The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

I have deducted that when refinishing the wood on a Mosin it is best to use what was available when the weapon was made, my question is...." Where am I going to find 74 year old shellac"?
The wood on my "New" Mosin is covered with garbage varnish and I need to get down to the wood in order to return it to where it should be, the last person to "coat" it even coated the barrel bands with varnish and there is no way I will leave it in this condition.
What are you men using on the wood?

EVEN IF terrible preservation is the forum..... so they dont really recommend any at all.

that being said

one time i goggled the subject and found a recipe for making shelac to the color that may
of been close to what is was in the refurb day. never did it myself.

restoration forum page maybe more info.

The shellac on the rifle was likely slopped on by Ivan during the refurbishment process and then stored away. They didn't really care that the stuff got on the metal bands, magazine, butt plate, receiver or barrel. That's the way the Soviet military refurbished and stored them and in as much is 100% correct. The finish can crack, peel, flake etc and that's just the history for that particular rifle and is 100% correct as it is. I've got a 1925 Izhevsk that went through refurb but the shellac looks like it was left in a swamp for 6 months and then taken into the sahara to dry out for another 30 years. Ugly as hell but it's 100% correct for the rifle and I wouldn't dream of refinishing that one.

As this is a preservationist forum, it's not just frowned upon to discuss refinishing a rifle, it's against the rules.

Drilling and tapping, refinishing of metal parts, or refinishing stocks are not considered preservation and discussing how to do this is not acceptable discussion on these forums.

Lotema wrote:The shellac on the rifle was likely slopped on by Ivan during the refurbishment process and then stored away. They didn't really care that the stuff got on the metal bands, magazine, butt plate, receiver or barrel. That's the way the Soviet military refurbished and stored them and in as much is 100% correct. The finish can crack, peel, flake etc and that's just the history for that particular rifle and is 100% correct as it is. I've got a 1925 Izhevsk that went through refurb but the shellac looks like it was left in a swamp for 6 months and then taken into the sahara to dry out for another 30 years. Ugly as hell but it's 100% correct for the rifle and I wouldn't dream of refinishing that one.

As this is a preservationist forum, it's not just frowned upon to discuss refinishing a rifle, it's against the rules.

Drilling and tapping, refinishing of metal parts, or refinishing stocks are not considered preservation and discussing how to do this is not acceptable discussion on these forums.

+++++1

Not often mentioned enough, but should you fiddle with the finish, I'll guarantee that you will regret it later in addition to destroying the future value of your rifle. Other than that, we don't discuss these types of things in this forum. If there is damage to the rifle, a trip may be warranted to the Restoration Forum. What to use on the wood? Try lemon oil. Thoroughly wipe off any grease remaining on the stock with old towels or whatever you have (no steam or chemicals) then rub in some lemon oil, let it sit for a while then wipe of any residue - you will get some more grease up with this treatment as well.

Age, how do you replicate 50-70 years or more of age? That is what gives the shellac it's trademark look much more so than any colorings the commies put into the shellac. Preservation, not restoration.

`Probably in the minority here, but if the shellac on an M91/30 refurb was so badly damaged that it bothered me (in conjunction with new gouges hacked into the wood beyond the usual handling marks), then I just passed on by.

It IS where it should be.

Preservation is the key word, after you hang around here and learn about these wonderful pieces of history you learn to appreciate them for what they are. After a little while those with the been there and done it look will be more appealing than the typical refurb. My favorite one is a rough pitted SCW 1917 Remington mix master. You cannot reproduce history.

Enemy at the Gates, I would encourage you to post some pictures of your rifle, unless you have already started removing the finish. I at first had the impression that someone had badly refinished it already but if it has the original arsenal you can only remove all the age and patina once then you just are stuck with just another screwed up Facebook Bubba special.

I prefer my antiques to look the part, if I wanted a new rifle I could acquire them all day long, that's easy, finding a piece of history with "the look" that takes time, like 50-100 years.

I know this isn't nearly as bad as some, but the shellac was gone when I bought the rifle. Wouldn't change anything about it. It is my main shooter. Nobody makes fun of it when it goes BOOM

This is what an issued Soviet 91/30 looks like after a few years of service, in this case with the Romanian army and who knows who before them.

Wonderful photos JYD. Thanks for sharing. I really like it. Looks like it has been there, done that.

Ya gotta love the tool chatter on the receiver.

Longcolt44 wrote:Ya gotta love the tool chatter on the receiver.

And those interesting stock repairs.

Stock repairs are a Mosin thing, the Russians, Finn's, and anyone the Russians gave rifles to repaired the stocks. Both of the rifles in the pics are from the Romanian hoard back in the 90's. The tool marks on the '42 Tula are common to rifles made that year with the war going badly for the USSR and everything rushed.

I wish to thank all of the folks here who responded to my inquiry regarding historically correct finishes used on the 1940 Tula 91/30 Mosin's .

I didn't want to make it look "new" but I wanted to protect the exposed wood where the finish had flaked off, I was concerned that if I left these patches of wood exposed that it would eventually discolor the wood where the shellac was not protecting the wood.

So I guess from the replies that I should do nothing with the exception of a little lemon oil on the exposed portions of the wood stock and I should be good to go.

Thanks Gentlemen !

And then enjoy!