'Restoring' 1950 SKS45 stock. Yay or Nay?

[StrelokM38]

Alright, so I purchased my first SKS last week. The metal and such is in very good quality. But the stock itself looks like someone dragged it through a field of sandpaper.

How would one go about restoring the stock? Did they use anything special when finishing the wood or am I thinking too much on this?

Thanks

 

[collector67]

The original finish used by the Russians was a thick varnish/shellac, pretty hard to duplicate. If you do strip it, assuming your stock is Arctic Birch and not laminated, you will likely end up with a very light colored wood as a result. That being said, you can either stain it darker or just apply boiled linseed oil (or Tung oil) to condition the wood.

 

[dand883]

As far as i know the "finish" is just how much cosmoline soaked into the wood over the years.

 

[miff]

I would say go for it if you feel you have the skill and patience to do it properly. There are threads on cgn which give good instructions. I used Heirloom fine furnture stripper to get all the cosmo and shellac out of the wood. Finished mine with many coats of minwax tungoil rubbed on and off then a final coat left on thick for 3 days. Turned out amazingly glossy and durable finish. 0000 steel wool and very light sanding brings out the grain in that arctic birch but it does lighten the overall colour of the stock but imo it looks better because the character of the wood is actually visible.