I decided to finally refinish my Mosin Nagant M91-30 1942 Tula Round Receiver 7.62x54R mm Soviet military surplus rifle. The "stock" finish was a greasy mess of 70 year old shellac and baked in cosmoline. I knew under this greasy surplus coat, she could be a beauty.

I'm a refinishing noobie; it was my first time! It's not the best job in the world, but I had a blast doing it and it still looks much better than before.

Here's a video of the process. BONUS: you get to hear my voice and I sound stupid, sorry. EXTRA BONUS: you also get to see my really messy garage (it's cleaner now, I swear!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7N2qB2Z8bM

(As of posting this, it was still processing. It's in 720p and YouTube is slow to process HD)


Here she is the day I got her (as is - still the best $100 I've ever spent):



Close up of the stock finish with most of the surface cosmoline off:



Stock finish, rifle taken apart:



Needed supplies (not shown: lots of disposable nitrile gloves, power sander with 220 grit, newspaper, and an understanding wife)



Naked rifle! This is the first time the wood has been able to breath for 70 years! The wood is some sort of pine. I'm assuming Asian pine. It smells great! This is after sanding.



Extreme close up!



After the first coat:



After the first coat - improvised hanging solution:



Here is the after. This is after two coats and the excess grinded off with 0000 steel wool. The metal for the strap was discolored from stock. The oven cleaner didn't clean it like I though. Oh well.



The rifle's good side. I LOVE the new finish.



Another angle:


[This message has been edited by helgs (edited 4/4/2010 10:32p).]

looks good to me

That looks good.

Gig Em

Looks good, but......

The Russians used a lacquer finish, which is easily removed with lacquer thinner, a green scrubby pad, and a 5 gallon bucket (and some solvent resistant gloves). And a rattle can of spray-on lacquer will give you a very even (and period correct) finish that dries almost immediately.

Using a power sander on it is kind of beating a square peg into a round hole.

Just FYI in case you decide to do another one.

Where can you get one of those rifles?

Cabela's in Buda had a bunch of them at $150, I believe.

I got mine from jgsales.com. Was about $100 shipped after FFL and shipping.

As for an easier method to remove it, I've never heard of that. I was following the instructions from the box of truth guys and others out there.

Don't pay $150! Try www.classicarms.us

For $100, every gun owner should have one of these in their arsenal.

I bet communist Russia never thought they'd be arming American rifle enthusiasts more than half a century later.

I know! I think of that every time I pick the rifle up. If only the lowly infantryman that once used this gun could picture this rifle in the hands of a middle-class, suburban American he would have defected and fast!

Looks good

thanks metrag

I have one and absolutely love it. It is a beast of a weapon. We used it a lot in Alaska as a cmap gun. It it fell in the water or got run over I could just go get another one. Plus you would be amazed how versatile the bayonet can be. Plus the round was plenty hot enough for anything but the biggest brown bears(nothing practical is really hot enough for those in a self defense situation. Thats where bear spray comes in best.)

Good job! You gave new life to that rifle after removing that ugly-ass orange finish.

Tell me about it! That stock orange finish wasn't too ugly, but I like the walnut satin look much better.

The best thing about the sanding, though, is cleaning the wood up. I didn't remove any cartouches or other markings, but I made the finish silky smooth.

I plan on having this rifle until I'm old and gray. I hope to be alive on its 100th birthday! (2042 - I'll be 58).

Champion has these in stock for around $100. At least they did last time I was in there.