Im going to buy an SVT-40 and refinish the stock...

miff

miff

Member
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
Location
Sault Ste Marie, ON
I think the birch stocks on these russian rifles look way better when that old shellac is taken off and carefully refinished with oil. Only done it on an SKS but SVT-40 is the same wood and if I find one which looks to have nice patterning in the wood im gunna do it, gunna get some major haters, couldn't care less :jerkit: I'll post pics when its done. Anyone done this yet (pics)?
 
Bedliner is way better for angering us "haters" if that's what you're going for here. Shellac is actually kind of fun to refinish with as long as you mix your own dewaxed variety from flakes and denatured alcohol. I've been tempted to bubba a rough refurb I have by mixing up some nice ruby red shellac and refinishing, but I just can't seem to find the time. Oil finishes are very nice as well, albeit not original to the SVT. The only thing I don't really like about oil is that it doesn't have much colour to it. I've heard you can add stain to it to change the shade of it. Congratulations on selecting a fine rifle otherwise, SVT's are fun no matter what the stock looks like!
 
My goal is not to match the original finish at all its more to display the character of the wood underneath the factory finish. So I wont be adding any color at all just sanding and buffing with steel wool until i am satisfied with the grain and then applying 15+ applications of tung oil. Heres how it looked on my russian sks stock im hoping for similar or better results just need to pick up a SVT that shows that dark blotching and grain under the original finish.
20120922_184117_zps7a740b4b.jpg

20130107_210036_zps7083c714.jpg
 
Last edited:
As has been suggested, reapply the shellac. The wood is likely ordinary birch, nothing more. Put your mind back to 1941 in invaded Soviet Union. They were retreating as fracking fast as the Germans could drive. Huge areas of agricultural land was disappearing in the rearview mirror. If the Russians even had stocks of linseed oil, it would have been used on almost anything but guns. Linseed oil is the base layer for paint and lots of other things. Ditto on the vinegar trick to get rid of the plum colour. That is a modern mistake.
 
I would say on a real nice numbers matching K98, or an M1 etc, don't do it, but on this(and I like SVTs, don't get me wrong), if you do it well, I imagine it will be an improvement.
 
I like it... As the stock is not matching or forced matched so it will probably not increase too heavy in value I think it's an upgrade... I'm considering this on my sks now (non matching ######x stock) what's the best way to strip the stock and where do I find ting oil
 
It happens to about 1/3 of mosin/svt & as such is not unique. Common reason include "The shellac was flaking off", "looks much better now", "that damned varish smelled", "oil is much more durable" ect, ect. The fact that the stock survived ww2 without oil is ignored. Such examples are usually found on the EE within a year with such refinishing touted as an improvement but generally sell for less than one in original condition. The novelty wears off & its dumped like garbage. Another rifle destroying affliction common among this species is IWITBADS (I want it to be a dragunov syndrome).
 
desporterizer said:
It happens to about 1/3 of mosin/svt & as such is not unique. Common reason include "The shellac was flaking off", "looks much better now", "that damned varish smelled", "oil is much more durable" ect, ect. The fact that the stock survived ww2 without oil is ignored. Such examples are usually found on the EE within a year with such refinishing touted as an improvement but generally sell for less than one in original condition. The novelty wears off & its dumped like garbage. Another rifle destroying affliction common among this species is IWITBADS (I want it to be a dragunov syndrome).
Click to expand...

The original shellac can sometimes be thinned with denatured or isopropanol alcohol and smudged back over the area that has flaked off to smooth out the visual imperfection if that's truly what the issue is. Also, if shellac is to shiny for your liking you can easily knock the finish down with a bit of extra fine steel wool and a drop or two of gun oil, then wiped clean. If someone was really concerned about the finish of their rifle they could always purchase a new reproduction SVT stock from ebay for around 120 dollars, but I guess that's just not as fun as giving the old vet a bieber cut.

I think if most people realized how easy it is to get great results with shellac they would leave the oil in the bottle... but I'll just keep my hateful observations to myself.
 
miff said:
I think the birch stocks on these russian rifles look way better when that old shellac is taken off and carefully refinished with oil. Only done it on an SKS but SVT-40 is the same wood and if I find one which looks to have nice patterning in the wood im gunna do it, gunna get some major haters, couldn't care less :jerkit: I'll post pics when its done. Anyone done this yet (pics)?
Click to expand...

I refinished mine when I got it.

I sold her and ended up buying a better one all around with an AVT Naval stock.

It turned out really really nice actually.

I didn't want to mess with it too much. I essentially just stripped off the flaking shellac finish which was probably not original anyway as it was refurbished through and through. Then cleaned it up and sanded it lightly. Then refinished with straight Boiled Linseed Oil.

I didn't sand it much at all, just to smooth out the feel to the top surface. I still wanted all the battle scars etc as I thought it gave it serious character.

I'll try and find the old picture if I still have it.

You are right about one thing for sure, people are going to give you 5hit lol

The light birch looks awesome in oil. I sold mine because I needed funds and deeply regretted it, so I bought another to replace her :rockOn:
 
Travis Bickle said:
I refinished mine when I got it.

I sold her and ended up buying a better one all around with an AVT Naval stock.

It turned out really really nice actually.

I didn't want to mess with it too much. I essentially just stripped off the flaking shellac finish which was probably not original anyway as it was refurbished through and through. Then cleaned it up and sanded it lightly. Then refinished with straight Boiled Linseed Oil.

I didn't sand it much at all, just to smooth out the feel to the top surface. I still wanted all the battle scars etc as I thought it gave it serious character.

I'll try and find the old picture if I still have it.

You are right about one thing for sure, people are going to give you 5hit lol

The light birch looks awesome in oil. I sold mine because I needed funds and deeply regretted it, so I bought another to replace her :rockOn:
Click to expand...


Awesome man, yeah a light sanding is all the brich really need, no need to sand out every last little imperfection I just take my time and use very fine paper. Id love to see those pics if you could find them.
 
JonVisscher said:
I refinished my M38. (Same finish as the SVT-40, just a little more red)
Here is a link to the "Show & Tell" video I did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr6HHI6DvQo

Around half way through the video you can see the BEFORE footage, and in the Info below the video you can see the process I used.
Click to expand...


Really enjoyed that video, pretty cool hickok45 gave you props too lol......Excellent job on that M38 was really beat up before you worked on it and made it yours and looks better than it has in its entire life span i'm sure. Did you stain the bare wood? or did you use shellac or oil mixed with color? Again great video Jon!
 
miff said:
I think the birch stocks on these russian rifles look way better when that old shellac is taken off and carefully refinished with oil. Only done it on an SKS but SVT-40 is the same wood and if I find one which looks to have nice patterning in the wood im gunna do it, gunna get some major haters, couldn't care less :jerkit: I'll post pics when its done. Anyone done this yet (pics)?
Click to expand...

You should post a pic of the SKS you did, I havent seen one restored to an oil finish but I would like too.
 
miff said:
Really enjoyed that video, pretty cool hickok45 gave you props too lol......Excellent job on that M38 was really beat up before you worked on it and made it yours and looks better than it has in its entire life span i'm sure. Did you stain the bare wood? or did you use shellac or oil mixed with color? Again great video Jon!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was surprised Hickok45 liked & commented on my vid.
If you click on SHOW MORE under the video I explained what I did step by step & the stains used.
To get the best results, it has to go down to bare wood!
Good luck
 
Travis Bickle said:
Awesome!

It looks dirty and mean!

Like it just got dragged through the battle of Stalingrad or something lol

Very cool.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I got the SVT40 in a package deal. By some standards I've bubba'd it. Don't care. Its more fun to shoot now than it was before. If it was all matching I wouldn't have changed it, but with what it is I'm quite alright with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom