Refinished SVT-40 & 1950 SKS With Pictures!

[Travis Bickle]

Hey all,
Thought I would share some pics of my SVT-40 and 1950 Tula SKS.
I refinished the stocks on both of them.
They turned out pretty awesome

SKS before:

And After:

SVT-40 after re-finishing the stock. I misplaced the "before" pictures The original finish was completely shot and flaked:

 

[bryan.14]

Looks nice! Great Job. What did you use I have a couple sportering rifles needing refinishing.

 

[Dsiwy]

Looks good!


If you get a true collector in the future "never refurb it " but for a shooter your GTG

Use linseed oil as it keeps the wood from drying out and water proofs it.

 

[svt1940]

Nice

 

[Travis Bickle]

Looks nice! Great Job. What did you use I have a couple sportering rifles needing refinishing.

Methyl Hydrate and 0000 steel wool and rags to strip off the horrid shellac.
Then did the best to steam out the dings and dents in the stocks with a towel and steam iron.
Sanded with 100 grit paper ended with 150 grit, so the pores in the wood stay somewhat rough and wide open.
Then hand rub boiled linseed oil. 24 hours "drying" time between each app.
After the first 2 apps. I used 0000 steel wool before applying the next coat to open the pores up again.
4 apps. in that way and a final 2 day drying and they were good to go.
I would never strip and re-finish a valuable milsurp. I shoot the hell out of my guns lol They are valuable to me only.

 

[hical.ca]

nice job!

 

[cainesy]

The Russkies sure have nice wood don't they. Excellent job on both of them. I bought a '53 Tula a while back and it was full of fingerprints, I had to strip the stock and do the same thing and I could'nt be happier. Cheers.

 

[Zerex]

Really nice job!

 

[Travis Bickle]

Thanks all.
It's too bad the grime/shellac had gotten so deep into the stocks in some spots.
I'm thinking about doing the old Mosin '44 next

 

[The Kurgan]

Gorgeous! Impressive work.

Once that hideous "refurb shellac" is gone and a good hand-rubbed low lustre oiled finish is applied, the Russian wood is actually quite appealing to the eye!

 

[Travis Bickle]

Thanks
I agree on the Russian wood. I read that it is supposed to be "Artic birch". I'm not very knowledgeable about types of wood, but it looks great!
I really like the laminate SKS you did.
Looks great with the parkerized metal.
What did you use for the finish after you stripped off the shallac?
I'm contemplating doing my refurbed laminate M44 Mosin.

 

[The Kurgan]

Thanks
I agree on the Russian wood. I read that it is supposed to be "Artic birch". I'm not very knowledgeable about types of wood, but it looks great!
I really like the laminate SKS you did.
Looks great with the parkerized metal.
What did you use for the finish after you stripped off the shallac?
I'm contemplating doing my refurbed laminate M44 Mosin.

Yes, the laminates are made from Russian Arctic Birch. Very hard wood!
The refinish process is very simple:
I chemically stripped off the shellac finish. Very easy to do.
I then sanded the wood ever so slightly with 200 grit sandpaper.
I then followed with buffing the wood with 00 steel wool.
I applied 4 to 5 coats of tung oil. I waited 1 hour between applications and gently prepped the surface with 0000 steel wool between coats.
I applied the final coat after 24 hours. A final coat of wax and Bob's your uncle.

 

[miff]

Looks really good man! Great work I'm thinking about buying an SVT and doing it, already done on my sks (tung oil) like 20 coats lol