Has this m38 been sanded and/or refinished?
- Thread starter Folklorestatus
- Start date
midnightpossum
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East Kootneys
I am inclined to think it's been sanded.. Butt plate has too much space around the edges...lower part of hand guard looks uneven..
Do the barrel bands come off easy?
Do the barrel bands come off easy?
Yes, it has been sanded and refinished and spray painted black. There were some rough M38s/M44s they gave this treatment to and advertised them as "Polish Naval salt resistant finish" or some such. Some have fake Polish proof marks on the wood. The refinishing could have been 50 years ago though, god only knows.
I refinished an M44 that was really beat up and it came out looking similar to that... doesn't mean it's been done, but I would guess that it has. Mine looked original (through a war zone) and I didn't see any markings on the stock. A beat up stock usually has the markings worn, scraped or dented away as well.
I'll guess that this has been refinished some time ago and took on some wear afterwards. Nice rifle, go shoot it...
I'll guess that this has been refinished some time ago and took on some wear afterwards. Nice rifle, go shoot it...
What did you use to refinish, BLO? This stock has a few bare spots where it's been dinged, so I'm thinking a refinish is in my best interest.
That is a good poiint, there is a good amount of relief under the butt plate. Yes, the barrel bands come off much easier than on my other mosins.
Wish whoever did this used a chemical stripper instead of sanding it.
Last edited:
My opinion - it looks like a WW2 stock that was likely refinished by the Soviets during their refurbishment program post-war. Stocks were sanded enough to remove damage, so sometimes they have an over-sanded look here and there. In all likelihood your stock was sanded by the Russians and not Canadian bubba.
If it's an M38 stock (can't tell i the pics if there is a bayonet relief) and not an M44 stock, consider not doing anything else to it. Nothing you can do will make it more original and proper soviet M38 stocks are worth $200 on e-bay by themselves, even if they were through the refurb program. If you refinish it, it will drop pin value - no matter how good a job you do.
If it's an M38 stock (can't tell i the pics if there is a bayonet relief) and not an M44 stock, consider not doing anything else to it. Nothing you can do will make it more original and proper soviet M38 stocks are worth $200 on e-bay by themselves, even if they were through the refurb program. If you refinish it, it will drop pin value - no matter how good a job you do.
I would say recently refinished. I have not seen any examples where arsenal refurbishment coating (shellac) has be applied over dents and dings. The practice was to sand out or repair the damage. After 40-50 years you should see some cracking or flaking of the finish at least in some areas; I don't see any in the photographs. At least some shellac will almost inevitably have been scraped off removing the barrel bands.
This looks similar to some "Balkan" M44s that I refinished to preserve their used character but to hide the modern careless handling and packaging damage. Gasp!, lost value - not really these were the $199 scratch and dent ones sold by Collectors Choice a few years ago.
If the refinish was done with shellac it can be easily removed with methanol,"methyl hydrate" or ethanol; no need for fancy or toxic strippers.
This looks similar to some "Balkan" M44s that I refinished to preserve their used character but to hide the modern careless handling and packaging damage. Gasp!, lost value - not really these were the $199 scratch and dent ones sold by Collectors Choice a few years ago.
If the refinish was done with shellac it can be easily removed with methanol,"methyl hydrate" or ethanol; no need for fancy or toxic strippers.
