Cosmetic Care for SKS

Sadosubliminal

Sadosubliminal

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Hi everyone!

I just bought an SKS from another member here, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips on cosmetic care for the wooden stock. Here is a pic he sent me:

sks.jpg


I haven't seen the gun in person yet, but it appears the wood has some grime that could be buffed away, making the stock shiny and bringing out the wood grain.

I have no experience with this but I would imagine a good buff with wax would probably do the trick. Any suggestions to bring out the best gloss I can from this wood, ie drill attached buffing wheels, or certain types of wax like carnauba wax, techniques, etc?

What about staining and lacquer? Good or bad idea? I know, it's just an SKS, but it's my first rifle and I'm pretty excited.

Finally, I'd like to know the best ways to renew and maintain the metal parts i.e. cleaners and polish.

Thanks!
 
Buy a Tapco stock! LOL

Adds about 10x's more awesome to any SKS!!!!!!!!

As far as the original wood and metal goes, you can simply oil everything up, or even refinish the stock by sanding all the, awwww WTF am I saying???????????

Its an SKS, just beat the #### outta it and have fun. If you want a pretty gun you shoulda bought something else IMHO.
 
mlehtovaara said:
Its an SKS, just beat the s**t outta it and have fun. If you want a pretty gun you shoulda bought something else IMHO.
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Yeah, I wish. Tight budget, man, really tight. This is what I can afford, so I will love it and polish it and attempt to reproduce with it until the day I can afford a snazzier rifle.

In the meantime, elbow grease and wax are my only upgrade options. Nice SKS by the way.
 
No big deal, all Im saying is love it for what it is! I am not sure how good shape the gun is, but unless it was unissued it will prolly have some dings and scratches already. Don't let that bother you. These are military weapons, designed to be used and abused, and that is exactly what I do with mine. You will enjoy it, and if you are on a budget then you picked a great option for a gun. It's hard to find a gun as cheap as these and ammo doesnt get any cheaper other than .22lr. Pick up a .22 and you can shoot all day without breaking the bank.
 
the sks might be a bit better once you see it in person. taking pictures of them inside never does them any justice. natural sunlight is the only way to get a good pic of any wood stock, otherwise they look dark and ugly. lightly oiling all the blued steel is a good way to protect it, just dont get any on the wood, but they are tough rifles the way they are, cleaning it and not abusing it is the only protection it needs. IMHO tapco stocks are fugly as aids, like grandpa in spandex. Enjoy your new rifle, SKS's really are all theyre cracked up to be and then some
 
Take the stock off and refinish it, its easy.
From China tir, oops sorry, Canadian Tire.
- small 473ml can of Bulls Eye Zinsser amber shellac, CanTire # 47719 00718
- bag of 0000 steel wool
- litre can of methyl hydrate
- couple little $2 foam paint brushes

Take stock off, wipe off any crud with a damp cloth, let dry, LIGHTLY buff it with the 0000 steel wool and clean the dust off. Blow the dust off with an air compressor or wipe it off with damp cloth. Let dry.
Pour some well stirred shellac in a glass and add a tiny bit of methyl hydrate to thin it a bit.
The shellac dries very fast so thinning it slightly will help to avoid leaving brush strokes.

Hang the stock from a wire and brush the shellac on fairly quickly, paying a bit more attention to the locations that had rub marks, brushing back and forth there a couple times to mix the color of the old shellac with the new shellac.

Wait an hour or so and give the stock another light 0000 steel wool buffing and apply a second coat.
It’s very simple and will look brand new.

Then go out and beat the hell out of it.
 
Norton said:
Take the stock off and refinish it, its easy.
From China tir, oops sorry, Canadian Tire.
- small 473ml can of Bulls Eye Zinsser amber shellac, CanTire # 47719 00718
- bag of 0000 steel wool
- litre can of methyl hydrate
- couple little $2 foam paint brushes

Take stock off, wipe off any crud with a damp cloth, let dry, LIGHTLY buff it with the 0000 steel wool and clean the dust off. Blow the dust off with an air compressor or wipe it off with damp cloth. Let dry.
Pour some well stirred shellac in a glass and add a tiny bit of methyl hydrate to thin it a bit.
The shellac dries very fast so thinning it slightly will help to avoid leaving brush strokes.

Hang the stock from a wire and brush the shellac on fairly quickly, paying a bit more attention to the locations that had rub marks, brushing back and forth there a couple times to mix the color of the old shellac with the new shellac.

Wait an hour or so and give the stock another light 0000 steel wool buffing and apply a second coat.
It’s very simple and will look brand new.

Then go out and beat the hell out of it.
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Sounds easy enough. I'll post results, when I get around to doing it.
 
Sadosubliminal said:
Sounds easy enough. I'll post results, when I get around to doing it.
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A few side notes...

You can check around and get a spray shellac instead of brush Or use polyurethane instead (if completely stripping the stock first I'd use Poly instead personally)

For hanging it a modified coat hangar works wonders for this.

And assuming you are using surp ammo.. don't forget to clean the beast properly! :D
 
FLITZ to buff the bare metal & if the stock dosn't need to be refinish but just needs the lustor back try Old English and then some sort of wax. Such as waxalyne or this;
GUN%20STOCK%20WAX.JPG
 
no joke. run it through the dishwasher a couple of times. Without the heated drying cycle mind you. Got the trick from this board and have used it to remove cosmoline and the likes from several stocks.
 
C9er said:
no joke. run it through the dishwasher a couple of times. Without the heated drying cycle mind you. Got the trick from this board and have used it to remove cosmoline and the likes from several stocks.
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DON'T subject your poor rifle to this....

The dishwasher trick works (apparently) for rifles just out of storage, bathed in cosmoline.... chances are most of the cosmoline is off yours, because you bought it from an individual, not a dealer (right? ...sorry, halfway through the coffee this AM)

So, if you get it, and the stock feels kinda gooey/sticky at first, or it gets gooey/sticky after shooting it... you MAY have some cosmoline still in the wood...

Personally, I wiped my stock down with mineral spirits on a rag a couple of times, that took care of most of it.... she looked good enough after that so I left it as is... No need to over complicate things here...

If you do want a bit more protection on the wood, it sounds like a good furniture wax would do it... but I wouldn't worry about sanding/buffing/refinishing just yet...

Trust me, it's your first gun, it's gonna look great in your hands! (Mine did!)
sIMG_2754.jpg


And besides that, a little patina on a milsurp is a good thing!

Matt
 
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