Polish WZ-48 idea - Cool Project or Blasphemy?

[aarondhgraham]

Earlier today I posted about a friend who tricked out a Chinese SKS,,,
He filled in all the dents, dings and scratches on the stock,,,
And gave it a deep crimson guitar body finish.

He powder coated (cera-coated maybe) ll of the stock hardware a deep black,,,
Had the bayonet mount professionally machined off (improving the accuracy),,,
And had the rest of the rifle hot blued.

It sounds a bit strange to think of but I tell you folks,,,
It turned an ordinary functional mil-surp,,,
Into an exceptionally lovely rifle.

Since I posted that I've been thinking it would be fun to try that,,,
Several years ago I purchased a Polish WZ-48 single-shot .22 LR trainer.

I had it in mind to pair it up with a Polish Nagant,,,
Both guns mounted on a custom wall mount,,,
But I never got that "Round-2-It".

The rifle is an excellent shooter but has mismatched serial numbers,,,
The bolt serial # and the rifle serial # do not match,,,
I've been told this kills any collectability.

The bluing of the rifle is damn near flawless,,,
And as far as it's performance aspect,,,
I shoot 2.5" groups at 50 yards,,,
With 72 year old eyes,,,
And iron sights.

The stock does not have any cracks or chips on it at all,,,
But does has plenty of dings and scratches.

I was thinking about filling in the dings to make the stock as smooth as possible,,,
Since Poland's national colors are red and white,,,
Finish the stock in a deep guitar-like red,,,
And cera-coat the hardware white.

Like so many other projects at my age,,,
This one might never even get off the ground,,,
But it's in my head now so I thought I would at least post the idea.

So whaddaya think?

Cool Project or Blasphemy?

Aarond

Idle hands may truly be the Devil's Workshop.

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[cowadle]

someday down the road you will wish you had just left it alone. trust me

 

[aarondhgraham]

someday down the road you will wish you had just left it alone. trust me

You could easily be correct Cowadle,,,
I felt that way after I "sporterized" my British .303 back in the 1960's.

Sporterizing meant just chopping the front off of the stock.

I found another stock set at an army surplus store,,,
And put the rifle back to it's original condition.

All the mil-surps I bought after that,,,
I just sanded and refinished the woodwork,,,
And polished or re-blued the metal as necessary.

I made good money mowing lawns and babysitting,,,
Alden's catalog had most mil-surp rifles for $20.00 or less.

My rifle rack had some very handsome mil-surps on it,,,
Especially that .303 because the stock was some beautiful walnut.

I just can't get the image of my friend's SKS out of my head,,,
It truly was an elegant looking shooter with that deep crimson stock.

I'm in no hurry,,,
So I'll start by just stripping and sanding the stock.

It's some very bland blond-ish wood that I don't recognize,,,
It will benefit from some aggressive hand sanding.

I'll decide what to do when I get that part done.

Aarond

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[HoLeChit]

I love the creativity, but I’m kinda siding with @cowadle on this one. I think if you wanna go more unorthodox with the colors, you make it all easily reversible, like cerakote. One of the reasons why such an SKS would be awesome in black and red is because it’s a traditional look for Soviet era arms.

I feel like white and red might be a little odd just because white isn’t really a common color for weapons. What if you finished the hardware all a nice deep black or blue, and then refinish the stock your intended red. When you’re doing the poly or whatever, maybe put 2-3 coats down, then put a coat of arms sticker where you want, maybe the buttstock, and then continue to clear over it? Keeps the rifle finish somewhat traditional, adds some non permanent polish pizzaz.

Or, maybe inset a medallion into the stock?

 

[Judi]

Please don't do that.....


My god...they don't make them anymore....

like melting down 1804 silver dollar.... to make a 50% silver 2023 American silver dollar...

Get a AR and put a weed whip on it if you want to make something

 

[cowadle]

many many years ago i rescued a DSM 34 from being sanded down cleaned up because it was just a little single shot 22.

 

[aarondhgraham]

That AK has an extremely similar look to my friend's SKS,,,
The major difference being the SKS was painted,,,
The red was solid so you don't see the grain.

I like that AK by the way,,,
I saw one like it at the range,,,
Laminated stock but in green instead.

The red is much more pleasing to my eye.

Right after I bought the WZ-48,,,
I tried to find a stock for it,,,
Or a second beater rifle.

None to be found anywhere.

Winter 's first icy breath got here today,,,
My shop isn't heated so this project,,,
Probably won't get started soon.

I'll content myself with just sanding the stock down for now,,,
A subtle re-finish of the stock won't harm it's originality.

Aarond

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