Ok, so let's just say you are like me, a frustrated woodworker, who sometimes looks at the stock of a surplus rifle and just doesn't see old varnished wood, but sees age old BEAUTIFUL walnut sitting under the ancient finish just waiting to get out. [wow, that was a mouthful ]
Now being somewhat able, you have enough confidance in yourself to know that with a bit of elbow grease and sandpaper, and sparing cartouches, you can refinish the wood to look as if it just rolled out of the armory.
Do you do it, because you want a looker of a rifle that you can enjoy and take pride in, or......
Do you leave the existing finish, and lament that if in fact you do refinish the wwod you just destroyed the collectable value of said rifle????

Such was my quandry with my Spanish FR-8. The parkerizing on the rifle was excellent, a handsome grey, the metal clean, free of rust. Bolt, tight and crisp, as was the trigger, but....
there sat this muddy colored finish on a piece of what I will judge as one of the finest examples of European Walnut I've ever seen. It has gorgeous heartwood striping just by where the receiver mounts, and clean long grain on the rest of the stock and handguard.

So what do you do???

I'm leaning towards a "recovery" of a great piece of walnut.....but will it Bubba the gun???

your thoughts please

One of the best ways to learn, short of carving an entire stock.

Go for it. A nice oil finish will complement the gun.

I'd go for it. A good piece of walnut that has a bad finish on it is just a terrible thing. Your rifle, make it the way you want it. Let the beauty of the walnut shine through.

I refinished an inexpensive russian 91/30. I was very impressed with the end result. It even brought out some of the original stamps that I couldn't see before.

Well it has begun, today i stripped the wood using Acetone, and gave it a light sanding of 150, 220 & 400 paper, some 0000 steel wool and a good tac cloth. I wiped it down with a satin or low gloss tung oil, but left all the dents and dings for "character". After about 4-5 coats, I'll post a few pics of this odd rifle.

for those that know what the FR-8 is, the best description is a blend of a modern assault rifle at the business end, and a WWI straight bolt action at the shoulder.

look here (http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/fr8/index.asp)

Are various grades of mil. surp. rifle...the "beater" to the "unissued". IF its an uncommon varitety, all matching, with no major faults, then probably better not to do a major overhaul...just fix the damaged finish to look like the rest of the rifle, but not to remove stock markings.

IF it's a "beater" than nothing much you are going to do is going to change that...can make it a pretty miss-match beater without losing much collectors value.

Am reminded by an 84 year old friend of the days when gun shops would have a barrel of Krags at the front door...your choice in the 1920's and 1930's, pick one out for $1.50. Were still trapdoors as well, sold much the same way. Most of them got hacksawed and re-vamped into pseudo-sporters.

So...I'm not voting. If it's all original, in dencent shape, better to either leave it as it is or restore it (as opposed to refinish it). IF its beat up, the numbers don't match, and it's a common varitety of rifle, may as well go ahead...it will be 50-70 years before people cuss you for what you did to the old girl.

I have carefully refinished many military stocks. That has usually involved stripping off the old finish, dirt and grease with paint and varnish remover. Then I apply a few coats of boiled linseed oil inside and out. I never sand a military stock because there is no excess wood and things do not fit if too much wood is removed. All the best...
Gil

Just for clarity, i am restoring, not refinishing.

here is an example of an M1 carbine i recently did...

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/682422/3004099/36732675.jpg

and the stock on my model 100 Winchester...all done in my spare time...

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/682422/4042652/50045737.jpg
http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/682422/4042652/50045501.jpg

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/682422/4042652/50045773.jpg

Restore, yes, refinish, NO, NO, NO, HECK NO!

Nothing is uglier in my eyes than a nice M1 Garand, 98, 96, 03...with a glossy over sanded, highly polished stock on it. Enough to make a grown man and collector of military rifles cry. Now, restoring them, that is another story altogether. No sanding, no filling, no glossy finishes, no checkering, just clean and nice subdued oil finish like Tung oil and Carnauba wax. That finish will make a collector and grown man cry also, but for entirely different reasons.

Here is a link (http://p077.ezboard.com/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34) on how to restore a military stock the right way and make it look like new without looking like crap.

I've found one of the best old stock restorers is plain old lemon oil you use to condition furniture.

Well she's finished....
Stripped and cleaned of all that nasty thick varnish, wood smoothed lightly, then 10 coats of a low gloss tung oil [Formby's]
Tell me what you think!!!!
FR-8 (http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=4421587&uid=682422&members=1)

Nice work Chris!!!!!

Very nice!!! Looks like it was well worth the effort. Congratulations.

Thank you Gents,
I think it turned out ok!!!