Tru-Oil Finishing?

Somebody make Dave's last a sticky, that was worth money. Many thanks.

___


Steve P., got all that?

That covers it well.

But if you sand, don't sand out, for example, a Swiss cartouche. Or the TRZ markings and serial on this one's stock. When they clogged with woodust I used a precision screwdriver to clean out the markings before applying a finish.

I explained in another thread, this is a value-less, non-collectible, deliberatly bubba-ized junk Mauser shooter, not a classic collectible, or I would never have used Tru-Oil. Or put a black forend on it. I wanted all the wood sealed for rainy day/high humidy/marine enviornment shooting.

Even the Tru-Oil was left over from NOT using on a more beautiful rifle, a K31. In fact I bought this one cheap to scope, so as NOT to scope a waffenamp-marked Yugo M48A.


Sincerely, non-Bubba


dang, we're outta potted meat again.
 
Steve - Good question.

Don't laugh please when I tell you that I use that spray oven-cleaner as a degreaser. It really does break down all the crud and nasties on the stock. Most of the time it takes several applications. I don't use solvents because I want to get the junk off the stock, not soak it into the stock.

Onced degreased, any good antique wood refinisher will get off most of the remaining finish without screwing up the finer details of the stock. I only use this after a good degreasing. Then I use whiting and acetone to get out the soaked oil spots. Again this may take several applications of putting on the whiting past and letting it sit to draw out the oil. You have to get it all out before putting on the finish.

Then I take a very hot iron and a wet wash cloth to get out the dents and dings. You put the wet wash cloth over the ding and put the hot iron on top of it. The steam created will swell the wood and lift it up so it can be very lightly sanded smooth. This avoids the use of wood filler which never seems to match the stock's color. You may have to do this several times to lift the old wood up and remove the ding or deep scratch.

I mainly have worked on Garands and Czeck VZ24 Mausers carbines. You should have a set of good gunsmith screw drivers and other tools before pulling the gun apart as it is too easy to jigger up the screw heads and scratch the finish of both the metal and wood if don't use good tools.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/brnovz24/rifledisassembly/index.asp

I have always finished with several coats of hand rubbed tung oil or boiled linseed oil. You may have to let the stock sit a couple of days to dry but it comes out looking great. For a good job you don't want to rush it. You may have to take some 0000 steel wool to the stock between coats if you want it smooth. Normally this isn't an issue with an older military firearm which doesn't have a "Weatherby" glassy finish.

If the inside of the stock is messed up, cracked or broken, or the screw holes are stripped out or oversize, I glass-bed the action and barrel. This is fairly easy to do and helps the accuracy of the firearm. Just read the instructions three times. If you glass bed improperly it is about impossible to remove the barrel and action from the stock.

If required I have always sent off the barrel and action to be reblued or reparkerized by a company that specialized in that work. I just don't have the tools to grind, polish, and heat blue and there are guys who do it very well.

http://www.stocksrestored.com/

http://www.gunbluing.com/

Have you ever been to the Brownells website? They have good stuff for the firearms restorer.
 
Ad Astra said:
2 cans of brake cleaner per rifle melts the worst of cosmo off the metal. Wear gloves... bag of old t-shirts. Brake cleaner too harsh on wood stocks, you'll see...

boiling water gets it off the wood, it can't take heat. Easy-Off helps get oil out of wood, but I bet it would eat metal- I think it has bleach in it.

Yugo SKS's are awesome cosmo-bombs. Everywhere and if you don't take the bolt apart and get the firing pin, they can slam fire full auto.

But the 24/47 Yugo- that was 60-yr. old cosmo and really bad.

whole gun, Tru-Oil stock:

reexp42go.jpg


forend that can never match in flat black & satin poly:

reexp23ye.jpg



there are 100 ways. all are hard work. you do bond with the ugly new bastid during the process.


Mike
Click to expand...

Great pictures! My Czech VZ24 is an Israli honor guard model that was rebarreled to .308 cal sometime in the late 1940's. In Arial Sharron's book "Warrior" there is a picture of the guard with this rifle.

I have never worked with or shot a .308 Spanish Mauser. I understand that this is pushing the safety limits of this particular model. I would like to rebuild an good Swedish Mauser some day. I have mainly stuck with Mausers in calibers that are easy to find. My little .308 is the hit of the deer hunting camp. Everyone laughs at it with it's military sling and without two pounds of glass sitting over the barrel. However they have to play touchy-feely with it. I could have sold it a dozen times. It is a very effective deer rifle for the ranges that I can accurately shoot.

You should try and find a good leather military style sling for yours. They are very handy when tromping about in the toolies with your gun.
 
Steve Poll said:
Hi Steve:

What is the correct authentic method to refinish a mil-surp wood stock, then?

Maybe that is what I should attempt?
Click to expand...

I really have no idea. It's a source of constant debate on the K31 forums.:)

Sounds like Dave and the others have a good plan though.

Steve
 
I read once what the military did to finish a Garand stock. I believe, amongst other things, they were dipped in lineseed oil and then finished with a coat of another product.

munk
 
If you like a genuine linseed oil finish, but want to speed up the drying time, get a bottle of Japan Drier at an art supply store (about $4 for 4 OZ) and add a tiny amount to the oil you intend to use that day. (The oil isn't actually drying, it is polymerizing, as I understand. Drier acts as a catalyst, speeding up the process) Also, turpentine speeds up the time it takes for linseed oil to harden, but the fumes are quit toxic.
 
This is one of the best threads I've ever read. I want to thank everyone for so much information and typing. What wonderful step-by-steps for refinishinf a stock.

I'm confident I can handle the job, which will probably be in my immediate future.

Would a mod be able to make this a sticky as mentioned?

This is too good to lose.

Thank you all very much for sharing you knowledge. A lot of this will work on wood knife handles, too.
 
A mod might- if he could prune some of it.

Wood working is an entire subject, a lifetime for many people. What a way to go. I didn't know about Japan Drier- Bri In Chi- My God, all this stuff available.
I've been to a few wood care forums- there are subgroups within groups, just like knives.


munk
 
Well it appears that the old standby EZE Off Oven Cleaner is the way to go to strip a stock. Now and then I wonder if my son used the stuff on the stocks of the M-16s they were cleaning, I''ll have to ask him if I can remember.;)

The method Dave uses to clean his guns after use is about what I did in the Army to clean my M-14 after a day at the range and for the one time I had to pull guard duty.
It seemed that no matter how clean your weapon was the Sarge in charge of getting the men ready rejected it and you had to go clean it again and again!!!! :rolleyes: :grumpy:
Well I didn't fool him any but at least he didn't reject my M-14 for being dirty, just told me, "Soldier, go put some oil on this weapon." and grinned. I said, "Yes Sergeant!!!!" "Right away Sergeant" and went back into the barracks to oil it down.:D
The one nice thing about being in the military, at least here in the states, was there was a never ending supply of water so hot it would scald you if you put your hands in it!!!!:eek:
A little solvent on your rifle and then a good sloushing under the hot water and you were good to go. The water was so hot that it dried instantly so there was little danger of rust if you oiled it fairly soon.
Before we got out of boot I had a lot of the guys cleaning their weapons this way.;) :D

And speaking of Ad Astra y'all better watch him. Ad Astra is an enabler of the worst kind when it comes to guns of any and all kinds!!!! :eek:
Because of Ad Astra I ordered a Walther P-38/P-1 today from AIM for a very reasonable amount of money.:cool:
I even sold my Musso Bowie so I'd have the funds without getting into our emergency money. ;-)

But I guess I'm just as bad when it comes to HI Khukuris and their other little knives.
I just gotta talk Ad Astra into getting one of the little "Rusty Sgian Dubh's!!!!" :thumbup:

Before you know it I may be ordering a K-31 and buying EZE Off Oven Cleaner to strip the stock!!!! <VBESEG>
 
Yvsa said:
I just gotta talk Ad Astra into getting one of the little "Rusty Sgian Dubh's!!!!" :thumbup:
<VBESEG>
Click to expand...

I've already got a Sarge-made Sgian Dubh.... it came today:



An absolute beauty. ;) I'm very proud and pleased to have an original. Sarge, you rock!

But count me in for the HI production version of his design.


Mike

Hmmm... clean postwar ex-German Police P-38/P-1's....Nobody needs waffenamps on a shooter anyways.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Walther.html
 
I'd like it known for the record that cleaning firearms with hot soapy water is not my preferred method for general maintenance. The only times that I ever use this are when a weapon has been immersed in salt water, I've fired large amounts of corrosively primed ammunition, or I'm doing the initial cleaning of a milsurp and there's a lot of fossilized grease to remove. If the metal's finish is thin or the metal itself is questionable, you'll get large amounts of flash rust like this.

For general cleaning, I scrub everything down with Ed's Red and let it sit for a while. (Or days. It won't hurt anything and prevents corrosion.) Depending on which bore I'm cleaning, how badly it's fouled, and what it's fouled with, I'll use anything from Ed's Red to CLP to Kroil to Sweets 7.62. When everything's clean enough for my liking I blast off everything with carb cleaner or brake cleaner, whichever was cheaper the last time I was at Walmart. I give this a few minutes to dry and I oil and lube.

Truth be told, I keep my firearms too clean. Old habits die hard. This is the cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to keep a firearm too clean. If "clean enough" is good for you, wipe it off with a rag, punch the bore a few times, and throw some more oil on. Most weapons won't know the difference.
 
Rather than hijack this great thread I have started another with a sequel of sorts. See SKS The Sequel
 
I should mention a few more things, now that I think about it. (I'm working a few stocks right now and it came to mind.)

Not all milsurps are finished the same way. Some are a bare oil finish, some are oiled and varnished, some are just varnished, and some (I'm thinking Russian) are anyone's guess. All should be considered on a case by case basis. Just because a given nation used one method during a period of time doesn't mean that they used it every time, or even most of the time.

Maintenance varies. Russians wiped their stocks clean. Americans rubbed a bit of linseed oil into theirs with a bare hand. The Swiss used their army grease on their stocks. After decades of service, it makes a difference in how the wood responds to restoration. Keep this in mind.
 
Svashtar said:
Related item on the Tru-Oil bottles (I have run into this myself):

"Keeping the bottle sealed. I have found that it is almost impossible to put the lid on a bottle of Tru-Oil without it forming a heavy film as paint does in a can not tightly sealed - and consequently losing a lot of it. I wrap a piece of half-inch masking tape around the lid, which seals it well enough that there seems to be very little loss."

Norm
Click to expand...


And do not do as ... someone :rolleyes: :foot: ... did and push the dried skin/crust into the rest of the Tru Oil with your finger!

It broke up, but did not dissolve, leaving little bumpy chunks to plague the person applying it to the wood.:(
 
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