Refinished my 1960 Polish milled

[Eric]

Bought this a few weeks ago, only put 100 rounds through it at 100 yards at the range and man this thing is a freaking blast to shoot. Have only owned handguns up to this point but im hooked now. Waiting to get to my buddies hunting lodge to really put some rounds through it. The sound these things make when fired and the gas tube smoking is quite menacing. It came with a bayonet that fits and 2 30rd mags, but no cleaning rod. Paid almost 700 bucks which may be a little high but thats what happens when I walk into a gun store hah.

Anyways here is a before and after pic of a pretty quick refinishing job on the wood, used one coat of minwax red oak stain and 4 coats of minwax polyurethane gloss. Was a bit concerned about how heat resistant the polyurethane clear spray was, but after searching google I never came up with a definitive answer. Guess ill redo it if i need to eventually.

Looks like a little rust on the mag in the pic, I just sanded that spot with some 000 steel wool and will take both mags apart when I feel adventurous. Ive been reading that people use grease to lube the rails and piston, is this a good idea? All ive used so far on it is some crappy remoil I had at the time. Here is a before and after pic, looks better in person as my camera phone sucks.

Before
http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m562/ebwrath/Picture001.jpg

After
http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m562/ebwrath/Picture003.jpg

[Richard Simmons]

Very nice! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

[Helen Keller]

NIce

:wootrock:


I got mine 2 months ago and love it.

Probly the most accurate AK i've owned.

[O.S.O.K.]

Sweet! And :welcome: to the board! Hope to see some more posts :)

[TomO]

. Ive been reading that people use grease to lube the rails and piston, is this a good idea?


Sure...why not. Grease...oil....ox blood, whatever. It's all good.

Nice piece BTW!

[Eric]

Sure...why not. Grease...oil....ox blood, whatever. It's all good.
Hell yeah, ox blood works for me! Thanks for the comments guys.

[Full Otto]

Very nice.
I keep my piston dry and the gas tube as well.

[Eric]

Very nice.
I keep my piston dry and the gas tube as well.
Ok, thanks for the tip. I found this dummies guide to ak lubing the other day http://guns.wolfcrews.com/ak47/cleaning/default.htm .

One of the alternate methods on that page is "Hose down the whole thing with the local car wash pressure washer. Stick on radio antenna to dry while driving home. Dip in motor oil. Store." Haha.

[FunkyPertwee]

Don't be scared to get into the magazines to clean them. Its really easy. I disassemble my rifle and pistol mags for cleaning after firing from them so many times.

And nice rifle! :thumbsup:

[romak10/63UF]

I have personally use minwax on all my wooden firearms to refinish them the way i like i have a extensive test on a ak-47 lower hand gaurd that i refinished useing two coats of base coat " minwax applied first coat light waited 7 to 10 minutes then wiped down i let it stain for 10 hours then i applied the second coat thick waited 8 to 10 minutes then wiped down... let it sit in the sun to soak up real good... Then i used the poly coats i used between 4 to 6 coats letting them dry then lighty sanding them in between coats with 1500 grit sand paper . Yes i even do the inside of the hand gaurd i have noticed no peeling no melting of the poly coat witch is inside the hand gaurd even after rapid fireing of 200 rounds..

[Izzy]

Very nice.
I keep my piston dry and the gas tube as well.

EXACTLY if you lube the tube or the piston, it will burn on and be a dog to get off.

Just get high temprature ( high drop point) red lithium grease and put on the rails and other moving parts in small amounts, other than the aformentioned pistion/tube, and the breech face, and your good to go.

Be sure to take off the slant break/ flash hider and clean the barrel crown, or it too will build up lead ect. ( with a non abrasive silicone gun cloth) many a used AK has this issue.

Wipe down the the outside with Ballistol or any fully synthetic motor oil and you are in the mix. :) 5 dollars of motor oil should give you many years of effective gun oil.

Get a bore snake for cleaning the barrel.

[Eric]

Thanks for all the advise guys. Ive now fired about 1k rounds through it and never a problem, fun stuff.

[Nautilus]

Call me old fashioned but that rifle needs a cleaning rod & a muzzle nut. ;)

[Eric]

Call me old fashioned but that rifle needs a cleaning rod & a muzzle nut. ;)
Agreed, ive just been lazy with it.

[djpase]

thx for the link about cleaning. i never would think that you can put it in the dishwasher. and was unsure about brake cleaner. didnt want to take off the finish, but i gues that ok, it wont.

[imanaknut]

thx for the link about cleaning. i never would think that you can put it in the dishwasher. and was unsure about brake cleaner. didnt want to take off the finish, but i gues that ok, it wont.

Brake cleaner is great for getting into hard to reach areas as long as you remember that it completely removes any oils leaving the metal ready to rust if you don't protect it. Also some brake cleaners can harm the finish on the wood parts, as well as damaging some plastic parts. It is really good though at hosing out the insides of the receiver if you don't feel like taking it completely apart, but again you must remember to re-oil everything or rust will enjoy the clean finish as well.

And to me, for some reason hand cleaning is as much a part of enjoying your firearm as firing it. The idea of dishwasher clean just seems so wrong.

[billt]

My 2, 1960 Polish Milled models.

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/1960PolishMilledReceiverAK-47s.jpg (http://s812.photobucket.com/user/billt460/media/1960PolishMilledReceiverAK-47s.jpg.html)