doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Mannlicher Schoenauer stock finish ?

I'm working on cleaning up a pre-WW1 MS stock,hit a small spot with straight Murphy's Oil Soap and it seemed to be taking the finish off,I tried some alcohol on a Q-tip and it also removed the finish.Having my doubts,I tried the alcohol and Q-tip on another MS with a nice original finish,this one a 1905 proved in 1907,finish came off.
Anyone now if MS sporters were finished with shellac?I have never worked with the stuff,guess I may have to learn something new.

Don't use alcohol on any stock finish applied originally before the late 1960's. [a very general rule!] It will usually have some alcohol affected elements/ingredients that are removed, softened, or matted, by alcohol. If you must, test on some hidden area such as under the metal. If there is no finish applied under the metal, a favorite test area of mine is the corner where the wood tucks in behind the rear receiver ring and the tang meet. I use a single q tip touch there and can usually tell if the finish is affected right away, yet if it is, it is invisible once REN WAX IS APPLIED. Hope this Helps. Happy Holiday to all and May GOD BLESS! Jerry

I believe they were finished with spar varnish.

Jerry & KWood,
Thanks,I had heard that alcohol was a good test for shellac,but after trying it on one of my own oil finished stocks,I have some doubts.
I'm working on a MS model 1900,engraved,fitted,blued,and retailed by a big name English maker,but I'm certain the stock was finished in Austria.I don't know how these things happen,but the bore is mint,metal work and bluing very good,but the stock has more than it's share of dings and scrapes that need some attention.I'm just looking to use the proper finish,I'm thinking it is some type of oil such as, spar varnish.

Were it spar varnish (as we know it today), alcohol won't touch it unless you give it a good soaking and let it sit. Goodness knows what formulations were used in factory gun varnishes of a hundred years ago. The MS's I've owned were oil finished and appeared to my (then) untrained eyes to be original, and responded to gentle cleaning techniques such as scrubbing with linseed oil on a rag and then waxing. I shouldn't wonder that no single type of finish was employed for all MS's during the period pre-WWI.