Updated look to my PSL

[sulphur 7]

Changed out the orginial wood for a IWD stock set. I know, I'm waiting on my pistol grip. Also, can't see it but I changed out the trigger package for Red Star's adjustable trigger... can't wait to get it to the range!

[chevyman097 2,579]

nice man! I like that dark red wood, I have never seen one like that before. Looks great!

[sulphur 7]

Thanks man... I've been playing around with a lot of stocks and stains before I finally got a look I liked and a process for it.... here another pic..

[PTGT_Neon 1]

I love that dark red color! The foregrip follows the lines very nicely! I didn't see the product on the ironwood website.

[volkov 318]

best looking PSL I've see, hands down

[Moe Zambeak 53]

Like the other guys said, I'm lovin' that dark red!

[Eric Pate 478]

Very nice. The furniture and the trigger are exactly what I have planned for my PSL. So is IWD carrying the PSL sets now? They've not updated it on their website...

 

Care to share your secrets on the stock finish?

[Donkismash 81]

Very nice. The furniture and the trigger are exactly what I have planned for my PSL. So is IWD carrying the PSL sets now? They've not updated it on their website...

 

Care to share your secrets on the stock finish?

 

his website needs updated bad...my s-12 set is in transit as of Saturday

 

kick ass job on the stock...what stain did you use???

[vbrtrmn 167]

Nice Job!

[sulphur 7]

[saigafreake 27]

very cool wats the price on that stock set.

[sulphur 7]

very cool wats the price on that stock set.

 

$100 for the HG set and I want to say $50 for the buttstock... plus shipping...

[BaronVonBigmeat 0]

Whoa. That may be the best looking red finish I've ever seen. Looking at IWD's stocks, oil finished walnut is too chocolate-dark, the blonde woods are too blonde, teak is not available for anything but Yugo M70's, and I never liked the laminate look...until now!

 

1) Okay so, sulphurman...you said that you stained it first with walnut, I assume that's LMF's "walnut" not "american walnut". On your other gun though, you said you used black Rit dye to tone down the red. Which method would you recommend to someone who is new to this sort of thing?

 

2) Also, did you use any of their stain reducer, and if so, how much?

 

3) IWD recommends raising the grain by rubbing the wood with a damp cloth, did you need to do that? LMF doesn't mention it.

 

4) Where can I buy Romanian suplus wood kits cheap? All I see are incomplete kits with the goofy wood foregrip, and without the upper handguard. But I guess the $12 price is right for the purposes of having something to practice on. Still, if I could get a regular kit for a slightly more I'd rather do that (not for my Saiga, I know the 922 issues). Everyone seems to be sold out though.

 

Btw if you have to send a PM, its in the farthest upper right of the website, above the sponsor banners.

 

5) What's the best way to strip the old finish off surplus wood like that?

 

 

edit: no offense meant to owners with wood foregrips, walnut or blonde furniture Just not my cup of tea.

Edited March 12, 2010 by BaronVonBigmeat

[MT Predator 2,294]

Nice job! I love that deep red look.

[sulphur 7]

Whoa. That may be the best looking red finish I've ever seen. Looking at IWD's stocks, oil finished walnut is too chocolate-dark, the blonde woods are too blonde, teak is not available for anything but Yugo M70's, and I never liked the laminate look...until now!

 

1) Okay so, sulphurman...you said that you stained it first with walnut, I assume that's LMF's "walnut" not "american walnut". On your other gun though, you said you used black Rit dye to tone down the red. Which method would you recommend to someone who is new to this sort of thing?

 

2) Also, did you use any of their stain reducer, and if so, how much?

 

3) IWD recommends raising the grain by rubbing the wood with a damp cloth, did you need to do that? LMF doesn't mention it.

 

4) Where can I buy Romanian suplus wood kits cheap? All I see are incomplete kits with the goofy wood foregrip, and without the upper handguard. But I guess the $12 price is right for the purposes of having something to practice on. Still, if I could get a regular kit for a slightly more I'd rather do that (not for my Saiga, I know the 922 issues). Everyone seems to be sold out though.

 

Btw if you have to send a PM, its in the farthest upper right of the website, above the sponsor banners.

 

5) What's the best way to strip the old finish off surplus wood like that?

 

 

edit: no offense meant to owners with wood foregrips, walnut or blonde furniture Just not my cup of tea.

 

 

Baron,

 

Ok, let me clarify a little. I wrote both of those off of the cuff so to speak. I'll just go along and make comments to your questions.

 

* Dark Walnut Stain I used was Miniwax.

* LMF stuff is kind of expensive and all I ordered was the kit with the cherry stain. I have a lot of Miniwax stuff so that's why I used it and didn't want to fork out more $$$ on two types of stain from LMF.

* No, I didn't use any reducer. Not opposed to it, just didn't use it.

* Raising the grain: On the set(s) I did, I didn't raise the grain. By raising the grain, you can get a really smooth surface, but I think you can still get that accomplished by using 400 or 600 grit paper. If your happy with the surface of the piece your working on, I don't think it's really that big of a deal to raise the grain.

* Cheap sets: I just looked at Centerfire and they seem to be out of the sets where the lower HG doesn't have the forward grip. That's where I had been getting mine. Try Cope's distributing, they have some cheap Romy stocks without HG's. Also, keep an eye out on Gunbroker, sometimes, sometimes, you can find someone who's not asking an arm and a leg for a nice Romy set. I found a guy who was selling a set off of a Century gun for $29.99.

* I used Motsenbockers Lift Off paint and varnish remover. It's a water based stripper I found at Home Deport. Not a bad product seems to work fairly well, not that toxic type stripper! LOL... if you really want to clean and remove old varnish, grease, dirt, etc... use an oven cleaner. I've found that stuff works pretty good!

* Oh, back to adding in a little black rit dye to the cherry LMF cherry stain, I really don't think that did that much to darken the cherry stain and I'd probably skip doing that.

 

I am waiting on getting my laminated pistol grip from IWD, and I'll do pictures and steps with that one so people can see what I am doing.

 

Hopes this helps....

[padenbrown 2]

ok, has anyone wanted an upper handguard the same lenght as the bottom one?? and if someone has done it, do ya got a picture???

[BaronVonBigmeat 0]

Okay, thanks for the advice...I'll probably pick up a donkey-dong foregrip set from centerfire. Or maybe this set...$25, I could probably resell it a lot easier, only it doesn't look like birch laminate. Anyone know what type of wood was used on a Bulgarian AK-74? If it's solid birch, that would practically the same thing I would imagine.

 

Anyway, more questions!

 

1) Do I stain everywhere? Even the underside of the handguard, where it will be close to the barrel and gas tube?

 

2) The rear trunnion will match up with the Ironwood buttstock and everything, right? Is there a lot of fitting/cutting, either wood or metal? Do I re-use the factory saiga buttstock screws?

 

3) I want to order the AKM model furniture on IWD's website...right? Does the basic model have flat sides?

 

4) Does the Ironwood grip come with a screw and nut? What about sling swivels and the buttplate and screws for that?

 

5) Did you paint or duracoat your rifle?

Edited March 14, 2010 by BaronVonBigmeat

[sulphur 7]

Okay, thanks for the advice...I'll probably pick up a donkey-dong foregrip set from centerfire. Or maybe this set...$25, I could probably resell it a lot easier, only it doesn't look like birch laminate. Anyone know what type of wood was used on a Bulgarian AK-74? If it's solid birch, that would practically the same thing I would imagine.

 

Anyway, more questions!

 

1) Do I stain everywhere? Even the underside of the handguard, where it will be close to the barrel and gas tube?

 

2) The rear trunnion will match up with the Ironwood buttstock and everything, right? Is there a lot of fitting/cutting, either wood or metal? Do I re-use the factory saiga buttstock screws?

 

3) I want to order the AKM model furniture on IWD's website...right? Does the basic model have flat sides?

 

4) Does the Ironwood grip come with a screw and nut? What about sling swivels and the buttplate and screws for that?

 

5) Did you paint or duracoat your rifle?

 

1. I do stain everywhere, however I don't put a lot of finish on the inside of the handguards, etc.. I want some potection but not the same as the outside of the furniture. IMO it depends on what your applying, Tung Oil, Stain, etc...

2. There was very little fitting on the stock I got from IWD, IMO there is always some small degree of variance between guns and custom made stocks. Of course with mine I had to cut a hole in the receiver to accomdate the pistol grip. Some people don't want to change a thing on their gun, I call them the "purists" and I repect that, then there are guns I have that I don't change a thing on, and then there are the others I customize for myself.

3. Ok, just to make sure, you are going to be fitting this for a PSL? If so, NO.... you need to order the PSL HG set in laminate, make sure to tell Matt that you want a set in laminate, and if you want a stock like mine you need to order "PSL radius cut AKM pattern" stock. If not a PSL then yes to the AKM model, just a basic set for a stamped receiver.

Not sure what you mean by "flat sides"???

4. I'm pretty sure that the IWD grip does not come with a screw and nut, but you can find those easy, Tapco makes a set... here is a link to one: http://store.carolinashooterssupply.com/servlet/-strse-120/TAPCO-AK-GRIP-SCREW/Detail

Also, I pretty sure you'll have to get a sling swivel and buttplate...

5. No I didn't paint or duracoat my PSL. If you want to I recommend Duracoat... very durable, esp when it cures and a lot of colors to choose from. I've probably done at least 6 rifles w/ duracoat... FYI don't buy their kit....the one with the air can and air brush (crap), buy an airbrush air pump and an airbrush... got my airbrush air pump at Harbor Freight...

 

Good luck and I probably won't be able to reply this next week, heading out of town...

[BaronVonBigmeat 0]

Okay, thanks. By flat sides, I meant the lower foregrip. Some of them are perfectly flat, and others have the flared contours. I want the basic flat sides. Mine is a 16" 7.62.

 

I've seen the pistol grip screw and nut all over the place, but I haven't seen the swivel hardware or butt plate anywhere. I'll talk to IWD and see what he says.

 

I got my $10 airbrush from harbor freight today, along with their $30 Dremel knockoff. I have a decent size 110V air compressor, so I won't be bothering with canned air.

[sulphur 7]

Okay, thanks. By flat sides, I meant the lower foregrip. Some of them are perfectly flat, and others have the flared contours. I want the basic flat sides. Mine is a 16" 7.62.

 

I've seen the pistol grip screw and nut all over the place, but I haven't seen the swivel hardware or butt plate anywhere. I'll talk to IWD and see what he says.

 

I got my $10 airbrush from harbor freight today, along with their $30 Dremel knockoff. I have a decent size 110V air compressor, so I won't be bothering with canned air.

 

Oh, duh... yea. the regular AKM sets have the palm swells, the PSL HG set does not. The palm swells are suppose to give you more grip/control.... yea, Harbor Freight, the land of Man stuff!! My experince with IWD is sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel,,, Matt is a pretty busy dude...

 

Well off to San Antonio! I see your in Houston... FYI I am a graduate of SHSU and lived and worked in Houston area for 6 years or so... How's it been down there lately?

[BaronVonBigmeat 0]

[sulphur 7]