Is it common to get SVTs with small cracks forming at the ends of the top handguard??
I bought one from wanstalls last week, my first rifle ever, only to find the handguard is cracked. Sucks.
I also bought a mosin from SFRC with the rear retainer spring snapped.
Bad luck or just common occurances for milsurps.
On a positive note the bores are nice on both.
I will post pics when i figure out how.
A lot of milsurps are in rough shape. I learned my lesson the hard way early on just like you lol Now, if I'm buying a milsurp rifle, I make damn sure I can hold it in my hands and inspect it before I drop cash on it.
You can order new Mosin retaining springs on e-bay for dirt cheap and swap it out. It's a grade 8 shop class simple procedure. Just drift out the old spring with a small nail and a hammer from the other side of the stock where the small hole is. Insert new spring.
If the handguard of the SVT-40 is in danger of splitting completely, you can seal it with epoxy from the inside.
Pictures of the cracks would help a lot!
Make sure you clean the interior of the cracks well with soapy water.
You may have to
CAREFULLY force the cracks open to do this.
Let it dry completely in the sun or in the dingy basement but it will take longer.
Use a high quality fast setting epoxy, force the cracks open again and get the epoxy in the cracks.
If you can (if the crack goes all the way through), smear the epoxy over the crack from the inside of the handguard to eliminate smearing the handguard on the exterior.
Use your finger and push the epoxy down. It will push into the cracks from the inside. Wipe off any that seaps through to the exterior surface with a damp rag.
One of the reason stocks start to crack is that with age, the moisture in the wood evaporates and the wood becomes very brittle. Especially Birch as it is naturally a very soft wood. The soviets heated it to eliminate some of the moisture thereby hardening it slightly.
Depending on the finish of your rifle (if it was like mine, the shellac is probably all but faded right off) you can get some boiled linseed oil and give it a good oiling. Make sure to oil the inside of the stock and let it dry thoroughly. This should aid in preventing more cracks developing if you intend to shoot the thing and not hoard it in a gun locker to collect dust
Depending on if you are a fanatic collector, if you really intend to shoot the s**t out of thing and enjoy it as a shooting rifle like I do, it may behoove you to actually strip and refinish the stock with a nice saoking boiled linseed oil finish. It will remoisten the stock, it looks a hell of lot nicer and you can slightly reduce the chances of the stock splitting further.
Here is a pic of my refinished SVT with Boiled Linseed Oil:
If you need any guidance on this matter PM me.
