Brought Home a New Bolt Gun - A Serb That Goes By Many Names

[jbrentd]

Here are some close-ups of the checkering. I kind of just jumped right in without much practice. Although not perfect, I'm happy with the results.

Before

After

 

[dennishoddy]

Looks like your doing a great job. I like refinishing stocks as well. What finish are you looking for when complete?

 

[jbrentd]

Looks like your doing a great job. I like refinishing stocks as well. What finish are you looking for when complete?

Thanks. I'm planning on just using Tru Oil without any stain. The walnut stock has some character.

Is that a common thing to do? Like I said, I'm a novice here.

 

[dennishoddy]

That's what I used when restoring a Model 12 Winchester 12 ga. I tried several different methods of applying the Tru Oil. Another member on here told me to just apply it lightly with fingers, hitting it with some 0000 steel wool between layers. That method actually worked the best. There is 20 some layers on mine. Gave it a real deep glossy look.

 

[rickm]

I also have redone some stocks and used tru oil and like the results i got from it the more coats you add the higher the gloss you get but if you dont like the high gloss just lightly hit it with some 0000 steel wool to knock it down. A little tru oil goes along way when applying.

 

[jbrentd]

Ok, it's got 5 coats of Tru Oil now. I might knock down the shine a bit...I might not. And I might come back with more coats later. But I'm done for now. I'm happy with how it turned out. Getting rid of that oil finish really brings out the quality of the wood.

 

[dennishoddy]

Talk about some straight grain. That's turning out to be a great looking stock.

 

[jbrentd]

Talk about some straight grain. That's turning out to be a great looking stock.

Thanks. It looks better in the daylight. Hopefully, it'll stop raining soon.

 

[crrcboatz]

That is a NICE piece of wood for a less than $200 rifle. I had one of them also and thought the wood on it was especially nice but boy you got lucky to say the least. I took the road of sanding off the checkering all together. Lots of work but results were good. Also filled the pores and went with a hand rubbed finish mixture my dad used for years. It is now my grand son's rifle. I will say that in addition to what you did to correct the extraction issues were needed for mine also. My gunsmith said the chamber was milled pretty tight to so he tweaked it for me. I also polished the bolt to almost mirror shine and did the same with the receiver area it runs on. That has made the little gun run as smooth or better than my 700 Remy. Gunsmith said zastavas need this attention as they possess lots of little sharp edges in the action. Mine shot as good as I could shoot it. Friends loved its accuracy and look.

 

[jbrentd]

That is a NICE piece of wood for a less than $200 rifle. I had one of them also and thought the wood on it was especially nice but boy you got lucky to say the least. I took the road of sanding off the checkering all together. Lots of work but results were good. Also filled the pores and went with a hand rubbed finish mixture my dad used for years. It is now my grand son's rifle. I will say that in addition to what you did to correct the extraction issues were needed for mine also. My gunsmith said the chamber was milled pretty tight to so he tweaked it for me. I also polished the bolt to almost mirror shine and did the same with the receiver area it runs on. That has made the little gun run as smooth or better than my 700 Remy. Gunsmith said zastavas need this attention as they possess lots of little sharp edges in the action. Mine shot as good as I could shoot it. Friends loved its accuracy and look.

For someone like me who likes to tinker, I don't mind fixing the small problems these have out of the box. My biggest concern is the availability (or lack of) of replacement parts if needed in the future.

Show us some pics of yours if you have any.