Shopsmith Forums

I don't post on here very often, but enjoy reading other members post. I am looking for advice on refinishing a gun stock. I have an old Mosin Nagant Rifle that I would like to refinish the stock on. I plan on using true-oil or linseed oil for the finish. My question is which do you think would be the best, and what would be the best way to remove to old finish without doing a lot of sanding as I don't want to remove to much wood from the stock. It looks like it may have some type of varnish on it now. Do you think, paint and varnish striper would be the best. I'm open for suggestion.

Birchwood Casey

Boiled Linseed oil can give a really super finish on a gun stock, but it takes a very long time between coats to allow it to dry. My vote would be for the True Oil approach.

For stripping, I'd go with Citri-Strip. No matter what you use, make sure you get all the residue cleaned off the stock.....any residue will most likely not play nicely with the steel parts:eek:

^ +1What he just said. Lots of folks on the guitar building forum have the same types of re-finishing questions, and the answers are similar. And the Tru-Oil is the preferred choice for gunstocks and guitar necks. About 10-12 coats with very fine steel wool near the last coats, and good dry times between, and it can be polished to a high durable luster.

Thanks for the advice. I think I will try the Citri-Strip and go with the True-oil finish. I will try to post some pictures of the finished product. It my take me some time as I don't have much time to work on it right now but want to get going on it so I can take it out to the range and shoot it this summer.

Linseed oil is the old way. There are many products on the market today that are more durable and seal the wood from moisture much better than linseed oil.
I'd look into getting a modern gunstock finish instead. I have stocks finished both ways, and I prefer the newer more moisture-proof finishes.

I finally got my gunstock done. I striped it with a good paint and varnish stripper, than sanded smooth, put on a clean sealer, stained with red mahogany stain and 4 costs of Tru-oil. I will try to post some pictures of the finished product.

It looks good. Can you idendify what kind of wood it is made from?

garys wrote:It looks good. Can you idendify what kind of wood it is made from?

It looked like birch wood, but I'm not sure. It had a very white color to it and most gunstocks from the first and second world war were made from birch because it was cheap and easy to work with. I was very pleased with the way it turned out. I was not sure how it would look using the stain that I used but the results was better than I had hope for. I should have taken before during and after pictures, but had it stripped before I thought about it.

Looks good. I have a Mosin. I should refinish mine.

Nice job!! That looks nice! I also have a Mosin Nagant - it's a carbine. It is great fun to shoot; simple, rugged and acurate.