Well here she is. My first attempt at converting a really crappy SHTLE back to it's military glory.
First off, this is my first attempt at doing this. Every aspect of this conversion was a first for the processes involved. Everything from dis-assembling the rifle, stripping the wood, sanding it, oiling it, and putting it back together. The entire experience was all new to me. So of course this first attempt is not close to perfect, however it's a lot better now than when I got it.
This rifle came to me from another dealer in horrible shape. It was neutered as a Sporter. The bolt spring was busted in 12 places, and it was covered in poo-looking crud. (90 year old dried packing grease) While the rifle conversion is finished, it still has a lot of cleaning left to be done on it in all the nooks and crannies.
I used a product called "Heirloom" to strip off the packing grease and as much crud as possible. There were red and white lines from it being a "training rifle" stock that came off easly. Used a paint scraper for the scraping. I then sanded it by hand going from a coarse to fine grit. I didn't stain the wood on this one. I used the boiled linseed approach. A lot of people commented it would need "15" coats. I could not even put 5 into it.
I consider this rifle a learning tool for me. I already know a lot of things I did wrong and what I need for tools next time to make the next one look better. For starters, the metal parts in the conversion kit I got for it was had pitting on it even though it was in packing grease for over 40 years. In an attempt to make the metal look better, I used this heavy enamel paint to clean it up. It looked AWESOME when it was done, but almost right away started to come off. If this rifle was going into a display case and was only going to be handled with cotton gloves and never fired, the paint would have made it look new from the factory. Next time I will simply degrease it and leave it as is. I also used a wire brush for cleaning. I probably shouldn't have. I am investing in nylon brushes for the next one.
For sanding, I used a lot of elbow grease in an attempt to keep the color of the wood uniform, but again I think this was a mistake. Next time I am going to use a palm sander to guarantee the color is a uniform as possible.
For the boiled linseed, I used a brush rather than a rag. Again next time, I may use a rag, or depending on the color of the wood on my next kit, stain it with a urethane based stain.
If you have any comments or criticism, I am all ears. I plan to do as many of these as I can get a hold of because I feel this is the only way to get better at it. I also strip and re-finish SKS stocks as well as the SKS is my other "Enfield addiction" so both projects will go hand in hand.
Thanks for reading and looking!
First off, this is my first attempt at doing this. Every aspect of this conversion was a first for the processes involved. Everything from dis-assembling the rifle, stripping the wood, sanding it, oiling it, and putting it back together. The entire experience was all new to me. So of course this first attempt is not close to perfect, however it's a lot better now than when I got it.
This rifle came to me from another dealer in horrible shape. It was neutered as a Sporter. The bolt spring was busted in 12 places, and it was covered in poo-looking crud. (90 year old dried packing grease) While the rifle conversion is finished, it still has a lot of cleaning left to be done on it in all the nooks and crannies.
I used a product called "Heirloom" to strip off the packing grease and as much crud as possible. There were red and white lines from it being a "training rifle" stock that came off easly. Used a paint scraper for the scraping. I then sanded it by hand going from a coarse to fine grit. I didn't stain the wood on this one. I used the boiled linseed approach. A lot of people commented it would need "15" coats. I could not even put 5 into it.
I consider this rifle a learning tool for me. I already know a lot of things I did wrong and what I need for tools next time to make the next one look better. For starters, the metal parts in the conversion kit I got for it was had pitting on it even though it was in packing grease for over 40 years. In an attempt to make the metal look better, I used this heavy enamel paint to clean it up. It looked AWESOME when it was done, but almost right away started to come off. If this rifle was going into a display case and was only going to be handled with cotton gloves and never fired, the paint would have made it look new from the factory. Next time I will simply degrease it and leave it as is. I also used a wire brush for cleaning. I probably shouldn't have. I am investing in nylon brushes for the next one.
For sanding, I used a lot of elbow grease in an attempt to keep the color of the wood uniform, but again I think this was a mistake. Next time I am going to use a palm sander to guarantee the color is a uniform as possible.
For the boiled linseed, I used a brush rather than a rag. Again next time, I may use a rag, or depending on the color of the wood on my next kit, stain it with a urethane based stain.
If you have any comments or criticism, I am all ears. I plan to do as many of these as I can get a hold of because I feel this is the only way to get better at it. I also strip and re-finish SKS stocks as well as the SKS is my other "Enfield addiction" so both projects will go hand in hand.
Thanks for reading and looking!
