Arsenal Finish or Refinished?

[tinknocker104]

I'm looking at this M38 but I'm not familiar with the finish on the stock. Worn varnish? Any guesses?

[Longcolt44]

Looks to be a rifle that has had all the finish removed in preparation to refinish or get it ready to paint it black a green to hide it in the woods. The damage has been done, just give it a coat or 2 of lemon oil, as it looks dry, and leave it as is.

[tjtM38]

Someone has stripped it and lightly sanded; probably in preparation to refinish it in some fashion. Some people just want it their way. Did you buy this rifle?

[Junk Yard Dog]

Get some better light on the subject and shoot some good pics, nice closeups of all the markings and of course of the stock. Two possibilities here, Bubba, or Balkans. Mosins used in countries like Albania, or Romania tended to lose their shellac, and end up with no finish at all past bare wood. I have one M38 in the collection that is very similar to this, no shellac left on the stock at all, and it is a Balkan used rifle. These will mostly have Soviet refurb stamps on them like any Ukranian import, but there will be wear on the bluing that can be very mild, to total silver, sometimes unmatched numbers, older import stamps, missing cleaning rods, wood repairs, get some better pics up so we can see the rifle better.