I went with the K31!

[meanmrmustard]

I went to Cabelas to day with the intention of getting a Mauser, possibly another AK. Well, I'd been threatening to buy a K31 to refinish, make my own, and use for deer hunting. Found one in gun library, actually two, for $400. I had a Yugoslav Mauser in hand, with every intention of buying it for $300. Then, just for giggles, I asked to look at the bore, chamber, and crown of the K31 I liked. It's in good repair, all original. Just because I was in a last ditch mood, I offered $300 for it with mag and sling. Gentleman him hawed for a few minutes, came back, and let it go. I'm super excited! I immediately bought supplies to redo stock (not overly worried about value) and came home with it. I took off butt plate, and sure enough, there's the troop tag. Issue date of 1938! I'll have the Missus post pics tonight. I'm glad to have Ulrich Eddenberger's issue rifle.

Any professional tips on refinishing stock? Stuff is bought, so it IS happening (sorry purists), and any useful tips are appreciated.

I'm hooked on the straight pull!

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I'm the proud owner of what once was Louis Jecker's rifle. lol.

Well the way I did mine might have you interested.

Used some finish stripper I bought at Menard's called Fastrip or something of the like, and wiped the stock down with it. Old finish came off fast and clean.

NOTE: There are cartouches on the stock, so be careful on the steps that follow. I only sanded until I could not feel the grains in the wood individually, being very careful not to take away the character.

I used some fine sand-paper to smooth out the grains sticking up. You can use an old bone, too. It's a technique called "Boning the Stock," and will give you the same result, only smoother.

Once you've got all the grains down, git rid of as much of the wood-dust as possible.

Take an old T-Shirt, cut off the sleeves, and use the sleeves as a rag to apply the stain, rub it in all along the stock, wait about 5-10 minutes, then wipe off. The more times you do this, the darker it will become (depending on the stain, I used 6 coats of stain on my K31). You'll want to wait about 6-8 hours between coats.

You can use some super-fine grade steel-wool here to smooth out some of the new finish, I did not.

Then after I finished the last coat, I waited 24 hours to let it dry thoroughly. I then applied Tung Oil to the stock, waited about 5 minutes, then buffed off. I used about 7 coats of Tung, if I recall correctly, waiting 24 hours between applications.

Here's the end result (Couple different forms of light here, the pics look like two different rifles, but I only own one K31):

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

And here's a couple of my Mosin that I refinished in a similar way. (Both have the same stain on them, but the Mosin took the color better than the K31 did):

 

[dprice3844444]

that's some impressive pig sticker with that k31

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I know, I love it, lol. $80 from CTD, though, wasn't cheap. There's a genuine saw-back in the Omaha Canfield's Sporting Gear that I want to try and convince the owners to let me buy, lol they don't want to sell it.

 

[meanmrmustard]

I got Krud Kutter and boiling water to bring old finish, oil, and grease to the surface. It's all natural, bio degradable, and safe. I'm steaming the dents that haven't breeched the grain, and I've got Birchwood wood conditioner, Minwax red Sedona stain, and tru oil finish. Doing it slow and right.

Mosin, you rifles are BA. Hope mine gains the character I put in while retaining the character it is. I'm going to inquire on a manufacture date in a bit.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Thank you, and sounds like you're on the right track. Posting a SN really helps, I have no issue saying mine because the importer's SN is all that matters on imported rifles now.

799529 puts it in the year of 1944. I'll have to find the website I found this on.

 

[mshootnit]

I really like mine. I use the Hornady 165 grain ammo and it really thumps deer. Great sights on those.

 

[mshootnit]

mine is walnut and has plenty of marks that are deep and dark and would be hard to refinish. I just have oiled mine so far. If I knew of someone really good at refinishing I might look into it, where it's tiger striped from front to back.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Dating your K31

1933 1193 520010-521202
1934 15534 521203-536736
1935 13664 536737-550400
1936 11326 550401-561727
1937 11639 561728-573366
1938 10344 573367-583700
1939 15300 583701-599000
1940 33575 599001-632575
1941 54150 632576-686725
1942 49350 686726-736075
1943 50475 736076-786550
1944 51900 786551-838450
1945 26200 838451-864650
1946 15600 864651-880250
1947 20950 880251-901200
1948 20100 901201-921300
1949 15500 921301-936800
1950 13200 936801-950000
1951 23050 950001-973050
1952 21400 973051-994450
1953 5549 994451-999999
7450 215001-222450
1954 17150 222451-239600
1955 11250 239601-250850
1956 6400 250851-257250
1957 2950 257251-260200
1958 3130 260201-263330

Hope this helps.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

mine is walnut and has plenty of marks that are deep and dark and would be hard to refinish. I just have oiled mine so far. If I knew of someone really good at refinishing I might look into it, where it's tiger striped from front to back.

If I knew how to do that, I'd be doing it on all of my rifles, lol. But I think it's in the grain of the wood.

 

[meanmrmustard]

Thank you, and sounds like you're on the right track. Posting a SN really helps, I have no issue saying mine because the importer's SN is all that matters on imported rifles now.

799529 puts it in the year of 1944. I'll have to find the website I found this on.

Here ya go: 933320. That's on bolt and receiver. Looks like I may have been pretty off about dates. Looks like a 1949 according to your list. Wonder what the 1938 means?

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Got a picture? and is 1938 on his troop tag?

 

[Sam1911]

If you can avoid applying an actual STAIN, and use just the oil, it will look better in the long run, IMHO. The Tru-Oil or Tung Oil are just fine, but stains soak into every open pore and bruised grain fiber and make them stand out in unfortunate ways. If you go very gently with the sanding, you shouldn't lose the natural color that the wood's taken on over the years, so you won't need to stain it.

Great choice on the rifle and good luck with the clean-up job!

 

[mookiie]

Mine is 1945 batch by serial number from above. Thanks didn't know that!

 

[meanmrmustard]

If you can avoid applying an actual STAIN, and use just the oil, it will look better in the long run, IMHO. The Tru-Oil or Tung Oil are just fine, but stains soak into every open pore and bruised grain fiber and make them stand out in unfortunate ways. If you go very gently with the sanding, you shouldn't lose the natural color that the wood's taken on over the years, so you won't need to stain it.

Great choice on the rifle and good luck with the clean-up job!

Thank you. I may try a similar wood type, but I'm going for a deep red. After having already disassembled the rifle and oiled, cleaned, inspected, etc...I'm digging this gun thoroughly. It has excellent bluing, sharp rifling, clean chamber, and only the front sight shows bluing wear. I'm happy with this after only $330.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

If you can avoid applying an actual STAIN, and use just the oil, it will look better in the long run, IMHO. The Tru-Oil or Tung Oil are just fine, but stains soak into every open pore and bruised grain fiber and make them stand out in unfortunate ways. If you go very gently with the sanding, you shouldn't lose the natural color that the wood's taken on over the years, so you won't need to stain it.

True, but if you're after a different color, stain it. I'm still thinking about stripping my Turk again and just using Tung Oil on it so see what kind of results I can get, I still have enough Red Oak #215 (or maybe #219, can't remember correctly) to stain it back.

Mine is 1945 batch by serial number from above. Thanks didn't know that!

You're welcome! So far, all of my milsurps have been made in the '40's.

Turkish Mauser - 1940
K31 - 1944
Mosin Nagant - 1944

 

[meanmrmustard]

Got a picture? and is 1938 on his troop tag?

I think it may be an address. Pics are hard for me to post, so I'll type what it says as best I can:

Eggenberger Ulrich
"A" 938.GEB.FUS.Kp. "?" (may be a number 4 with a hyphen above and below)/112
Hinteregg
Grabserberg




That's what I got. Well yellowed, but fully legible and all serials match : bolt, receiver,mstock, and even the mag.

 

[headoftheholler]

If you use Truoil, use it sparingly, just a finger tip at a time, very time consuming but I enjoy it. Using a bit at a time prevents runs. If you do get a run 0000 steel wool will knock it out. With truoil you can go 20-30 coats and have a nice browning like shiny stock. I used it on my M44 15 coats and then knock the shine off with 0000 steel wool.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

that (1)938 might be a unit number, then, or something of that nature.
Could be something about his address, or maybe even the date he enlisted if it's 1938. I've got to look at mine again, it does have a date there, and I believe that it's an enlistment year. But I could be wrong, too.

 

[meanmrmustard]

If you use Truoil, use it sparingly, just a finger tip at a time, very time consuming but I enjoy it. Using a bit at a time prevents runs. If you do get a run 0000 steel wool will knock it out. With truoil you can go 20-30 coats and have a nice browning like shiny stock. I used it on my M44 15 coats and then knock the shine off with 0000 steel wool.

Thanks for that info friend. 0000 came with the refinishing kit. I chose red Sedona over the walnut for a red tinge. I freakin heart this rifle design.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

I'm almost certain that it's a unit number.

 

[meanmrmustard]

What kind of groups are owners of this rifle experiencing with irons? What about optic mounts? Looks like its an iron sight only type of thing.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Well there's a company called St. Marie, I believe, and they sell a clamp-on, no mar scope mount. Run a google search for them, you'll find 'em.

And typically it's 1.5" groups with a good shooter behind the weapon. I've been lucky (as I call it) a couple times, getting 1" groups a couple times. Still need to get some more ammo stocked up for it.

 

[meanmrmustard]

Well there's a company called St. Marie, I believe, and they sell a clamp-on, no mar scope mount. Run a google search for them, you'll find 'em.

And typically it's 1.5" groups with a good shooter behind the weapon. I've been lucky (as I call it) a couple times, getting 1" groups a couple times. Still need to get some more ammo stocked up for it.

Groovy. Sounds like it would do well as a deer slayer.