Mosin shellac

[skeet1]

What is the general consensus of the shellac finish on Mosin Nagant 91/30 rifles? Is it a problem to removed the shellac with acetone and refinish with some other type of varnish or does this affect the value of the rifle? It is just that every little bump on the shellac finish causes it to flake off. I would suspect that a purest reading this will probably be having a stroke; hope not.

Ken

[bunkysdad]

Hi Ken. Only a few years ago I had the exact thought as your post here. As a matter of fact I came real close to sanding my stock down lightly and going back with a nice hand rubbed true-oil finish that would no doubt be beautiful because my first Mosin has some very nice grain in the wood. I held off and took the time to get familiar with Mosins and other military surplus weapons and although I have not bought large quantities, I have looked at and studied hundreds of different ones. Just take a look at relic class firearms on Gunbroker and you can spot one immediately that has been messed with. Although cosmetically they look good at first glance, they just don't look correct. They almost always sell for less too. The flakes will eventually wear off if you use it, but there is just something rewarding about knowing that the rifle is historically still correct. I like to refinish old shotgun and 22 rifles, and try my best to preserve my battle rifles. Of course I must shoot them, and would not worry too much about the shellac coming off. It just feels right. Somewhere along the way I just fell in love with these old guns and became a purist I guess. My best friend thinks I'm crazy. But even crazy, I was more than happy to take his 91/30 stocks off his hands when he bought sported stocks!

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[Chumlee Bumsnag]

I have one that is pretty flaky too. Everytime I take the barrel bands off, the shellac comes off with them. I'm leaving it alone for now. If I did decide to do something about it, I would only consider using a similar shellac.
What I do to make it look better is polish it with a micro fiber rag. I'm sure you've seen them. They're picky on one side and soft on the other. I don't use any polish, just the rag. I' ve been accused of refinishing before, but nope. Just the rag.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Removing the original finish on any antique, no matter how much age it is showing will destroy the value of the piece. Yes, the shellac on these weapons is showing chips, cracks, and so forth, this is normal, it's what is supposed to happen on a rifle that was refurbished 40-65 years ago. They are antiques and are supposed to look the part, if I pulled a brand new Marlin .22 out of the box and saw the finish coming off I would pitch a fit, and be on the phone to the dealer in five seconds, it's brand new and I would expect to have at least my lifetime before the finish started to show it's age, but antiques should look the part. Milsurps don't look like these refurbished Mosins most of the time, only the insane paranoia of the Soviet state would spend a fortune refurbishing old bolt guns in the dawn of the semi auto era, and then never using most of them ( some were reissued). When just about every other country in the world gets done using a rifle, including our own, it looks like it was dragged behind a truck across the wastes of Afghanistan. Stocks are dented, dirty, and cracked, metal finish worn to bare steel, missing and busted parts, crusty bores, and the preferred method of storage is to encase the weapon in a block of axle grease. For example most of the Chinese type 53's, the majority of Turk Mausers, Korean returned Garands, and so on. Think of your Mosin as if it was just issued to you, a brand new Red Army soldier, and what you have is pretty much what a new issued rifle would look like, now you take it off to battle paper targets at the range for the next 20 years, after that time the shellac will look as if you had walked all the way to Berlin with it after never once having spent a night indoors along the way. Appreciate the weapon as it is, and the history it represents, the patina of age that it's finish has can only be duplicated by another 50 years of aging, leave it be.

[Darryl]

Not only will it devalue the rifle, it will make it much harder to sell it. Anyone can see it is not the original finish and will avoid it like the plague. That is why people who do refinish one always have to sell it for less.

If it really bothers you and you want to take it shooting, you can always buy a ATI fiberglass stock (more accurate anyway) and put it in that to protect the original stock. Just so you don't destroy any of the original pieces and can put it back to original, it is OK.

Flaky, We love Flaky!

[polymerase2]

I do a lot of woodworking and refinishing of old shellac window trim and I get the urge to do just one old cheap stock. I'm sure I could make it look like the original finish. Then I sit, drink a beer, think of history and look for bad refinishing jobs on gunbroker. If I still can't shake the feeling, I'll pull out a Finn stocked gun and go over it with beeswax/turpentine/linseed oil polish. Which is appropriate for the Finn stocks or any other original oil finish stock. I am partial to the Finnish finish.
The other cure is to buy another gun.

[BuckeyeSgt]

For me it's mostly the history. I bought it because I like it, not for what it could become but for what it was. Of course I'm the type that buys a truck and am happy with the wheels it comes with. Now an AR or 1911 that's just asking for new stuff to be added.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Had a guy in here yesterday who put fancy 19" douchebag wheel's on his truck three years ago, the NY winter road salt caused them to corrode because the material they are made from is both thinner, and far less pure than the alloy used by the OEM manufacturer, now they have rim leaks. I had the joy of quoting him the $900 replacment cost for the OEM wheels he gave away, plus mounting and blancing Yea, I love plain steel wheels with dog dish centercaps, they rust and you paint them.

[Rongo]

I like my flaky guns... They've earned their scars & should be appreciated.

Great advice everyone.

Had a guy in here yesterday who put fancy 19" douchebag wheel's on his truck three years ago, the NY winter road salt caused them to corrode because the material they are made from is both thinner, and far less pure than the alloy used by the OEM manufacturer, now they have rim leaks. I had the joy of quoting him the $900 replacment cost for the OEM wheels he gave away, plus mounting and blancing Yea, I love plain steel wheels with dog dish centercaps, they rust and you paint them.

I agree... Simple & basic is the way to go.

[Izhevsk762]

Had a guy in here yesterday who put fancy 19" douchebag wheel's on his truck three years ago, the NY winter road salt caused them to corrode because the material they are made from is both thinner, and far less pure than the alloy used by the OEM manufacturer, now they have rim leaks. I had the joy of quoting him the $900 replacment cost for the OEM wheels he gave away, plus mounting and blancing Yea, I love plain steel wheels with dog dish centercaps, they rust and you paint them.

Thats one of the few things i enjoy about Ca, no road salt.

[bunkysdad]

What Ron? You have flakes on your guns? I ain't fallin for it.

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[Junk Yard Dog]

Got flakes on lots of mine, got lots of them with no shellac at all, normal.

[WeldonHunter]

How many times have you seen this question asked on the antiques roadshow? They tell the owner "Well this dresser is worth $20,000 but if your grandmother hadn't stripped and refinished it the value would be $60,000."

[BuckeyeSgt]

Doing stupid things to cars reminded me of this.....at least it wasn't a Mosin.

[Junk Yard Dog]

[wolverine.1968165]

Hi Ken. Only a few years ago I had the exact thought as your post here. As a matter of fact I came real close to sanding my stock down lightly and going back with a nice hand rubbed true-oil finish that would no doubt be beautiful because my first Mosin has some very nice grain in the wood. I held off and took the time to get familiar with Mosins and other military surplus weapons and although I have not bought large quantities, I have looked at and studied hundreds of different ones. Just take a look at relic class firearms on Gunbroker and you can spot one immediately that has been messed with. Although cosmetically they look good at first glance, they just don't look correct. They almost always sell for less too. The flakes will eventually wear off if you use it, but there is just something rewarding about knowing that the rifle is historically still correct. I like to refinish old shotgun and 22 rifles, and try my best to preserve my battle rifles. Of course I must shoot them, and would not worry too much about the shellac coming off. It just feels right. Somewhere along the way I just fell in love with these old guns and became a purist I guess. My best friend thinks I'm crazy. But even crazy, I was more than happy to take his 91/30 stocks off his hands when he bought sported stocks!

Sent from my Garminfone using Tapatalk

[desdem12]

That looks like one of those parade clown cars...wheres binky the clown?

[audadvnc]

Okay, so no stripping old shellac. How about touching up the existing finish with new shellac? Is that cheating - after all that's just what Ivan did in 1947.

[Junk Yard Dog]

A very little bit of new shellac will help the weak spots hold together, use a Q-tip to blend it into the chips. USe only the smallest amount as it will not match the shellac on your rifle, a large patch will look like crap.

[SA1911a1]

Had a guy in here yesterday who put fancy 19" douchebag wheel's on his truck three years ago, the NY winter road salt caused them to corrode because the material they are made from is both thinner, and far less pure than the alloy used by the OEM manufacturer, now they have rim leaks. I had the joy of quoting him the $900 replacment cost for the OEM wheels he gave away, plus mounting and blancing Yea, I love plain steel wheels with dog dish centercaps, they rust and you paint them.

Thats one of the few things i enjoy about Ca, no road salt.

What is "road salt"?