Stock refinishing Russian Simonov

[nelly]

Gonna ask y'all here, as the Red Rifles forum is dead on this topic:

Hope to buy one of the Russki SKS in a couple of weeks - Have experience refinishing Enfield stocks with DBLO / beeswax, but the SKS is shellac, no?

Tips, tricks, advice? Would like the Simonov to look neat and tidy, but still "original" when done.

Merci,

Neal

 

[louthepou]

If the current finish on it is really in need of care, clean it first with methyl hydrate. That will even out the old shellac (and remove some). Then, use new shellac to recoat it.

Ideally, find shellac flakes and mix them yourself in the solvent. Pre-mixed shellac is only the white kind (on the SKS, you should have red, or maybe amber shellac).

Lou

 

[nelly]

Thanks for that Lou,

You have given me more knowledge in those two sentences than I could locate on the interweb in an hour's searching of "SKS stock refinish".... All of those articles started along the lines of:

"Take yer 100 grit sandpaper...".(!!!)

 

[louthepou]

It's a pleasure nelly. Here's what one of my SKS looked like after that not-too-intrusive treatment. That one came really-crappy-looking from SIR. Here's one "Before" picture telling half the story; Sorry I don't have a "before" pic of the wood - but it was less than presentable.

Now it's not great, but at least it can go to range dance without its school friends laughing at it. Cool thing with shellac is, if you're not happy with the coat you put on, clean it with methyl hydrate and start again. Note that shellac dries quickly, it's a bit of a weird substance to work with.