Is it a good idea to refinish surplus rifle stocks?

I have bought the following guns:

Finnish M39
Swedish Mauser m/38
Mosin-Nagant M91/30
Swiss K-31

The M39 looks thirsty - the stock is pretty bare
The Swedish m/38 looks pretty good. I probably won't touch it.
The Mosin is still in Cosmoline. 'Not sure how it will look.
The K-31's 'finish' looks okay, but might need some TLC. The wood is dirty, dented & multicolored from use in the past, etc.

Those rifles are my first. I don't own any modern rifles with a wood stock and I know nothing about wood, but I'm willing to learn.

So what do you guys do? Leave everything stock (pun intended)? Will they crack or deteriorate with general use? Light rain, fingerprint oil, etc? What is the general recommendation for care? I'm more concerned with making sure the guns function and last for decades than I am preserving their EXACT original finish formula. If you say I can leave them as-is and everything will be fine, I'll do so - no work for me. If I need to do some basic work on any of these models to keep them intact another 50 years, I'm willing to learn.

Don't jump into refinishing right away.

The first project should be to get the cosmo out of that one stock. Take the rifle apart, wrap the stock in a black plastic bag and put it in the sun. Every day for a week or so, late in the afternoon, take the stock out of the bag and wipe it down with mineral spirits. It will take about a week.

Read up on the others, especially the m39. It is not likely you'll need to refinish them--it will lower their value.

CDFingers

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I'm one of the rifles behind every blade of grass.

91/30's are a dime a dozen and would be a good one to learn on. I had a 91/30 that I stripped completely and refinished.

With my Beech K31, I gave it a quick wipe down with denatured alcohol to get the grungies off and then a couple light passes with some 220, tack clothed it and resprayed it with some Zinsser shellac. The gouges and dings = character

I wouldn't worry about a 91/30 or K31 loosing value since they are fairly common milsurps.

Just remember...your rifle, do as you please.

I couldn't comment on the others.

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* 1937 Czech vz24 Mauser
* 1940 Schmidt Rubin K-31
* 1943 Springfield Armory M1 Garand

What I have noticed ,with the m39, is that they come in two very different stocks. One type appears to be "normal" with some use and wear and a good supply of pine tar/ oil mix in the wood finish. The other type stock is "new" these are in nice visual condition but look as though someone touched up the raw stock with a little brown stain, period. THEY ARE EXTREMELY DRY. I have one of each so I can make some side by side observations. Some posters ,it seems have been seeing cracks and splits in these otherwise "like new" stocks. I took mine down and started adding some BLO. It soak it up like crazy and then I let it sit 24 hours, and repeated the process daily. THIS IS DAY SIX AND ITS STILL SOAKING IT UP. If you have this, NEW ,type of stock I would get some type of oil in it before you shoot it. If you shot one already you may want it inspect inside and out for cracks/ splits.

I think mine falls into the dry category. I have not shot it yet.

What do you think? (Any perceived gloss is the camera flash)

They are your rifles and you have the right to do to them what you wish. I would however not rush anything. You cant undo it once done. I have some rifles I have refinished the stocks on and some I never would think of touching. If I do refinish one it is with a lot of forethought. I will only refinish the stock if I think it will make the gun more appealing to me. If it is a run of the mill 91/30 with flaking shellac I will remove the shellac and reapply new shellac to keep the original type of finish. I only will refinish a stock with the same type of finish and appication as originally done. I also would not buy a gun anymore that would need refinishing to make it appealing to me if I thought a refinish would decrease its value or collectibilty, if that makes sense.

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1936 91/30 Tula ~ 1952 M-44 Polish
1945 M-44 Izhevsk ~ 1954 T-53 Chinese
YUGO 24/47 ~ CZECH VZ24~Steyr M95~P-64
Swedish M-96~Enfield No.4 Mk1/2~Spanish M-43

That's the problem. I'm not sure what I should do. I don't care much about increasing or decreasing their value. I just want to make sure they don't crack and stand the test of time.

Any other advice?

They will be fine for the time being. They have lasted this long. You may not care about the value now but that may change in the near future as you learn and appreciate your first mil-surps. Like I said they are yours and you have the right to do anything you want with them, but that being said you cant undo a refinish once its done.

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1936 91/30 Tula ~ 1952 M-44 Polish
1945 M-44 Izhevsk ~ 1954 T-53 Chinese
YUGO 24/47 ~ CZECH VZ24~Steyr M95~P-64
Swedish M-96~Enfield No.4 Mk1/2~Spanish M-43

Thanks for your comments Benefactor.

I'll keep the thread alive to get some other comments from refinishers on what is best to do with the M39.

Real nice condition on your metal finish, Neither one of mine is that nice. I do believe you have the stock I'm worried about. They are very nice condition but dry as sawdust inside and out.They need BLO (boiled linseed oil). Mine has the vertical striations like your's. As though it just came off of the lathe. No need to sand or try to remove any finish, the oil soaks in right through it.

This is just my humble opinion;
The Mosin stock needs to be cleaned. Completely disassemble and clean with a solvent, turpentine or mineral spirits, do not, I repeat DO NOT use denatured alcohol unless you want to completely refinish it. I chose this stock to discuss first, because it would be the best place to start AND if you plan someday to shoot it it needs to be cleaned anyway.
Many K-31s had a similar shellac finish as the Mosin. You can clean it up with the same process. If you choose to refinish come back and ask questions.
The M39 - there are two types of stocks - war-time with a round spliced forestock and post-war mostly with some type of square spliced forestock (or triangled looking). Look at the bottom of the stock where it's pieced together just in front of the fingergrooves - if the splices are round you have a tougher decision - it's a war-time stock - all those dings and scratches may have been put in in some battle somewhere. Either way, if you want to "give your stock a drink" (so-to-speak) follow the Candyman's oil scub method and that should do plenty to address the issue. One scrub should be sufficient, but two wouldn't be overkill. Another complication with the M39 stock would be if someone ever used a pine tar at some time on it. The above scrub would remove some of that. Again, this would be a your choice type thing.
The easiest is the Swedish M38 - you're right - don't touch it.

All of us were new to working on stocks at one point of our lives (except for maybe Lee, we think he was born with a wood stock in one hand and some steel wool in the other). You have the fortunate experience to draw from some of the best stock workers I've ever drawn information from. Ultimately, the tough decisions are when to do what to a stock and as many have said, that decision is yours. You're definitely doing the right thing at first by asking question! Good Luck! Tom

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