mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-Finally got off my duff and decided to get serious about restoring a badly Bubba'd French M34 that I bought on not much more than a whim about 5 yrs ago. The issue was how to replace the stock. The obvious choice was a replica stock from Fox Military in the Czech Republic. For around $350 I'd have a new stock and hand guard. Was all ready to pull the trigger when I stumbled across the only original spare stock for sale up on Evil Pay for $250 plus shipping from France. It was rough looking but the collector in me felt this was the right way to go.
-Fast forward to 45 days later (yes, French mail is stupid slow and the pandemic didn't help matters) it shows up "intact". Well my optimism circled the drain as the reality of the condition hit me. The left side of the butt was borderline dry rotted and there was a chunk missing from the toe. But I spent the money and was determined to give it a go. The first week was spend giving it thick applications of raw linseed oil. This thing was so dry it sucked up that oil like a sponge. Never seen anything like it. No mineral spirits necessary to thin it.
-Eventually got to the point where I could move forward. Hated to put sandpaper to it but there was no choice. Did as little sanding as possible in the end. Fit two spare Berthier M16 rifle bands, retaining springs and HG retaining ring. All fit perfectly.
=I'll live with it for a while and if it bugs me enough I can always go to Fox and order a new stock as I'm not even close to 50% of what it's worth in today's market.
-Fast forward to 45 days later (yes, French mail is stupid slow and the pandemic didn't help matters) it shows up "intact". Well my optimism circled the drain as the reality of the condition hit me. The left side of the butt was borderline dry rotted and there was a chunk missing from the toe. But I spent the money and was determined to give it a go. The first week was spend giving it thick applications of raw linseed oil. This thing was so dry it sucked up that oil like a sponge. Never seen anything like it. No mineral spirits necessary to thin it.
-Eventually got to the point where I could move forward. Hated to put sandpaper to it but there was no choice. Did as little sanding as possible in the end. Fit two spare Berthier M16 rifle bands, retaining springs and HG retaining ring. All fit perfectly.
=I'll live with it for a while and if it bugs me enough I can always go to Fox and order a new stock as I'm not even close to 50% of what it's worth in today's market.
