Big part of why I love old rifles. I wish they could talk.

I did this back in 2012, and later sold the repro sniper and replaced it with an original Tula PU, and left the shellac alone. I also picked up a M38 since then, and it also kept the shellac finish. I guess it has grown on me.

 

[highpower3006]

I have waffled over whether it is better to leave a rifles finish alone or alter it to suit my tastes for years. I don't particularly care for Mosins in general as I find then to be fugly. However, I do like the shellac finish they come with as long as it isn't beat to death. Unlike an oiled finish, it is hard to blend out blemishes in shellac if they are much larger than a pencil eraser.

Once you remove the original shellac finish, it is a bit difficult to recreate the reddish tone of the shellac, which is the part that I find attractive. I personally don't like the look of Russian wood without some kind of stain.

While I don't have any Mosins, I do have a few Russian SKS's and only one of mine is in mint condition. The others vary from minor handling marks to beat up. I would like to refinish the beat up one, but I want to do it right and try to get it back to the original look.

So my long-winded answer to the OP's question is I would expect to pay less for one that had been refinished in a poor substitute for the original shellac

 

[T. O'Heir]

1400 x 734 is enormous.
Removing the shellac sort of detracts from the value. Shellac being the correct original finish on a Mosin. BLO is not.
"...blend out blemishes in shellac..." Soften with a bit of alcohol(ethanol) and apply a bit more.

 

[emcon5]

1400 x 734 is enormous.

Then what is 4360 x 2285?

Shellac being the correct original finish on a Mosin. BLO is not.

According to Tula, it was, one of them anyway.
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=118&t=62855

Dear Mr. Trotter!

Thank You for Your interest to the guns produced earlier in Russia.
There were two types of finish during the rifle M 1891 production:
1. processing by boiled linseed oil with coloration (toning) and outside surface final smoothing.
2. impregnation in bath on basis of pine tar by liquid-bath method, polishing and shellac varnish covering.
Two methods were used as for the rifles M 1891, so for the other riffle models including civil guns.


Yours sincerely,
Marketing Manager

V.B. Knyazev

On edit, evidently Izhevsk did a similar oil finish, although my rifle really doesn't look anything like the original Soviet oil finish, they used a toner of some sort to darken the wood. This rifle was posted in the Calguns thread when I originally did this, it is a quoting the owner "original, matching (except for the bolt), unmessed-with bringback that has the oiled finish. It's a 1937 Izhevsk. "

Looks a lot like the finish you would find on a M1 Garand or 1903A3.

 

[Death from Afar]

Well, this sure is an interesting MILSURP thread. I collect the Finnish Mosins and have quite a few. Although they will win no beauty contests they have such a great history that I cant go past them. Plus, an ancestral link which makes them extra special.

All the Finnish M91/30's ( "pot belly") are bare wood, as (fun fact) the cleaver Finns sometimes replaced the Russian stocks with a two piece stock which would not warp in the bitter cold.

EMcon- you did a great job on those rifles, its a credit to you.

 

[1903springfield30-06]

I say go for it just look it over good and check for little repairs, it it has had a stock repair I say don't do it you will see it even more. A good idea is to get a stock off ebay to have a practise at one before messing with the original.

 

[Footballbat]

Mosin refinishing

I've refinished many mosin's. After the first few, I learned it's easiest to use an old knife at a 90° angle to the stock and just scrape it off. It's much easier than it sounds, and it just flakes off right down to the wood, no messy strippers or heavy sanding. Then I hand sand starting with 220 grit and work my way to at least 400 grit, the whole sanding process goes very quick without removing much wood or stampings. I then use 400 grit paper to sand in some boiled linseed oil. Just put a small amount on a section of the stock and sand it in, it creates a fine paste that you hand rub into the stock to fill the pores of the wood. It will not only be smooth but the finish is impeccable. Last after its completely dry, I heat a very small amount of BLO in a microwave for a few seconds the hand rub it into the whole stock and rub it good, until friction heat is felt in my hand on every inch of the stock. I rub it down once a day until it's just to beautiful to touch again. You will not regret going this route.

 

[dakota.potts]

I'm in the process of redoing my M91/30 with a pine tar finish. I stripped off the original shellac, and the finish is kind of nice underneath. I really hate the caramel shellac color, especially when it's in less than new condition.

The easiest way to strip it in my opinion is to use denatured alcohol. I didn't even need steel wool or sandpaper, except a little between coats. Denatured alcohol will let you literally rub the finish off with some terry cloth. You can buy it at Lowe's. I think I paid $5 for the container I used.

The pine tar finish is one used by the Finns and it creates some really nice figuring. I bought a mixture online of Pine tar, beeswax and turpentine for something like $10. I'm still in that process, so I should have pictures later.

 

[skizzums]

I got burned for removing the old finish on a standard 40's 91/30, hand sanded to a beautiful smooth finish, stained with minwax "gunstock" stain and clearcoated it, turned out so beautiful, one of my best looking wood rifles hands down. They didn't appreciate it on the mosin forums, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Only one pic ATM that doeant ahowcase it very well, but here it is, one in the middle of course.

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Sorry for typos, my so-called "smart-phone" six years old. The HTC thunderbolt, thought I was getting the best phone ever, 6 years ago.

 

[1903springfield30-06]

skizzums,

That looks way to nice to show to those boring mosin forum members. I hope you keep it hanging on a wall in your gun room, that is super nice. I would pay you top dollar for that stock.

 

[skizzums]

Althoigh it was a ton of work, i enjoyed it. I have contemplated hitting ebay for some old charred up stocks and refinishing them loke the one above and the reselling for an extra 20-30$. I dunno, most people say its too shiny and looks like a hunting rifle. Thanks for the kind words.