My Un-furbed Refurb

[jd?]

I thought I'd post up some pics of the first SKS I ever had, and the one that got me to love these rifles.  I think I got it back in 2010, and paid $290 for it.  It's a '52' Tula, refurb.  It had been road pretty hard and previous owner had verathaned the chipped up shellac.  A few years later I got another beautiful refurb in the box, and decided to do a little work on this one.  Wanted to leave it as close to original as possible, and like many of us was dying to know what was under the barbeque paint.




What was under there, looks pretty much like a parkerized finish.  Possibly just a phosphate or phosphoric bath to enhance paint adhesion.  I'll tell ya, it was some nasty paint to remove.


I just did the stock about a week ago, and simply stripped it with my new favorite goop, Citristrip.  Then stained it with Minwax Red Chestnut stain, and wiped it with BLO.






I know some of ya probably think I bubbed a Russian, but -- - I like it better now than before.  I've still got one perfect example of a refurb, and maybe I'll someday get a total original to go with them.  jd

[CrazySquid]

I like the phosphate look better than the bbq paint finish.  How did you manage to get the bbq paint off?

[jd?]

I like the phosphate look better than the bbq paint finish.  How did you manage to get the bbq paint off?

I tried -- laquer thinner,  MEK, and Berryman's Chemtool.   The Chemtool (liquid not spray) seemed to do the best.  I would try the Citristrip now that I know how well it works. -- might or might not work, but it would be a good first step.  jd

[running-man]

Hey JD?,  exactly which parts had the BBQ paint on this gun?  From the ones I've seen in photos (never owned a BBQ Russian myself), it seems like the Russians weren't entirely consistent with the application. Sometimes the bolt and carrier only, sometimes the receiver cover & buttplate was included and other times even the receiver and portions of the barrel look to be covered in paint. 

I think if you like it better than what it was before you worked on it, then you're good to go.  It's not like that gun was a $1500 as-issued VG condition '53 Izhevsk or something.   

[Loose}{Cannon]

Wonder what they did to the surface before the bbq was applied?

[running-man]

I would say they did a bead blast or more likely some kind of chemical etch (maybe an acid pickle) to clean it and then dipped the whole rifle in something to help the adhesion/provide protection to the bare metal.  Could be parkerizing or a different type of bluing than was originally used.

My Clayco has that dull matte finish that is common to reworked metal.  I was thinking how much the front end components near the muzzle on this one look like it. 

[Phosphorus32]

Since phosphoric acid (acid pickle, like RM said) will strip the bluing layer and passivate the exposed iron, it may have been that simple.  You wouldn't think they would go the effort of a full parkerization and then paint over it but I'm not old enough to claim I was there to supervise 

[SKhiSm 59-66A1]

I think it looks great, wood and metal both. You're right, to me it looks parkerized or somethin' real close to it. Do you have a before pic just for giggles ? 

[jd?]

Hey JD?,  exactly which parts had the BBQ paint on this gun?

On this particular rifle, ALL the metal was painted except the bayonet.  My other refurb has a bright bolt, bolt carrier, and beautifully blued gas tube.  (kinda makes me want to remove some paint from the underside of the barrel and see if it's got nice blue)

I've done some Parkerizing, and the surface of this looks real similar.  Maybe I should leave it out in the weather and see if it rusts.

I did fine an old pic of the gun before strip.  Not that great but--

[Worm]

Very nice job 

Good choice to remove the bbq imo. I cant stand that stuff

Looks great

[Loose}{Cannon]

Its worth noting.. the Russos used bbq on some brand new guns during the cold war. One of which is the Vostok CM2. In these cases, bbq would be the original and proper finish.

[carls sks]

looking good, nice job. 

[jd?]

Here's a few pics of my other Rooskie Refurb, a 54  Tula. 




It was like new in the KBI box when I got it from a friend.  Don't think it had ever been fired since refurb.  What I notice from messing around with these refurbs is that the fit and function of everything such as receiver cover, gas tube, trigger group, latch levers -- everything ya deal with in disassembly and field strip is just supurb.  Kinda like they've taken a nice rifle, and given it a factory tune-up.  Maybe I just got lucky with my two, or are they all like that.  Has anyone had one of these rifles that was a real crapper??  jd

[Loose}{Cannon]

Not that I know of....  I had one, and it was exactly how you described.

[fenceline]

Looks good. Didn't think it would be that easy to remove.

[ruskeyguns]

I have a un-furb 1954 Izhevsk SKS with a laminated stock that has BBQ paint.   I was going to highlight the serial numbers and used rubbing alcohol to clean the bolt cover when the paint started to rub off.  I was amazed that other cleaning solvents including Varsol didn't remove the BBQ paint and alcohol had such a effect.  I have highlighted serial numbers on several blued guns with not problem.

I hate the BBQ paint on guns and like the look of JD? gun.  Trying to decide if to touch up the paint or go full tilt and remove the paint.