Seems the jury is out re T-53 stock finish.
Fair warning: these 2 may not still be wearing the OEM (chy-kneeze) lumber.

Some interesting, raided reading. Enjoy: T-53 stock finish

 

Seems the jury is out re T-53 stock finish.
Fair warning: these 2 may not still be wearing the OEM (chy-kneeze) lumber.

Some interesting, raided reading. Enjoy: T-53 stock finish

Both of the T53's came from Omega. Thanks for the T-53 stock finish. It was interesting. Thanks

 

Leave them alone. The pic you posted of the T53 actually looks good to most I have seen. The wood on these is rather soft, and absorbs oil/gunk/grease easily. If anything, use the hot car with the windows closed and wrap the rifle in 3-4 layers of paper towl, and then slide it into a black trash bag and lay it on the dash. As the temp inside climbs, the grease oil will seep out a bit and be absorbed by the paper towel. That is about the best you can hope for in clean up, and don't try ti refinish, as the results will hurt the value.

 

If they are drying out, I might go over them with a diluted Tung oil. Not the big box “Tung Finish” with all the homeowners crap in it. Real stuff.

 

The wood is some spongy chu wood chinese junk. Chu Wood is a straight grain, light weight wood that is very soft but resistant to moisture. Here is what an average stock should look like. Those CAI guns came from some garbage pile. As the finish wears and exposes the wood, oils soak in and discolor the chu garbage wood. The yellow orange color is from the Amber Shellac finish they used on the Chinese stocks. I would use a light coat of diluted amber Zinsser shellac. Just a rub with some on a T-shirt. Do not paint it on. If you need more you can do a second rubbed on coat. The stock will still look splotchy from soaked in stains. To thin use only denatured alcohol. To darken the orange Zinsser shellac you use Permatex Indian head gasket sealer- some thick brown goo that is thick shellac. This is more for a Russian Mosin shellac finish color. You may just want to add an orange alcohol dye to give an orange clear-like tone. Mix and practice prior to use on the stock. Work fast, one wipe and it's dry asap> Go back and it's a streaked mess. You will never get rid of the spots. DO NOT strip the stock. Clean the wood and the treat with diluted shellac and see if that is what you want. Try on old wood.
Note all lower pictures are of original finish T53s, no treatment. Viewers will know the stock is treated because the bare exposed wood will not be raw, but colored and covered with the new shellac. You can never go back to as found. Give it some thought- you may want to leave it as found. CAI import marked is OK to mess with , but DO NOT DO THIS TO A Nam BRING BACK!🧐🤨

 

Echoing 72 usmc here,
Catalpa Bungei, commonly referred to as Manchurian Catalpa, or Manchurian Chu Wood.
Chu is a straight-grained, light weight material that is quite soft & very resistant to moisture.
It resembles mahogany, but is softer and prone to long, linear splits if stressed the wrong way.

 

At best it may look like a Nam Bring back from that stinking jungle climate.

1960 Chinese Type 53 Mosin Nagant w/ Vietnam bringback papers

I have an SKS with a set of Vietnam bringback documents but haven't come across a fairly priced example of a Type 53, so when I saw this one on Gunbroker for a reasonable price I placed a bid and won.Rifle is mismatched, but looks to be all Chinese made parts. The stock looks lightly sanded and r...

www.usmilitariaforum.com