Laminated Sks Stock Care

frabill

frabill

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new to the site and relatively new to guncare in general and i have a few questions

I recently purchased a 1953 tula with a laminate stock from a local shop.
i have cleaned all the metal parts up but have been unsure of what to do with the stock.

i read the cosmoline cleaning thread and have understood the methods people seem to use, my question is, is their anything to watch out for after doing either the heat method or steam?

do i need to oil the stock or does the lamination not require re sealing due to the epoxy within the layers?
is there as much worry of it drying out/cracking?

also if i were to decide to refinish the stock as it has several chips and a rough finish, what would i use to recover it?

any tips are appreciated,
Thanks
 
Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I wipe down my stocks with brake cleaner, then wipe on a coat of tru oil, then wipe it off and vigorously after an hour or so. Seems to work for me. All my SKS are hardwood, but I imagine they used the same varnish/shelac for both.

sksright.jpg
 
so do the stocks not withhold a lot of cosmoline in the porous areas inside the unfinished areas.? or did the brake clean penetrate that fairly easily?
 
None of mine had much cosmo in there at all - I just wiped it out. If there is a little bit there I'd prefer to just let it sweat out in the sun at a range day than get too freaky with it.
 
RMXC51 said:
Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I wipe down my stocks with brake cleaner, then wipe on a coat of tru oil, then wipe it off and vigorously after an hour or so. Seems to work for me. All my SKS are hardwood, but I imagine they used the same varnish/shelac for both.

sksright.jpg
Click to expand...


Such a beautiful sight
 
If you are keeping it as a colector's piece then use waxalyne or ### wax even and buff it to a nice shine.
If you want it looking factory new. Then get some extior Varthane gloss.
 
Nay-nay on the brakeclean. The quickest way to take strength out of a piece of wood is to clean it with solvents. Don't take my word for it,experiment for yourself. Get a hammer with hickory/wooden handle{the heavier the head the more dramatic the results} and soak/clean the handle with a solvent ie varsol,turpentine,brakeclean til it's nice and clean.6mon-1yr later the handle will snap @ the head when struck. Solvents are too harsh for wood that you give a sh1t about.
I would recommend treating your furniture like.....furniture:p. Any oils removed must be replaced...treat it like your coffee table.......you don't use brakeclean on that do you?
 
I wiped my collector hardwood '51 SKS with a damp rag, let it dry, and wiped it down with a Hoppe's treated wax cloth.

I chemically stripped my arsenal fitted laminated stock '54 and finished with numerous coats of tung oil. Then finished by wiping it down with a Hoppe's treated wax cloth -- a thing of beauty.

I sent another arsenal fitted laminated stock off my '52 to Murdoc to get arma-coated.

So many options... but your best bet is to leave the non-refurbished SKS's alone and just wipe them down and add a light coat of wax. All other SKS's are a dime a dozen (~15,000,000 produced), so have fun and do what you want to them.
 
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