Stripping my Mauser stock.....

Monofletch

Monofletch

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Jan 14, 2010
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I got this old Turkish 8mm Mauser a while back. It is a deer slayer. One of my favorite guns. When I got it -it was smothered in grease and the wood was so dark from grime and dirt. I wanted to make it look better so I decided to strip the old finish off the stock. I just applied the first coat of Citristrip Let's see what comes off.

I was told to use boiled linseed oil to refinish after I strip it. Does that sound right? Any advice is welcome.

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Grease and oil are a tough one to remove from wood. Using a blow dryer or heat gun will draw the oil from the wood, and you can wipe it off with paper towels. Careful with the heat gun and don't burn the wood. Boiled linseed oil will work, and is probably what was used initially.
We are 12!!!!
 
Part 2

After stripping with Citrastrip and then steam cleaning with my wife's Bissel steam cleaner I got most of the gunk out of the wood. Good lord there was a ton of crap in that wood..... Letting it dry now to see what I missed.

Any advice is welcome

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When applying linseed oil - apply a coat then after about 1/2 hour vigorously rub with burlap to remove excess.Let dryat least 24 hrs. Repeat to get the finish you want.Use at least three coats.
 
mete said:
When applying linseed oil - apply a coat then after about 1/2 hour vigorously rub with burlap to remove excess.Let dryat least 24 hrs. Repeat to get the finish you want.Use at least three coats.
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I find closer to 10 thin coats being best with sanding with a brown paper bag between coats.

And it really looks like that stock's grain will display some beautiful figure. I'd remove the furniture prior to oiling the stock, but I'd just mask/tape the bolt takedown disc.
 
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Yeah, I want to use about 7-10 coats. i might start with natural linseed oil before I use the boiled.
 
I bought one of those 8mm Turkish Mausers from J&G guns in AZ back in '98 while I was in college. :thumbup: It was my first rifle. I think it was only about $40, but maybe $50 because I hand-selected mine from all they had in stock at the time in order to get a nicer one. I spent a LOT of time out in the desert shooting them with my buddies (myself and about 7 of my friends all bought one), especially when a case of ammo (1,000 rounds) was only $70 at J&G at the time. Some of the ammo was even jacketed with a soft iron-based alloy that's magnetic, instead of the standard copper alloy, that definitely penetrated better to boot. I still have a case and a half left. :D

Mine is amazingly accurate! Iron sights out to 300 yards is no problem! :cool: 150 yards or less is no sweat. Such a long sight radius certainly helps.

Anyway, like yours, mine was covered in Cosmoline and required some hefty elbow grease to clean it up. I completely tore mine apart, and cleaned up all the various metal parts in the parts cleaner at our auto shop at school. The stock was a little bit harder to clean up though. In order to re-finish the stock, first I had to get all of the Cosmoline out. On the advice of an old gunsmith who lived next door to my apartment, I built a hotbox to "bake" it in. Nothing more than a couple cardboard boxes taped together and lined with black trash bags. Then I set it out in the summer AZ sun and let it get hot, wiping anything off that sweated out every hour or so. After about 3 days, the wood was bone-dry. :thumbup:

I did a bit of sanding, and then finished with a bunch of thin coats of Birchwood Casey Tru-oil (a mixture of Tung Oil and Linseed Oil), which I recommend. You can even get the stuff at your local Wally World. I lightly sanded with #0000 steel wool in between coats, but you have to make sure it's dry before sanding otherwise you'll end up with a real mess (ask me how I know... :rolleyes:). Just be sure to take your time. One coat a day is a good call to get an excellent finish once complete. I'd recommend at least 5 thin coats, 7-10 are better.

The final product turned out great, and also I re-finished a Yugo SKS in the exact same fashion in '05 when I lived in TX that also turned out great. HTH. :thumbup:
 
I don't know if you can get linseed oil without a "drier" which includes 'boiled' and a "cobalt" drier is very common. Without a drier it might never set up. Linseed oil sets up by both oxidizing and polymerizing.It doesn't just dry. The coating gets better as it ages. Patience is the way.
 
Try george Brothers Lin-Speed. I have used it for 40 years and it's way better than regular linseed oil. Check it out and follow the directions and it does a great job!
 
Sand, Sand, Sand. Finish with around 320 grit paper on a soft block and wipe with damp cloth to raise whiskers, and sand again! When smooth and dry use 0000 steel wool, it will make the wood shiny, like it is polished. Then apply GB Lin-Speed with fingers, allow to set a few minutes and wipe off with old t-shirt. repeat application again next day until you are happy with the finish usually 7 to 10 coats. Any damage will disappear when rubbed with more Lin-Speed. these thin coats will dry and look great!
 
You really need to heat up the stock now to be sure you've gotten all the crap out of it. Doesn't sound like you've done that yet? (I don't think a steam cleaner will heat it nearly enough.) Otherwise, at some point while you're shooting it and it heats up, all your hard work will be ruined when stuff starts coming up out of the wood under the nice, new finish.

I still think Tru-oil works better than just Linseed, but ultimately the decision is yours. Lots of good advice in here. West gin makes a good point about sanding and then wiping it down with something damp to raise the grain, and sanding again. that works really well!

As someone else previously mentioned, the wood on that stock looks like it has some excellent figure, and I'll bet it will look fantastic once you're finished. :thumbup:
 
A good trick to heating up the stock is to stick it in a black garbage bag and leave it out in the sun for a few hours. I don't know how effective that'll be in the middle of winter, but there you go.

I agree about the multiple coats, the more the merrier. I'd suggest waiting at least 24 hours between coats. You want to make sure the oil is fully dry. Sand with 0000 steel wool, then apply another coat. Repeat as often as needed, or desired.
 
Another gun guy suggested to use Krud Kutter and boiling water to get the crap out. Holy crap that worked great. I'll post pics in a bit. The wood looks new!
 
Don't use raw boiled linseed oil. Raw linseed oil takes FOREVER to dry, and the oil finish will be no better. Stick with boiled linseed oil as each coat of linseed oil must be completely dry before moving on in a finishing project. Consider also using rotten stone for a hand rubbed finish.
 
Here is the first coat of linseed oil.... it's going to look good! I was instructed to apply it with my finger in about 10 super thin coats...

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Monofletch said:
Here is the first coat of linseed oil.... it's going to look good! I was instructed to apply it with my finger in about 10 super thin coats...
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What you do between coats once each coat is dry, is just as important, if not more so, than the coats themselves.
 
Yes, I was instructed to use rotten stone, but since I don't have it I am using 1000 auto paper and 00 steel wool to lightly sand. What do you suggest?
 
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