The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

I Picked this 91/59 up today..The guy had it double sealed in foodsaver air tight bags,from the 90's.He said he put linseed oil on the wood,and hoops on the medal(he had the bolt sealed seperate) When i get it home and do a quick rubdown,it looks like the hand guard where it butts up to the sights is coated with a hard coat,maybe varnish .the rifle looks awful shiny.Shouldn't linseed oil wipe off ?Although it has been sealed for about 14 years.I'm just thinking it couted with something else..

Brass caps? In the Army I hated all the brass stuff...it would turn green if you didn't polish it.

thats not brass,its a clear coat over it,and the lighting,making it look that way..

If linseed oil, heavily applied, ever gets over the sticky stage, I think it does get hard.

I think you are ok. It looks good still. Not sure why they think they need to do these kinds of things to guns

First get some alcohol, no, not for drinking, take a Q tip, dip it in the alcohol, even whiskey will do, rub a tiny area on the stock someplace out of the way . If the Q tip starts to discolor then it's shellac on the stock, if not then it's poly. I don't recall seeing 91/59's for sale in 1998, I believe they came in around the same time as all the refurbs started showing up in 2000-2002 sometime. If it's poly you will have to strip the stock to get it off, a real shame, or just leave it as it is.

no discolor on the q tip with alcohol..

I think it is salvageable if you take your time on it. Try a few different things in out of the sight places and it may come off easy.

It's poly, only stripping will remove it, at this point I would leave it alone, you will never recover the color of the original finish if you strip it.

ok..:( thanks jyd..

SWEARGASM - (SUH-where-gazum) - the explosive rush of profanity that comes as a result of repeated, intense stimulation of the "i'm getting pissed off" nerve. Known to cause light-headedness, a feeling of euphoria, and a need to have some whiskey.

It's still a 91/59, and the poly will not stop it from shooting like a 91/59.

shoto2758 wrote:SWEARGASM - (SUH-where-gazum) - the explosive rush of profanity that comes as a result of repeated, intense stimulation of the "i'm getting pissed off" nerve. Known to cause light-headedness, a feeling of euphoria, and a need to have some whiskey.

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Indeed a prime example of never buying or maybe I should say listening to the story but buying the rifle for what it is. That is I am afraid grossly over shiny and think coating and I am betting some kind of Poly which as Dog said only removed by stripping and indeed you will be hard pressed to ever get the proper color back. That coating is so thick I really wonder whether you will be able to get the rifle apart without making a real mess of what is there. Real shame people have to do that to rifles but some people insist on being buttheads I guess. Good Luck! Bill

SA1911a1 wrote:If linseed oil, heavily applied, ever gets over the sticky stage, I think it does get hard.

Usually people use "boiled" linseed oil which has some drying agents added. It's pretty much set in a day - similar to tung oil. Both are suitable for US military rifles - either could have been used on a 1903 or a Garand depending on the year.

It sure looks modern to me though - I'm guessing he either forgot or he got some kind of finish that maybe had a little lindseed oil but was mostly modern. I know they do that with tung oil (minwax tung oil finish is handy to have around the house but it contains very little tung oil and shouldn't be put on a military gun stock).

well,it is what it is at this point..the rifle comes apart easy,and the parts and barrel are in excellent shape,it actually looks like its never been fired,its in that good of shape.So anyway,i'll see if i can get it to the range this weekend..i got a feeling this rifle is going to give them scope boys all they can handle.It feels real good in the hands.I'll give a range report.

websterz wrote:

shoto2758 wrote:SWEARGASM - (SUH-where-gazum) - the explosive rush of profanity that comes as a result of repeated, intense stimulation of the "i'm getting pissed off" nerve. Known to cause light-headedness, a feeling of euphoria, and a need to have some whiskey.

Like this?

It's a thick coat of furniture polyurethane. Stripping would be a nightmare. Just enjoy shooting it.

Despite the previous owner's bubba finish job, it's still a very nice gun. If you want to take some of the shine out of it, some #0000 steel wool will do a great job, but you might just want to leave it as is and like others have said, just enjoy shooting it.