AC Competition Shooters at the Alabama Multigun

Here's another tactics and skill video from one of the posters on AK47.net  This video features some nice AK's.

Arsenal SGL 20 AKM with Blond Wood Furniture

This Independence Day weekend James and I tried out the Arsenal SGL 20 Russian Izhmash AKM. This is one nice rifle. Nice finish, build and accurate out of the box. I put some Ironwood blond furniture on it. It came with some nice plum furniture, but I really dig the blond look. No failures of any kind with this rifle. I got a great deal on this rifle a while back when K-VAR had their big "stimulus" sale. If I had the funds, I'd buy another.

Here's how it started out:







And here it is now:







Here's the video of James and I with the Arsenal SGL 20.

Blonde Wood AK Furniture

I have some Bulgy AK 74 wood furniture that I stripped the lacquer from and refinished in order to give it the blonde look.

This is what is started out as:



This is the look I wanted:







I used Formby's Paint & Poly Remover, some brushes, sandpaper, a plastic scrapper, Oxyclean and Minwax "Natural" stain to do this project.


I first applied Formby's Paint & Poly Remover (a gelatinous substance) with a brush to the wood and let it set in for about 30+ minutes. I then used a plastic scrapper to remove the old stain that bubbled up to the surface (kind of weird/cool).




Once it dried, I sanded off the excess gunk (stain) with some light grit sandpaper. I cleaned off the wood and then I used a strong mix of OxyClean and water (in a small tub) to bleach the wood after stripping it.




Here is how the Oxyclean bleached it.







I let the wood dry for about a week and then I sanded it and applied the first coat of Minwax "Natural" stain. Well, it did not turn out to be blond, but it looks nice. I should have just used Shellac or maybe a Golden Pecan stain.











I got a ton of help from the nice guys at Gunco.net and ak47.net. Let me know if you need any help attempting this. I plan on doing more refinishing in the future and I'll be glad to share any tips with you. I'd love to hear your tips as well.