I'm working on the stock of a 1942 Mosin 91/30 from the Izhevsk factory. The stock is birch. I lightly sanded the stock with 220 and 320, and applied 2 coats of Minwax oil based Sedona Red, waiting 3 hours between coats. After wiping, I realized just how hard it is for birch to take color...but it was enough to give it the look I wanted. I grabbed a can of Minwax Tung Oil Finish, and have put 4 coats on so far, rubbing it on with a 2000 grit 3M sanding sponge. The color with the Tung Oil Finish on top of the Sedona Red closely resembles the original finish, which was nothing more than shellac.

Anyway, I have a few more of these to refinish for friends of mine. What can I do to get the birch to accept color better? They guy I'm doing the next one for wants a nice mahogany finish put on.

One of the others came with a walnut stock. It's been armory rebuilt so many times that there's about 10 coats of shellac on it, even over the rings! It's not getting the shellac put on it, either...just a good rub down with some of the Minwax Tung Oil Finish.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles