Finaly Finished a Light T-53 Restoration.

[HODGIE 3]

I beleive this was one of the "Very good" condition T-53's buds was selling a month or 2 back. I picked it up off a locally off another member of the site who was not expecting what was sent. The pictures pretty much say the rest.

 

Before:

[HODGIE 3]

Oops double post.

[HODGIE 3]

Afters.

All numbers match except for the bolt.

Not to shabby for $150.00 FTF, she should make a good shooter.

[fatty 241]

nice hodgie! you did one hell of a job refinishing my old mosin.

 

hope she shoots as good as she looks

[Arbelest 29]

Nice job, looks great.

[Frank Rizzo 59]

Huge fan of these style rifles.. very nice job you did.

[hiker88 22]

Looks a lot better!!! Now we need pics of that thing spewing fireballs

[ogfarmer 138]

nice!

[9X19 125]

Nice work.

[DargZ 5]

Nice work. I'd be interested in hearing what you did. I have a T-53 and a M44. The M44 is in great shape. I can't say the same about the T-53. There was some rust on the metal that I had to scrub off. The stock could also use some protection. I do like that the stock is lighter in color than the M44 though and would like to keep it that way.

[HODGIE 3]

Thanks for the compliments guy's.

 

Here's what I did on the stock and metal.

 

On this one I just used Oxpho-blue from Brownells it's their signature cold blue, it worked okay but at times clod bluing can be frustrating getting an even coat even when heating and doing the correct metal prepping. The mag box was the biggest pain in the ass and it's still not 100% but I can live with it. I usually use a black oxide dip but it requires mixing up a few chemicals together and then they can be reused several times which is good but I am in the process of moving so making and moving chemicals around was something I did not want to do.

 

I also buffed the bolt with a bronze wire wheel to get off the rust and pitting then used a medium sheen polish and a soft wheel to get the sine out.

 

Here's the process I used on the stock, it's an ole school method my wifes uncle showed me a few years back, he is a master craftsman

and custom cabinet maker.

 

I would stay from heavy standing.

Use wood stripper coat the stock up really good give it 15-20 min and remove the old finish with a plastic scraper if it needs

to be hit again with the stripper give it another round. Once all cleaned up give it a light sanding with 220 grit paper then move

onto the below for the finishing.

 

1. Coat of Dark Brown RIT DYE let it dry for an hour, you will know when it's done it will look like a chocolate bar.

2. Lite buffing with 0000 steel wool, then rub in a coat of BLO, Wait 30 min then give it a wipe down with a soft cloth.

3. 1 coat of Medium brown alcohol based leather dye. You can let that sit for 30 minutes to 24 hrs, the longer you wait the darker red it will be. I recommend 1 hour.

4.Wipe it down with a clean soft cloth and then rub a good coat of BLO into it.

5. Let it set for 48hrs without any contact to it then I applied 3 coats of Tom's 1/3rd military gun stock wax with 8 hours in between each coat.

 

Everything but the toms wax can be done in one afternoon. No real sanding used wood stripper, let it sit for 15-30 min then a plastic scrapper to get it all off. Wipe down then a very light sanding with 220 grit paper or block then start with the above process.