My three babies.

A photo of my three babies side by side. Top is a 1937 M91/30, second is a 1943 M91/30 and the bottom is a 1952 M44.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y123/idiot_kiwi/Shooting/TheTrio3.jpg

Seeing as the 1943 M91/30 is a forced match rifle with a loose magazine floorplate, the bolt body is a rather loose fit into the receiver (compared to the other two), and the lacquer coat over the wood was scraped off right down to the wood at the fore end (possibly by someone removing and then re-installing the bands), I decided to strip it apart, clean it up and refinish the stock.

And here she is...

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y123/idiot_kiwi/Shooting/Refinished1.jpg

Not too bad for a first effort methinks. :)

very nice..bet the 91/30's could tell some stories!

Cool! I've noticed with the 5 nagants that I have stripped and refinished that they are all unique. The first 2 m-44's had extremely blonde wood and remained light in color even after 2 coats of dark walnut. The 2 m-91's took stain better than the 44's and the third m-44 that I'm working on now has a very dark finish with 2 coats of dark walnut. It is like they are made of different types of wood? Don't know? :huh_small

Igor looks great. Wanted a light finish also but the wood was funky.

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/AshHousewares1/Picture2030.jpg

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/AshHousewares1/Picture2023.jpg

Mixed natural and red mahogany 3:1. Went over it with Rit dye scarlet.