How can I replicate Mosin Nagants red finish?

[mordaal]

I have a Mosin Nagant stock that some tape fell on and when I peeled off the tape guess what?  :banghead:Yep, your right! Some of the finish peeled off. So before I do anything else stupid is there any way to replicate the red finish on Mosins and Russian SKS rifles?

[xtriggerman]

kind of depends on how different the damaged area looks in comparison. Spoting it in with a stain might work but I usually end up going over everything once you get the stain color to a relative match. Then once good and dry, give the whole stock a once over with steel wool then with a tad darker stain. That should equalize the bad patch.

[Greatguns]

I have had success with blending Early American and one of three other stains; Gunstock, Red Oak, or Mahogany. Depending on how red I need I wipe a layer of Early American let it soak in a little(2-5 minutes) then lay one of the others over top. The Early American and Gunstock combo works great for a lot of the Chinese SKS stocks, but is probably too golden or brown colored for what you want so I'd try one of the other two, probably Mahogany if you need it real red. If you can get a scrap of white pine or lighter poplar they can make a good test board for you.

[mordaal]

So once the stain is on and even and the color I'm looking for, and I will be doing test spots on seperate pieces of wood, what do you guys recommend coating with? Shellac or Linseed Oil?

[Greatguns]

Use what matches the finish on the rest of the rifle. If it's a refurb with a thick glossy finish, it is probably shellac. If it seems a more smooth natural wood finish then it is probably an oil finish, but l don't recall seeing refurbed MNs having an oil finish. I've also used tung oil to blend in on a few Yugo stocks I've refinished.

[xtriggerman]

Greatguns is spot on. I have a few mosins that have a shellac type finish. Bottle True Oil can double as a easy applying shellac type finish. I use that on alot of gun wood as a final. It has its own very slight red. Once True oil is dry and you need it darker, you can steel wool it with 0000 and stain will still take hold for a slight darkening. Good Luck with it.

[mordaal]

So I have not yet tried these great ideas you guys gave me. I came across one more I'm considering. You can buy varnish, and it includes a packet of red powdered dye that you can use to get a customised reddish finish.
Once I finish up my current project I'm going to give these ideas some attention.

[Hodgie]

Late to the party here but I’ve used ritdye and amber shellac before with good success. I was even able to correct a large imperfection in my wife’s dining room table after a move we had. As far as the firearm I added some tiger stripping to the stock with a propane torch and a conservative hand. Came out nice, but I can’t seem to find pictures anywhere now.