Stock Refurb

[Shotz90s]

What is the general opinion of redoing a stock. The color that came on my non-numbers matching factory 26 is a lighter honey color. Personally I like a darker brown/red color. Is there any devaluation that this will cause by doing that?

[Loose}{Cannon]

If you currently have original finish on the stock... Yes, refinishing will devalue it to a collector, maybe not so much to a non collector.  Its also your rifle to do what you want with. 

[Shotz90s]

So if the stocks not even matching? Maybe I'll have to think about getting a second stock to use for redoing then. Thanks Cannon.

[Loose}{Cannon]

A little bit I guess... Even though not matching, original finish is preferred.  Just my .02

[running-man]

I think LC is right, a home brew finish is going to devalue a gun regardless of whether the stock is numbers matching or not. Obviously, a gun with a matching stock has much farther to fall than one without. If this is a mismatching common gun that runs $300-$350, you might ding $10 to $25 off the price as long as the refinish doesn't go horribly wrong.

The bottom line is: Is your being happy with the rifle worth that $25?  I'd say it probably is! 

[Loose}{Cannon]

True..   We aint talking huge $ difference here like RM says.   

[Shotz90s]

For what I paid for it I think I'll take the leap. The person I'm going to work with it on is a professional and I'm going to hone some skills while learning.

[running-man]

Good deal, make sure to take some before and after photos for us! 

[Shotz90s]

Definitely will! Now I have to find the perfect color for it. Thanks for all the input 

[jjjxlr8]

It's already not matching, so collectors probably won't be interested, anyway.  Enjoy your rifle!

[Justin Hell]

I have always liked the honey blonde stocks, just never got lucky enough to get one. They don't come up very often on the auction sites I frequent. Non-matching or not, if it fits nicely and isn't too beat up, I personally would leave it alone.

I tried refinishing an SKS stock once...that wood can be kind of tricky...the sandpaper seemed to have more of a cheese grating effect than a smoothing effect. The only thing I could liken it to would be trying to sand uncured bamboo....or very cured string cheese. 

Is it living on a pinned, short lug or long lugged barrel? If you can find the color you are looking for in a used stock, since it is already mismatched that might be a better route than messing with the original finish. Then you could recoup your expenses by selling the blondie to someone like me.

[Shotz90s]

I'll let you know how this turns out. Someone else in my family likes the stock so I may be getting a second one after all.