The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

I messed up part of my recent purchase being careless with brake cleaner while scrubbing out the chamber. Now I have some light tan areas where most of the stock has a nice reddish brown look. What is the coating that I see? Can I reproduce it on the problem areas? Thanks!

It's shellac, stained red in the commie fashion. Nothing to do now but leave it be or you could make the problem worse.

Chemicals near a milsurp stock is asking for trouble. Even if you take the time to do it right and disassemble it, if you have the stock anywhere close enough to get sprayed or splattered the results are the same.

bunkysdad wrote:Chemicals near a milsurp stock is asking for trouble. Even if you take the time to do it right and disassemble it, if you have the stock anywhere close enough to get sprayed or splattered the results are the same.

I've removed all harsh chemicals like that from my workbench. I have cans of Powder Blast that I use for metal only parts like bolts and springs that don't have paint or applied finished surfaces on modern rifles but it doesn't get used much. Mostly when I'm working on friends guns but it looks just like a can of Break Free CLP. Same black can. I mistakenly picked one up thinking it was CLP while wiping a Mosin Nagant down and sprayed some into the rag. The rifle was under me and some dripped on the stock. Once I realized what had happened it was too late. It was just a small drop and I wiped it as fast as I could but the damage was done. Now that stuff is on a shelf away from everything and if I need to use it I know that I'm grabbing it for sure.

bunkysdad wrote:Chemicals near a milsurp stock is asking for trouble. Even if you take the time to do it right and disassemble it, if you have the stock anywhere close enough to get sprayed or splattered the results are the same.

Very good point. I use chemicals and I keep the use of them in a different room completely away from the stocks and hand guards. With rubber gloves on and plenty of fresh air. Bill

Sorry to hear about your stock... Water under the bridge at this point & lesson learned; Pull the stock off if getting down on cleaning.

I used to be a big fan of using brake cleaner to clean the goo off my Milsurps, but no more. The stuff is nasty & dangerous to use in confined & even well ventilated areas. I now use very hot & boiling water & it works just fine.

Brake Cleaner

I keep no chemicals around my bench at all other than solvents. Careful though, even Hoppes can slowly melt the shellac - wipe those spills off quickly and you will have no problems. I do use very hot water and a degreaser on the metal. Keep that near the set tub. And, yes, I remove the stock first

Rags, just rags will remove most nasty grease messes from a rifle. The only rifle I have had to go past that in at least ten years is the IMP "as found" Martini's, for them it's tooth brushes and diesel fuel, metal only, not on the wood.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:Rags, just rags will remove most nasty grease messes from a rifle. The only rifle I have had to go past that in at least ten years is the IMP "as found" Martini's, for them it's tooth brushes and diesel fuel, metal only, not on the wood.

Come on I know you have to have some Turk Mausers! I still have nightmares about them! Bill

That was soft grease, a lot of it, but it wiped off, no scrubbing needed. The sun took care of the stocks for me. Time consuming, but not difficult. The martinis are a serious pain in the ass, time has hardened the whale oils they used to stone, then 200 layers of dust, rust, dead insects,

Never owned a Martini believe it or not. Looked at a couple of them and passed because parts were missing. Looked real close at a Khyber pass product about last fall and luckily somebody else bought it before I looked long enough to thin about buying it. Was mainly stopped by the fact that there was no way I would have been brave enough to fire it. The guy who bought it was going to use it for a hunting rifle! That alone is enough to make me stay out of the woods. Bill

I hunt with a .54 caliber black powder muzzle loader. I would love to hunt with a martini and would not even flinch at doing it. I would much rather hunt with people like that then yahoos with modern rifles who have been in the woods one day and touched a rifle for the first time when packing it in the truck.

I don't care what rifle they use, what I worry about is some idiot shooting me in the back because they thought I was a deer. It's been known to happen.

You can very carefully use a q-tip with denatured alcohol to blend the finish back over the light spot, then let the rifle sit so the shellac will harden back up. I stress CAREFULLY.