Refurbish a milsurp (K31)

quinnjoblow

quinnjoblow

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Has anyone refurbished a Swiss K31 an Enfield or a Mauser? I am not talking just refinishing the stock. I am thinking about having one of my walnut stocked K31 rifles stripped down and possibly professionally glass bead blasted and re blued. Then refinishing the stock etc myself. Would this be a major taboo. I don't plan on selling it but I have to think about possible re sale value down the road. It's far from a museum piece right now and I don't think it would hurt the value if it was done tastefully.
Any advice would be appreciated?
 
Why? It will absolutely tank the resale value to collectors. Take these old milsurps for what they are and if you want to futz around glass bedding a rifle get a modern rifle and do it to that. Part of the fun of the milsurps is seeing how well they work as is. However if it is already sporterised/bubba'd, then go crazy. All that being said it is your property and you can do with it as you wish.
 
I disagree, K31 is not very rare, they made lots, nice examples will go up in value, average examples will stay flat. I have 4, I would definitely refinish the rifle and enjoy it and pass it down. Resale value of average k31, not likely to take off....
If refinishing it will make it more enjoyable for you to use it, then I say do it.

mikerock said:
Why? It will absolutely tank the resale value to collectors. Take these old milsurps for what they are and if you want to futz around glass bedding a rifle get a modern rifle and do it to that. Part of the fun of the milsurps is seeing how well they work as is. However if it is already sporterised/bubba'd, then go crazy. All that being said it is your property and you can do with it as you wish.
Click to expand...
 
Has been done many times to different milsurps over the years & with the exception of Garands, the phrase " Throwing good money after bad." comes to mind.
 
I got a K31 for a really good price, the "bad" was it's not numbers matching, bolt doesn't match the barrel and niether match the stock, stock had no finish when i got it (already stripped) So we refinished the stock with true oil (looks very nice, it's got a nice walnut stock) i added a swiss products scope mount, added a nice vortex scope, thing is super accurate and looks great. Do what you like i have many milsurps that i wouldn't touch (type 99 arisaka all markings intact for example). i think the real stigma is when things are bubba'ed, refinished on a real nice example is probably not a great idea but tastefully done on a rifle that likely would never have huge value isn't a big deal IMO.
 
The crazy thing about these rifles is the quality and how over built/engineered they are. You could use it as a bridge support the stock is so thick, the receiver is built like a tank and they are very accurate, all for the low low price of $250-300.

I mean, you can't go wrong.
 
Quinn, I personally and Bead Blasted many different firearms and reblued them, or even Parked them. I only ever do this if the finish is such that getting rid of the surface rust, or hiding the light surface pitting will help with the sale of the firearm. Personally, I wouldn't do this for any surplus firearms unless I am fixing Buba Q Dremel's handy work, or if the gun is in such shape that that it will increase the personal value to me.

That said, the K31's that I have seen that were in REALLY good shape, they have all been polished blue, so if you want to refinish it and have it look original, it should have a polished blue and a natural oil stock. For the stock, I recomand using 150 grit and Tung Oil. The nice thing about bead blasting or heaven forbid, sand blasting, it is great for hunting rifle/shotguns, or any thing tacticool that you don't wish to have reflect light.

If you do blast it, I do suggest polishing, or leaving the polish on the moving parts that are blued. Only blast the exterior parts.

As for resale value, that is a mixed bag of hammers. Look at the Garand, all the James River Garands are refinished and yet look at the price of those guns.
 
Started think you were talking about glass bedding then re-read your post.

How bad is it?
I find Oxpho-blue does wonders on K31s.
 
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