Looking for a Rommy stock and bayonet for my 1958 mostly matching Romanian

[Justin Hell]

I think the reason it has sat around for so long is that not anywhere in the auction does it say handguard, or even hand guard 

I almost got it just for a conversation piece, I don't need it. You do...jump on it! You can get it close to right, until you can find an honest to goodness Romanian one. For less than fifteen bucks shipped it's hard to go wrong, you could resell it if you find one that matches better for at least that.

[likemeasks]

Yea I bought it and it should be here around Saturday. Picture looks like a pretty close match. If not there are some wood finishing tricks I learned from my Carpenter Grandfather. Like you said even a Chinese orange wood hand guard would be better that that plastic piece of crap. Once again thank you for the lead on this piece.

Charlie

[likemeasks]

The hand guard wood arrived on Friday pm and it looks better than it did on the sale posting. Now I have got to clean and refinish the stock so it looks as good as the hand guard. Found a bayonet in an auction and placed a bid now I just have to monitor the post and hope I win. I've got some guard pins coming in so I can get the wood on the gas tube.
If any of you guys want a plastic off brand stock and hand guard give me a shout and you can have it for shipping cost.

Charlie

[likemeasks]

Still waiting for the pin so I can install the wood hand guard. Got a break in the weather today and went out to the range. With the action locked down securely in a wood stock I couldn't ask for a better shooter. Like the Yang Child I picked up just before Christmas, this weapon shoots better than my old eyes can see. Below is a picture of my average shooting after re-zeroing the sights in a tight fitting stock.

 


This is a standard 8 inch target with a 3 inch sticky attached so I can see the center at 50 yards. Ammo is Tula 154 gr. jacketed soft points. At 100 yrd. with a little +elevation I can hit skeet clays laid against the berm back stop. So I'm happy and feel I got a better rifle than the S&W pistol I traded off for it. And just for the record the shot outside the target at approx 11 o'clock was from the first rounds fired to zero with the wood stock.

Charlie

[Loose}{Cannon]

Looks like a keeper!

[likemeasks]

Most assuredly, till the day I die. Then it goes to my son and if he lets go of it I'll come up out of hell and kick his ASS !!!!! Next range trip I'll try the reload I worked up for the CZ 527 bolt I have. Hornady 7.62 SST that shoot a 1" or less group at 100 yrds. If it works as well as I think....Great Hog/ Dear Rifle for the thick Louisiana underbrush. Most shots are 50yrds or less down here.

Charlie

[likemeasks]

Ok, I'm going to ask forgiveness from all the Dedicated Purist out there, but now that I have obtained a wooden handguard for Rommy that almost perfectly matches the wood of the stock I have cleaned and stripped the old finish off of both. This is the very nice brown stained wood that was under all the dirt grim and oil.



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So now I'm going to refinish the wood with a commercial clear shellac in hopes the the brown stain makes for a rifle with distinct color and character. Now before you Purist hit the ceiling..... here is a picture of the Yugo I refinished some years ago.

 



As I have mentioned that rifle was so loaded with cosmo. that you had to wash with alcohol and then gojo soap after touching it. The color was a dark pumpkin orange and it would stain your clothes and leave grease smudges on your cheek. Another rifle I refinished is shown below.
 



That's Farm Boy, my late Uncle's farm truck gun. It spent its entire life (1971 to 2012) in his truck for protection from predators and the occasional visiting deer's last day. If that rifle got cleaned five times in all those years it would be too many times.

So my hopes are that I can return Rommy to near his first deployment condition and not like some fancy pants babied brat gun. I know some of you Purist will hate the idea. But I'm going to do this as a gesture of respect for what Rommy is and do not intend for him to leave my family from here on.

Charlie   

[Greasemonkey]

My purist had a mild stroke... 

But......why clear? go for red shellac at least its closer to what Romania would have used color wise....  if it has the wood grain like the top rifle.. maybe it would be ok 
My '58(2nd down) doesn't have a stitch of finish on it.. And slings.... a Romanian has to have it's sling



Close up of the top rifle butt stock..



Nice..  is that a Glenfield 30A... a Marlin generic... I have one thats from '73 and had some work done to it, new reworked trigger, a bunch of smoothing and other accurizing work. It's almost as smooth as my Henrys now, and shoots like a dream and loves the Leverevolution ammo or 170gr Winchester.

She an ugly....but a deadly one.. easliy took my deer limit this year with her and 3 noisy blackbirds in the process, this is the first year I have used a .30-30....usually I'm banging around with a .45-70.

[likemeasks]

The shellac color is still in debate, I don't find a local source for the garnet and I'm not crazy about blending the flakes not knowing the correct mix up front. I kinda like that chocolate brown tone. That Yugo's grain was totally hidden till I actually washed with ammonia/water to bleach out the cosmo. Close up this stock has some interesting spots where the stain is thin and makes me wonder what is being hidden. It is a definite that I'll be finishing the wood with shellac of some color. Down here in S.L. the humidity and "swamp bacteria" will eat the wood worse than the jungles of Vietnam.

Yes that is a 30A '71 vintage . My Uncle was a great farmer and family guy but he had no pride for his truck gun. The finish was almost down to bare wood. You can see the grease, dirt, oil, and likely deer blood and guts stains that just would not come out of the art work on the stocks. I had to back bore to barrel 1/4 inch because of rust pits from sitting in the gunk on the floor behind his seat. It likely had never been cleaned any more then a patch down the barrel. He always said it only needed to fire one shot at a time "cause I don't miss". He had willed it to me because I was the only one that ever fussed him for neglecting his rifle. But it cleaned up well, has character and operates smoother than new Marlins. It and I can keep 150 gr. jacketed lead points in 1 inch at 100 yds. Look close at the receiver and you can see the rust pits that would not sand out. Used a hot acid dip at the radiator shop and then neutralized, buffed, and cold blued. At least it is better off than red rust it had before. Oh, did I mention I HATE RED.

Charlie

[likemeasks]

Oh, Greasemonkey don't panic. I do things in consecutive steps first was the cleaning and operational testing. I won't spend any time or money on a gun that doesn't shoot well. Next was to find the wood and return it to some level of original issue. Surprised you didn't yell about the bayonet. I've misses out on 3 on ebay because I'm too cheap to pay $75  for one. On the sling, would a cloth or leather be issue correct for a 58 Rommy? And I have to ask, is the Greasemonkey thing referenced to past or present occupation?

Charlie

[Greasemonkey]

Most any hardware store has amber shellac.. Our Lowes and even that Home De-pot place does. I got a small can of amber from the local Ace.. cause I was too lazy to drive to the Lowes.. 

But it cleaned up well, has character and operates smoother than new Marlins.

Even "new" Marlins ain't Marlins..  No where even close.. they are Remarlins or Marlingtons.. Remington owns them and pretty much has control of them since '07 or '08.   I bought a 1894 in '09 in .357.......biggest rachety P.O.S. I ever bought, even worse than the S&W Sigma 9ve..  The Sigma would at least cycle and fire..

Now......... I'm torn between trading that "Marlington" 357 for a Henry in 41mag or another 357.. 

Oh, Greasemonkey don't panic. I do things in consecutive steps first was the cleaning and operational testing. I won't spend any time or money on a gun that doesn't shoot well. Next was to find the wood and return it to some level of original issue. Surprised you didn't yell about the bayonet. I've misses out on 3 on ebay because I'm too cheap to pay $75  for one. On the sling, would a cloth or leather be issue correct for a 58 Rommy? And I have to ask, is the Greasemonkey thing referenced to past or present occupation?

Charlie

Oh.. on the bayonet issue... I ain't gonna yell... I cant see it from my backyard.. but finding one cheap....... a Chinese blade would fit and stand in just fine, a later Russian would work as well, no one would ever really know the difference, most bayonets ain't maker stamped, much less serialized anyways.. as long as it isn't all fluffed and buffed, sharpened and shined... artsy fartsy guns and parts dont thrill me, I'm a function over looks kind person, even ugly guns need love, and I have a few wonderfully pretty, ugly guns, even have some that I can't shoot... If I wanted a pretty gun... they are made everyday by Weatherby, Cz, Henry, Remington, Cooper, Dakota Arms or Winchester.

The correct sling would be the leather style you see on my Romanians... they can be hard to find and run 50 to 100 bucks.. you can get lucky and find'em cheap.. but, you have to watch, wait and no holds barred....jump and go for it when you see it.  If you wait around and hem and haw over it, it will vanish, quick.

And the Greasemonkey thing... almost 30 years and counting as a heavy truck/equipment mechanic..now............... I run the shop. 

[likemeasks]

Now I'm confused (not altogether uncommon for me) everybody was saying Garnet Shellac for a Romanian if I'm going to do it right. If you notice in my pictures this stock is brown, just slightly lighter than milk chocolate. I did try a spot of Zinsser  Amber on the bottom of this stock. After the second application I was getting an orange shading. Stopped there and "washed" it off with denatured alcohol. What did you use the Amber on? The "58 you mention (second down), is it stained with brown or is it a dark red and just looks brown due to lighting when the pic was taken? Am I correct that almost all of these Romanian stocks and most Russians are Beech wood? All Beech I have ever seen is a cream kind of color with very little running grain lines unless quatercut. What am I missing on this color thing?

Charlie

[Greasemonkey]

I used the amber shellac to undick a Mosin stock someone just had to "refinish" and an Ak stock.  The Romanian wood is beech, the give away is the fish scaling seen in some wood, Russian SKSs used birch/artic birch or laminate...same wood as on the Mosin. The color difference you refer to might be just a simple comparison between tree species.. like red oak and white oak, english walnut and black walnut. Beech trees in Europe could be a different species than your common North American beech tree. 

If you can get the garnet color shellac.. go for it..use it.    It's bound to be better than the...

So now I'm going to refinish the wood with a commercial clear shellac in hopes the the brown stain makes for a rifle with distinct color and character.

....you mentioned..

There is little to no finish remaining on my '58.. in person, it looks like bare wood with what little grain there is filled in with shellac.

The top one a '57 according to the original owner was taken out of the box like that.. The bottom two, a '59 and '60 both are as they came out the box when imported as well.


As for your orange issue.. I can't say..  This is the same brand amber shellac your using on my Ak.. my beater Chinese Mak90 wearing Romanian WASR 10 wood, refitted and refinished in amber shellac.  I did 8 coats total... steel wooling it in between every 2 coats.





It's ugly...but who cares.. it works.. and I can't see the wood while shooting it.

[Loose}{Cannon]

8 coats!   

No wonder how/why it obtained the darker color then a standard amber.   

Whats hard about ordering shellac flake, adding enough denatured alcohol to get the right thickness your looking for, and putting it on there?   Mixing dif color flakes not required if you but the color you want the first time. 

Garnet..... make it happen .   

 

[likemeasks]

Okay LC, the last time I worked with shellac was over 30 years ago. I know the process for applying but never had to do the mixing. Mixing was done by my Grandfather and/or his brother. As you likely have been monitoring this thread you have seen my stock is stained choc. brown. So how much flake and what blend, flake to alcohol, would I need to obtain the correct color? Will the Garnet even "show" when on top of the brown? Were the stocks you fellows refinished stained brown before the shellac was applied? I really don't want to bleach the brown out of the stock. Old wood like this would suffer excessive drying after bleaching and likely be splotchy and uneven colored. There is very little "Character" to the grain bellow the stain and I don't think bleaching and the the garnet shellac would do much other than giving a candy apple red stock. And lastly can you recommend a reliable source to order Garnet shellac flake?

Charlie

[likemeasks]

GM I think that is one fine looking '90. What color was the wood stained, if it was stained, prior to the shellac application. I wish my stock had that kind of grain character.

Charlie

[Greasemonkey]

GM I think that is one fine looking '90. What color was the wood stained, if it was stained, prior to the shellac application. I wish my stock had that kind of grain character.

Charlie

No one has stripped, refinished, restained or did a re shellac job on any of them.. like I said, the '57 is second hand, the original owner swore he didn't refinish it. What he states is plausible, due to the fact all of the Romanian stock stamps are very clear and present and the stock serial matches the receiver, if it had been sanded, very shallow faint to unreadable marks or no marks would be present. The '59 and '60, one came to me directly off the big brown truck from the importer, Century Arms. The other came from AimSurplus. And a side from some cleaning, they are pretty much in the condition I received them in. And the '58 came from an auction, again, no restaining or refinishing......because it has little if any finish remaining.


Just my take on refinishing........
I'm not big fan of refinished stuff.. I have passed on refinished items and just waited for an unaltered rifle. Sure, I have some that are refinished...only cause it's a cheap alternative and a way to try before you sink some money in something or, just get a beat around shooter. But, the refinished weapons I have are subject to be purged from the safes at any time, sold or traded for any reason due to the fact, to me, they are....faked and not original. 
Commercial imported weapons like the Ak above..who cares, while I have another Mak-90 that is pristine and many other commercial weapons.. none are a hunk of history, unless you call the 1994 Assault Weapon ban a worthy, classy piece of history. To me, it's a dressed up wannabe thats trying so hard to be a military weapon.

[likemeasks]

My questions you quoted in your last post were directed to the AK you said you applied 8 coats of shellac on. I understand the SKSs you displayed in the pictures above were left as you received and I respect that. The wood on the AK has a nice grain and I am wondering if the wood was stained or in the "white" before you applied the 8 coats of amber shellac.

Charlie

[Greasemonkey]

What ever wood whoever used on the WASR 10s.. I just stripped the finish off, fit the pieces to the Chinese..and I slopped the shellac on them. I've seen some people say it's beech wood, others say it's a type of maple. Some say the wood was Romanian made, while others say it's American made.

I can say....who ever made it, that wood stripped bare.... I've seen better looking 2x4s and pallet wood grain, it is really just blah. The reason as I recall for 8 coats....is the butt stock and the hand guards didn't quite match...don't know why, maybe they are different type of boring wood, or something done during manufacturing.

This is one of my favorite stocks...   Another I have never altered the finish on..

[likemeasks]

Thanks for the info. SHEEEIT that one looks like some of those Real Flame paint jobs that have been all the craze for the past 5 or so years. I completely cleaned the Rommy stock and there are a few spots here and there that have small fish scale as you call it. Also a nice little spiral near the bottom of the hand grip. Might get lucky that a few grain stripes will stand out. After all the dirt and grime is gone the wood is a caramel brown so I'll use the amber shellac and hope for the best. Hopefully LC doesn't ban me for not using the garnet. Likely he'll want this shoved to the Altered Forum. Weather this week end is not good for doing refinish work. Temps below 50 and humidity at 90+% when it is not poring rain.

Charlie