How to turn a $50 POS Nagant into something pretty

[CJ]

Originally Posted 12/31/08
Saved and re-posted from the Canadian experiment. Just moving this over for future knowledge and reference.

I had a lot of PM's and questions lately about refinishing stocks, so I decided I'd try make a little project the next time I did a gun.

I found a post on the forum for a $50 mosin nagant and I decided to pick it up and see if I could turn it into something pretty. PrimeredJunk was nice enough to meet up and hand it over. Mechanically the gun was sound, there was a broken magazine clasp and some other small issues, but I was able to fix all of them quickly.

So, here is what we started with:







I noticed immediately the gun was a Hungarian M44 Carbine, which is the preferred country of origin when it comes to Nagants since hungary generally had superior machining and tooling, their guns are tighter, and better overall - the most sought after Mosin-Nagant would be the M/52, which is the hungarian sniper rifle. Because of this, I checked the gun thoroughly and it looks fairly worn, but the bore was in good condition, and overall this is the nagant I wanted in my gun case. The ammo (7.62X54R) is about as cheap as it gets, so it will be a fun shooter.

The furniture is in terrible condition, appears that it's been an issued rifle which continually banged against the grunt while on a sling. The metal is rough, and rusted in places.

I decided my goal for this gun would be to make a very pretty show piece. I will never take it out hunting, and really it will spend most of it's time in my case, so my approach to this one will be different, as I will use higher quality (but less durable) finishes and methods.



First step in any refinish is to throw a damp towel on the wood and place a hot iron over it. This causes the deep dents and impressions in the stock to rise up to a more flush level. I wouldn't mention a step in any process unless I knew it actually worked, and this does certainly work.

After that, I started sanding down with 80 grit, then 150grit.

Here is the stock after sanding:

http://cj.supraspeed.com/Pics/Weapons/nagant_during_002.jpg[/IMG]



Minwax conditioner and masked off metal.

[CJ]

Ready to be conditioned, and stained. Here is the basic process shown on the upper wood.


Sanded bare wood.


Conditioned wood.


Stained wood.

I decided to use a dark red stain, which is common to most russian weapons, and I've always been partial to the deep reds.

From here you begin to clear. You can also use stock oils if the gun is going to be used regularly. I decided to use a polyurethane clear coat, it provides the best finish, and for guns that don't see a lot of use, it's worth the trade off on durability.

When clearing, make sure the wood is completely wiped clear of stain, and there are no surface oils present. To get a good finish you need to make sure you have plenty of coats of clear. I prefer to use spray cans, and normally around 10 coats does the job. I wait between 5-6 hours between coats to when they are hard tacky, or completely dry. If you have an autoclave (or an oven) you can cut that down to about 45 minutes between coats. Once it's nice and coated I wetsand the finish flat, and then polish with soem 3M 3000 cutting compound. Don't worry if you burn through the clear, just restain the lighter portion, and hit it with clear again, start over.

I also decided I would polish all the steel on this one, which proved to be one of the most laborious parts of this gun. The machining quality was good, however some of it was rough, which required me to start with a 60grit, then 150, then 400, then I went to a 2000grit for polish, and then used mothers metal polish for the final. After that your favorite oil to prevent rust will do the job.

Total time involved was about a week on and off, an hour or two a day - a lot of time was spent drying stain/clear.

Here is the final product:

[98sohc281]

Awesome job I love these guns and don't really know why.

[ceyko]

Great work. Buddy just got a Nagant and they are nice guns for the money. Gonna get one for myself and may a couple of the kids when they are old enough. Not many times you can get 3 decent shooting guns for under 150-200.

[KBScobravert]

You keep this up and I am going hunting for another project gun for you. Actually I have a Remington Nylon 66 Black Diamond that needs to be brought back to new. It is not wood though.

[Danny46]

Wow. Cool post man. Ive seen these at Cabelas for cheap, makes me want to go get one and do the same thing lol

[94StangFiveO]

Man, that is sweet looking. Awesome job.

[slowyellow]

I'll give you 100 bucks for it

[Mach1Run]

Inspired me to take a whack at refinishing the Nagant I got a hold of. At the finish stripping stage now.

[Cobraman]

Crash pinstripe job next??

[Homemade]

Wow

[ceyko]

If it wasn't for the fact that it is another ammo type to worry about, I'd buy a Mosin just to refinish it. My buddy had one that was refinished fairly well - looks and feels great. The wood almost feels soft.

[Mach1Run]

There's a carbine similar to the one CJ did at the pawnshop across the street for $150, I may have to go get that one too lol. The one I have now is the looong one. It has to go diagonally to fit in the safe.

[red89notch]

Did you polish the metal all by hand or use a tool like a dremel?

[soap]

ok stupid question, the old looking rifles at the armory in mesquite,
with red star for $60-70. are Nagants?

also what cal. are they? thanks