Refinished Wood And a Question

[joebanda1213 59]

Last week I finally decided to refinish my two sets of Bulgarian AK74 furniture that I bought from apex for the low price of $25. Sadly they have gone up in price. It was real simple even for me a college kid with very little crafting skills. If you want to know the steps here they are in a nutshell. I read a lot of threads and picked and chose my own process based on available materials.

First I stripped the furniture with citristrip. It only took one round for the buttstock but two rounds for the hand guards.

After removing all the finish I went over the wood with a series of different grain sand paper from most coarse to least.

I used a minwax prestain treatment

I then stained the stock two or three times with Red Oak. (I wanted a redish look but it turned more brown which I have come to really like)

With the darker color stain it made it easier to color match all the pieces.

I then put 3 or 4 layers of truoil on buffing the wood with 0000 steel wool in between layers.

The stock set on the right is my second set and is currently being finished in minwax gunstock. I will post picks when finished.

I absolutely love my SGL31. I have put 6k rounds through it in two years. Unfortunately it is becoming easier to tell how used it is especially the muzzle brake and muzzle crown. Both are caked with what appears to be carbon and lead. I almost have a baffle forming inside the brake right after the threads. I have tried soaking both in hoppes and break free but have not been able to melt the stuff off. If you guys have any recommendations let me know.

If your wondering I have neglected this rifle after many shoots and dunked it in rivers and mud with zero adverse effects due to corrosive ammo.

I have really come to love the forum over the couple of years perusing it and I like to thank you all for turning me into a well rounded Russian obsessed gun nut.

 

[SGL 530]

Those brakes are great at collecting fouling. For the crud on your barrel crown, try finding a big screwdriver with a hard plastic handle and smacking the fouling on the crown with handle itself. If the stuff is caked on thick enough, it is usually brittle enough break off into chunks. This lets you avoid scraping and possibly damaging the barrel. It's not my idea, just something I looked up a while time ago after seeing how quickly that stuff collects under that brake and how hard it is to get off.

 

For the brake itself, patience and a scouring pad will get you there, but I've heard of people using dremels and wire brushes etc.

The consequences for screwing up the brake are much less severe than messing with your barrel crown.

Edited July 18, 2013 by SGL

[gunfun 3,931]

If you know a reloader with an ultrasonic cleaner, that would be worth a try.

 

nice looking wood. I know exactly how much work that is.

[mikebaker1129 19]

Looks really good !