Finish on a Mosin

[cbrgator]

Just received my first Mosin in today (very very excited by the way). Anyway, as I was handling it, I noticed that something was coming off on my fingers. It was brown and flaky so I am assuming its part of the finish?? I happened to be wearing a white undershirt and after shouldering the rifle, I noticed it had made that area of my shirt quite dirty. What's the best solution/treatment for this problem?

It's a 1935 Tula if it matters.

 

[shiftyer1]

I would bet it's cosmoline!!!!!! not the finish. As for how to remove it everyone has an opinion. I use boiling water on small parts and brake cleaner on everything else metal.

 

[Cosmoline]

It could be dried cosmoline, but it could also be old shellac, which the USSR often used as a finish. Cosmoline will be smeary if you rub it around a bit. Old shellac will just flake apart. I usually clean up the stock with wet rags and if there's little or no shellac left some hand-rubbed coats of BLO will work in its place. Or you can use more shellac.

 

[cbrgator]

No, no smearing. Just brown flaking. And it's also relatively dirty.

 

[MagnumWill]

yeah, it's the shellac. That was the first thing I did with my Mosins is grab a razor blade and scraped all that crap off and re-did it.

 

[flyboy1788]

Im in the process of redoing mine because I had the same problem on my 1909 M91. I got the finish off, then applied 2 coats of red mahogany stain, and am now waiting for my Birchwood casey tru-oil stock oil to arrive so I can add a nice protective shine to it while still looking somewhat authentic.

Refinishing a stock is not hard, you should consider it.

 

[Flea]

Amen on refinishing... I stripped mine with a 3M sanding block, and refinished with Minwax stain and a couple coats of a clear sealant. Turned out great and a much tougher finish than shellac!