[collector48]

Just picked up another mosin nagant and did some checking on it... m90/31 Izhevsk 1944r with a early WW II war time stock.. it's in great condition and was wondering if any of the mosin guys out there could give me some input on it.... leave it or refinish it... not a big time collector of these, just like to shoot them, but I like my rifles to look good also...since there are so many of these out there I don't see losing any collector value by refinishing the stock and touching up the bluing... just looking for...what would you do... the pics don't show the couple of little dings and the discoloration in the wood and the varnish that is gone in some spots, but if I can see it it bothers me....lol

 

[redtail55]

Just remember, when you refinish you erase the history. fwiw It looks better than 99 % I have seen. When I get a beater I will use varnish remover and then linseed oil. No sanding/staining for me. You can buy a new pristine rifle anytime but the character time has created on the old war horses cannot be duplicated.
My .02

 

[goperfect]

Nice lookin Mosin...

I have a few, all but one I left in "original" condition.

I picked up a Carbine a few months back and did not care for the finish all that much. I took it apart 100% and redid nearly the entire rifle. Very glad that I did, turned out awesome.

 

[Pissed Off Patriot]

Yes, you will lose "collector" value if you do anything to alter the original finish.

A true collector would turn their nose up at it once you refinish it. This is fact. Don't believe me, go ask on a Mosin Nagant forum. Your thread will be locked after they explain the forum rules to you.

But it is your rifle. You can do what you want, and you have plenty of company that doesn't care about the historical value of these rifles. Like many have said, millions were made. The danger is if you don't know how to recognize the rare examples, such as an ex-sniper or a Finn capture, you could significantly affect the value.

 

[wadejb01]

I think it looks beautiful as it is! If it was beat to hell I would say refinish it. But I don't think it looks too bad.

 

[graptor]

It looks too nice to refinish. I refinished one that was beat up before. I used mineral spirits and steel wool, then 50 through 280 grit sand paper. I refinished it with 7 coats of true oil using steal wool in between, including the last coat. It turned out with a nice Matte finish. Brownell's also sells Blue-oxy that is fantastic for re-blueing the metal.

yours looks like it was re-arsenaled and is in the best condition they come in.

 

[Jmo371]

it looks pretty sharp as it

 

[soylentBlue]

A nice looking stock can be had with a brand new rifle. This one has history that should be left to tell it's story. Don't be fooled by the idea that because they are cheap and numerous that they don't have value - people use to feel the same way about Enfields and Springfields - and now what are they worth in original condition?

 

[calculon]

You can always try to save the original stock and drop the barrel and action into an Archangel (or other) aftermarket stock. This way you get a modern looking rifle with some updated features (detachable magazine, adjustable cheek rest, etc.) and can add a Timney trigger while preserving the original stock. You can quickly turn a $100 rifle into a $500+ with a few add ons. Totally up to you as it's your rifle but there are options you can consider.

Most important, get some ammo and go shoot the darn thing!

 

[thughes]

70 years of character is not something you can replace. I understand the dings and worn finish may bother you to an extent and it's yours to do with as you wish but try to imagine how those dings got there, who held that rifle where the finish if worn, what kind of action has that gun seen, etc. There are a lot of stories there.....


If that doesn't help consider that you could get an SKS for $99 twenty-something years ago and you can't touch them for under $300 these days.

 

[Vati]

Preserve the history of the weapon is always first in my mind. Having said that I don't worry about the collector value much because I don't intend to sell the guns. If the gun has Non combat induced damage to the stock or the finish then it's collectors value is gone anyways so do what you feel is right. 2 example: I bought a beat up type 56 SKS from Classic a few months ago. The stock was damaged and the finish was mostly gone. I repaired the crack and refinished it. It is now worth more to me then it was when I got it. 2nd example : I have a Yugo M59/66A1 with nicks and some other marks on it. This gun saw action in the Yugoslavian civil wars before it made it's way into my hands. I WILL NEVER do anything to that stock. It has been a part of history and will keep it's battle scars. That is my $.02 on that issue. Enjoy your new Mosin 91/30 regardless of what you do with the stock. They are fun to shoot and the ammo is still pretty cheap.

Vati

 

[Dawgkilla]

Love me some mosins! Nice boom-stick!

 

[atTheWheels]

That looks to be in pretty decent shape. Congrats!
If you are in to collecting I wouldn't refinish it. If you only care about shooting then make it what you want unless there's something rare or truly historic about it.

 

[luvmyAR]

Looks good to me. I'd leave her be.

 

[BigBabyMoses06]

Ive left mine alone. I used to have a absolutely flawless bore, but it seems I didnt do a good enough job of removing the crap that erodes the metal so I have developed some minor pitting. I bore snaked it with hoppes bore cleaner at least 10 times, but skipped the usual Windex treatment initially :/

 

[collector48]

Have another Mosin (Finnish) that I cut the barrel to 24 inches, threaded it and added a muzzle brake, Archangel stock...bent bolt and 16x scope.... so I not going that route with this one, I will probably leave as is...and yea I did buy it to shoot it... editing this post, upon looking more closely at the stock, it has been re-varnished, as there is varnish on the butt plate and some other places where the varnish was not applied very well... it is obvious that someone did a bad job.. so I'm going to strip it down and bring it back to it's original finish... the bluing is excellent except for a few wear spots that I will touch up...sorry purists out there but I can do a better job than the person before did....

 

[thughes]

Too bad you didn't mod this one instead of hacking a Finn (just my .02).

 

[Pissed Off Patriot]

FYI, when these Mosins were refurbed, the Russians slapped the shellac around pretty liberally, and yes, they got it on places other than just the wood.

 

[collector48]

didn't hack it....have another original....the one I modified was beat....

 

[collector48]

removing the old shellac with acetone and I am going apply a fresh coat....This is a arsenal re-do so the collector value is not high and the stampings on the receiver from the importer lower the value.... just want it to look good so beat me if you please.....lol