Rifle Stock Refinish

By Tyler Brusseau and Max Schmidt

When acquiring a Mosin Nagant rifle, coming across one with its original stock finish intact is a rarity. Presently, most rifles feature a shellac finish, suitable for World War II-era Soviet. However, numerous alternatives exist for refinishing, including linseed oil or pine tar, which were historically prevalent choices. The Red Army employed various substances for their rifle stocks, with linseed oil being the focus of this guide. Note, we do not recommend refinishing your rifle stock if it still has the original finish still applied. Many Finn captured mosins still have the original finish on them, we only recommend you redo refurbished stocks, an example being one that has its refurb shellac peeling off. It’s important to note that refinishing is not mandatory for historical accuracy in Soviet reenactments; keeping the shellac finish or opting for refinishing both remain entirely acceptable choices. This guide provides an alternative for those who are curious about learning more about their rifle as well as want a reenacting project to work on. If you are curious to learn more about mosin rifle stocks in much more detail please check out the following article https://www.m9130.info/stocks-handguards it is worth the read if you have the time.

The Red Army employed various substances for their rifle stocks, with linseed oil being the focus of this guide. It’s important to note that refinishing is not mandatory for historical accuracy in Soviet reenactments; keeping the shellac finish or opting for refinishing both remain entirely acceptable choices.

Note, we do not recommend refinishing your rifle stock if it still has the original finish still applied. Many Finn captured mosins still have the original finish on them, we only recommend you redo refurbished stocks that has its shellac peeling off for example.

This guide provides an alternative for those who are curious about learning more about their rifle as well as want a reenacting project to work on. If you are curious to learn more about mosin rifle stocks in much more detail please check out the following article https://www.m9130.info/stocks-handguards it is worth the read if you have the time.

Supplies Needed

Paint Stripper

The first step required once the rifle has been disassembled is to strip off the finish. Any choice of stripper should work fine, the one we’ve used the most for rifle stripping is Citristrip, you can easily purchase this at your local hardware store such as Lowes or Home Depot. You can also find this brand of paint stripper on Amazon as well.

We also recommend using latex gloves when applying the stripper onto your rifle stock. A brush can also be used in conjunction with the stripper but is not necessary.

Linseed Oil

The second main step once the the rifle stock has been stripped is to refinish it. We recommend linseed oil as this was a common finish applied to mosin nagant rifles either alone or in combination with a lacquer during WWII. Just like the paint stripper you can purchase this at your local hardware store, Lowes, Home Depot, or even Wal-Mart. This brand of linseed oil is also available on Amazon.

We recommend a small cup to be used with the linseed oil as to not apply too much, also for safety as linseed oil is highly flammable! Use a brush as well when applying to your rifle stock. Please be careful when applying.

The Process

Step 1

First you will need to disassemble your Mosin Nagant rifle, this guide assumes you already know how to do that, it is a very simple rifle to disassemble, there are guides on YouTube if would like to learn how to disassemble your rifle. A handy tip, the bayonet can be used as a flathead screw driver to remove the necessary screws for disassembly.

You do not need to do a full disassembly, just a basic field strip to where you have the stock and handguard on its own like in the photo. This is also a good time to clean each component of your rifle if you have not done so yet, you’d be surprised where you will find cosmoline if you have not disassembled your rifle before. For this guide we will be using an M38 Mosin Nagant carbine for stock refinishing.

Step 2

Second, once you have your rifle disassembled, you’ll want to either get some large garbage bags or a tarp to layout in a suitable place to begin the stripping process. We suggest doing this portion in your garage or back patio. You can also get some plastic wrap to wrap up the stock once the stripper has been applied if you like, but not required.

We recommend wearing some latex gloves and applying the stripper to the handguard all at once and to the stock one side at a time. You can either pour it onto the stock directly, use your fingers to spread it onto the stock or use a brush. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of stripper, this is an extremely messy process and there is a lot of shellac that you will need to remove from the stock and it may take a few coats of stripper to remove all of it.

Once the coat of stripper has been applied let it sit for about 24 hours, then wipe away the old shellac finish. Again, this is a very messy process, make sure you have gloves, garbage bags/tarp, and rags. You’ll want to repeat this process until the handguard is fully stripped and one side of the stock is stripped, then move onto to the other side. Typically 2 coats of waiting 24 hours of stripper is needed to fully remove the shellac from the stock.

Step 3

Once all the main portions of shellac have been removed, double check the stock to see if there are any small parts that were missed and reapply a small amount of stripper to remove the last bits of the old finish. Once that is complete the best way to clean out the smaller nooks and crannies is with a small flathead screw driver. It works very well at peeling back any leftover stripper and shellac in the hard to reach parts of the stock such as the cleaning rod clearing, inside the sling loop cutouts, along the front ring notches, and inside the stock itself.

Once that is complete you wipe down the stock with a damp rag. From there let it dry out for 1 to 2 days, during this time period you can lightly sand it if you so choose. When this is completed the stock and handguard should have a natural wood color similar to the photos provided. Most Mosin stocks are made of Birch or Beech wood. You want the stock to be very dry, that way when you apply the new finish it will soak into the stock much better. Once again the new finish is your choice as long as it is correct to pre & wartime soviet finishes, we recommend either linseed oil, tunge oil, or pine tar. A combination of oil coats then covered with a new layer of lacquer is also period correct.

Step 4

Once the stock has dried you’ll want to begin applying the linseed oil, pine tar, or another period correct finish of your choice. Per the 1936 standard production Technical conditions #1525 multiple coats of the final finish was to be applied. For refurbished stock refinishing, 3-4 coats of your chosen finish should be fine. Apply each coat with your brush and let it sit in the sun to dry for 24 hours before applying the next coat.

Repeat this process for 3-4 coats and you are good to go. The result should be smooth and dry, if there are any sticky spots left on the stock, too much oil/tar has been applied. You can use the stripper to remove any excess finish. Apply a small layer of stripper to the section that is sticky, let it set for 10-15 minutes in the sun, then wipe it off. This should remove leftover sticky portions on the stock.

Do note that some stocks will absorb the oil/tar better than others, so results may vary. If you want to experiment with different methods, check out the article mentioned earlier, https://www.m9130.info/stocks-handguards there was a wide variety of mosin stock finish combinations and methods used. This is meant to look like a wartime Soviet production rifle, there were levels of variance. Enjoy your newly refinished mosin stock!