This summer I purchased two M39 from Pat Burns. One was in excellent condition with a perfect sako stock and all number matching. I also decided to purchase a second M39 that was decrible as having a rough post war stock. It was a good price so I grabbed it and figured it would be fun to play with. The Sako was as described a real gem. The other was covered in some type of sticky substance everywhere and the stock was definetly not the nice Artic Birch that the sako was made of. It was such a mess I just put it to the side until last night. I broke it down and deiced to clean it up. I opened up a bottle of mineral spirits and started scrubing away. After an hour with a rag the stick substance refused to budge so I dumped the metal parts in a bucket of mineral spirits and went back to the wood. I took some fine sandpaper and was able to remove this nasty sticky compound a little at a time. Then I went back over the areas with the spirits. I did this for three hours and I did manage to remove alot of this mess but I did not want to go any furthur in fear of destroying the finish on the stock. here are some pics of what it looks like now. So would you guys just go at it with the sandpaper and strip it completely or should I leave it the way it is. Keep in mind this is not a wartime stock just a replacement one. Thanks.
Michael
That is Arctic birch and I would leave it alone...Did you try Denatured Alcohol on the old finish ??? That may have been decomposing shellac or Varnish of some sort..
Rich
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[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
Its up to you if you want to refinish it. The rifle is yours and you can do whatever you want to.... As far as the stock goes, I had some rifles that had a stock which was in a very bad shape. I actually took the stock and put it inside my walk in shower. I have a shower head on the ceiling and (4) on the sides. I hanged the stock on the one that is on the ceiling with a coat hanger, and turned the water on the hottest setting. Coming out on the sides, so the stock does not get too wet from water but rather gets steamed. I left the stock in there for about an hour which is when I ran out of hot water. That raised almost all of my dings that I had in that stock. After that, I put the stock to hang in my basement which has a de-humidifier that runs all the time. After about 3 weeks the stock was dry for the most part. At that point I sanded it down very lightly and did the same procedure with the steam in the shower all over again. (2) months later I had a wonderfully smooth stock. Yes it was in a re-finished condition but that was more of a value to me then the original one. I have lots of milsurp rifles, and I am not going to presume that every single one of those needs to stay in the original shape. yes there are some that must never be touched, but a run-of the mill m39 with a damaged stock.. Well like I said its up to you to decide what you want to do with it.
I saw somewhere that the Finn stocks can have a pine tar finish, I don't know this to be true or not. Possibly someone can enlighten us on this.
That is correct,the Finn's did use "pine tar pitch" on many of their rifles.
The process they used to apply it is what makes some of the M39's have a tiger-stripe look to them.Basically they applyed it with a brush,in very thick coats and let it dry in the sun. There is a guy on Gun Boards.com
who has duplicated this formula with much success. It takes a very long time to dry and can be a little tacky to the touch thereafter. It seals the wood excellent and repells water very well. I've heard they used to use it on wood shingle roofs in Finnland.
__________________ Everybody's weird, they just hang out with like minded people to feel normal.
That is correct,the Finn's did use "pine tar pitch" on many of their rifles.
The process they used to apply it is what makes some of the M39's have a tiger-stripe look to them.Basically they applied it with a brush,in very thick coats and let it dry in the sun. There is a guy on Gun Boards.com
who has duplicated this formula with much success. It takes a very long time to dry and can be a little tacky to the touch thereafter. It seals the wood excellent and repels water very well. I've heard they used to use it on wood shingle roofs in Finnland.
Jmeck, I believe that is the finish on mine. How would you suggest fortifying this finish. I'm not looking to refurb the stock, just clean it up. Would you suggest BLO or Tung oil? Sorry for derailing the thread...
BTW the idiot who keeps whistling like a f'n bird every time Andy Pettite throws is driving me nuts!!!
Jmeck, I believe that is the finish on mine. How would you suggest fortifying this finish. I'm not looking to refurb the stock, just clean it up. Would you suggest BLO or Tung oil? Sorry for derailing the thread...
I would use BLO, 2 coats ought to do it.After its dryed some, if you take a rag to it like you would to shine shoes it will give it a little sheen.
__________________ Everybody's weird, they just hang out with like minded people to feel normal.
Mooseman I am going to have a go at it with some alcohol just to see if it has any effect on the sticky mess. This is a post was stock so the value of it is definetely not as much as a wartime Sako. I do'nt know but this wood just does'nt look anthing like the Sako stock I have. It does not have the nice tiger stripes and the wood seems to be much softer. Were any of the replacement stocks finished in a varnish and not pine tar? I might just try the shower trick. This stock has so many dings on it I do not see how I could really hurt the value of it. I was just plain ugly it was so beat up. I even thought about puting the barrel action in a Mosin stock! Thanks for all of the great input guys now I just have to decide what I want to do.
Oh and yes Philly fans are the most annoying fans anywhere. Football or Baseball! They boo'ed there own starting pitcher when he came off the mound. No class!
None of MY M 39's are finished in Pine Tar wartime or Post war...and it depends on the tree and where it was cut for the stock as to the pattern of the wood...yours looks like center cut wood !
__________________
[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
My book says they used Varnish, Pine Tar, Oil, or Oil/Wax mixture !
All Finnish made stocks were Arctic Birch... , Poland, Hungary, and Romania used Beech , Russians used Birch, France and The U.S. used Walnut, China used Catalpa wood...
Rich
__________________
[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
Thanks for the good info Rich. I think you were right. This stock must have had a varnish finish and the varnish just got soft and stick. Man what a mess! I might just strip it down and see if I can steam out the dings and then varnish it agian.
