I'm officially Canadian.

[u/ExtremeCommercial821]

Thanks for all the help everyone, after several question posts, I got it.

I was on the hunt for cleaner examples, but certain Gunpost members were really hosing people. Did I still buy it for inflated prices? Yes. Are there better condition ones out there? Yes. But at least I got to check it out in person. And I now own an SKS.

All matching 1963 Chinese. I'll get a tickler soon if the prices don't go even more insane, but I've wanted an SKS since I shot one at a friend's house 15 years ago, and as massive as my list of wants is, I just couldn't move on until I had one.

Also, Cosmoline is no joke. I looked at it wrong and now my next 3 generations of offspring are covered in it. I'll take cleaning tips as it's far worse than expected.

[u/ExtremeCommercial821]

Appreciate that brother, 🤜🤛.

[u/IcySkyDream → u/ExtremeCommercial821]

Baking the stock can warp or crack it.

Just leave it; it prevents corrosion on the receiver.

The only place cosmoline shouldn’t be is the operating parts. Everywhere else, it protects the wood and steel.

This anti-cosmoline groupthink needs to die.

[u/ExtremeCommercial821 → u/IcySkyDream]

Genuinely, I just hate slime and oil on me. My plan is to use a nice oil finish to protect the wood after removing as much as I can without ruining the finish, but as it is, the stuff is literally sweating out.

I drive truck, and it reminds me of fifth-wheel grease; it does what it's supposed to, but get it on your skin, and especially clothes, it never comes out and spreads everywhere so I'd like to tackle it.

[u/BrotherLefthand → u/ExtremeCommercial821]

I baked my stock and gas tube cover at 100°C in the oven. Every 20 minutes I would wipe off the oils that sweat out of the wood with a lint-free cloth. Once the stock stopped sweating, I turned the oven off and let everything cooldown together. I put it directly on the rack with a turkey roaster pans underneath it to catch any cosmoline run-off.

With the stock now at room temp, I cleaned it with a bit of mineral spirits. Once it dried, I did a fine grit sanding of all the high spots. Once again cleaned it with mineral spirits to get any remaining crud off of the wood.

With the stock dry, I spent a lot of time oiling the wood with boil linseed oil. Making sure to wipe off excess and allowing the oil to be fully absorbed between coats. With the final coat dry and the wood now having a nice shine to it, I used a piece of printer paper to "sand" the high spots of the oil finish. The most time consuming part was waiting for the oil to absorb. It's an otherwise easy process.

With the oil "sanded", I wiped the pieces down with a lint-free cloth to be sure it was free of dust. After that, I applied town talk/orange wax as a final topcoat to protect the wood.

The picture doesn't do it justice. The finish is absolutely fantastic and the hand feel is unreal. The stock is soft, smooth, and does not shed onto your hands or clothes. The finish is unaffected by heat from the rifle.

Do you need to do this? No. However, I'm going to keep this rifle for the rest of my life. The investment is worth it.