Results of my SKS stock re-finishing project

Master-G

Master-G

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I picked up a 1953 Tula refurbished SKS from Weimajack last week and decided to refinish the stock—the shellac had darkened quite a bit, and I find it scratches easily—it's not a very durable finish. I wanted a more resilient finish that looked good too. I stripped the shellac off with rubbing alcohol, applied a few coats of Minwax stain, and a few coats of a beeswax-turpentine-linseed oil finish. I'm pretty happy with the results.

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very nice result!
here is my try at it last week... miniwax ''gun stain'' color + red leather dye + 3 or 4 coats of tung oil
not perfect but way better looking than the blonde stock i started with imo
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Those rifles all look fantastic.
The "Soviet Green" looks really unusual (careful the fuzz don't make it a prohib as a variant ;) ).
I have a very nice original Laminate SKS but now I'll have to get another to tinker with!
 
kgb81 said:
That looks really good, good work man! How does it shoot?
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Just got back from the range--I had forgotten how comfortable SKSs are to shoot. The rifle worked really well--I only had a chance to try standing at 50m and got a five round group about 3".

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That looks great! I'm not a wood working guy. Only worked with metal. When you finish somthing up like that can you clear coat it a few times to help prevent scratches and such like putting a few extra coats of clean on a car?
 
crash277 said:
That looks great! I'm not a wood working guy. Only worked with metal. When you finish somthing up like that can you clear coat it a few times to help prevent scratches and such like putting a few extra coats of clean on a car?
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There are probably products that would work, but what I like about oil finishes (although I'm not an expert by any means!) is that they don't show scratches as easily as a glossier finish would. It'd be interesting to know if there's a product with the look of an oil finish that would also provide some abrasion resistance.

Melnibonean said:
Is that a hardwood or laminate SKS? (I'm not a wood guy either)
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It's laminated.
 
You can get a flat clear now. I've Used it over flat black and it didn't make it shiny. If you have a scrap of wood that you could do the same process as you did you that awesome looking stock you could spray it with the flat clear maybe?
 
from what i experienced
2 coats of tung oil will make it matte
3 or 4 coats shinny
5-6 glossy
but you can always run a very soft 0000 wool to make it matte without damaging the finish
 
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