Touching up wood stocks

[twisterx44]

Alright, so I know there are a ton of threads about refinishing, ect, and I've read a good amount of them, but I was wondering if the process varies from gun to gun. I just got off the phone with my local FFL who informed me that my Walnut K-31 arrived today! I'm going to pick it up later tonight, and i expect the stock to be pretty roughed up, as usual with those swiss rifles. I want to pick up some tru-oil, but other than that I still don't really know what needs to be done. Sand the stock?

I'll post an update later tonight about the actual condition of the stock, perhaps w/pics, but I just wanted to maybe get a few responses by the time I actually had my rifle.

I guess the reason i posted this was to get one solid "how to" since the ones I've read are either slightly ambiguous, confusing, or inconclusive. Not to offend any of the writers, perhaps I'm a bit dull

Thanks guys.

[Big Dog]

It really depends on what finish was applied to the particular Milsurp. Russian guns, for example, including Russian-Capture Mausers, have a fragile shellac/varnish type of finish, that pretty much needs stripped off.
A Swiss K31 should well with the TrueOil, I would think. My Beech-stocked K-31 looks to have a basic oil finish.
Maybe try a small area in an unseen (when assembled) area of the stock to see how it works before doing the whole thing?

[GlockMeister]

Hope it isn't to bad so you can leave some of the nicks and bumps and bruises to show it's character.

[twisterx44]

Originally Posted by Big Dog

Maybe try a small area in an unseen (when assembled) area of the stock to see how it works before doing the whole thing?

When you say 'Doing the whole thing' , do what? My original post must have been unclear, I was asking what exactly I should do? Just rub it down with true oil?

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Originally Posted by twisterx44

When you say 'Doing the whole thing' , do what? My original post must have been unclear, I was asking what exactly I should do? Just rub it down with true oil?

I think Big Dog was refering to an over-finish, applying true oil over the original oil finish. You would need to see if the two, old and new, are compatible.
Have a look at her first, then decide how in-depth you need to go. The stock may need nothing more than a good cleaning.

[twisterx44]

Wow. All I can say is...I love it. The stock isn't quite as bad as I was expecting, but still quite scuffed. I'm tempted to leave it - it has so much history to it. On the other hand, these rifles look gorgeous refinished and dentless. Photobucket is working right now, so I can't upload the pics I just took. I'll upload them tomorrow morning and you tell me what you think?

Thanks guys. I can't wait to shoot this thing.


EDIT: I uploaded them to my G&G album and embedded them that way. So lets hear some opinions?

[.22hustler]

If you decide to refinish, use a sanding block, such as one used for auto body repair. Use tru-oil, I love it. The sanding block will put on a nice level finish and remove all of the old shellac. No waves in the stock.

[Jimmy243]

I read in an Australian Shooter article, once you remove the old finish, and before you sand the dents, run a warm iron over them, with steam, and the smaller ones may pop right out, while the larger ones won't be quite so bad. Might be worth a try to minimise the amount of wood you have to sand off.
Obviously be careful not to brand or burn the stock..

[twisterx44]

yeah, I was told by my FFL to take a wet rag and run an iron over it to raise some of the dents. How do I remove the old finish?

So is the process for me, remove old finish, iron, sand, true oil? I read something about 0000 steel wool I think. What about that? What type of sand paper?

[Cyrano]

The old finish will probably come off very easily with mineral spirits, aka paint thinner. If you use it, though, be aware you will need to sand the stock with 0000 steel wool or 400 wet-or-dry sandpaper after you're done to raise the grain.

If it were me, I'd strip the stock, use the wet rag & steam iron method to raise the worst of the dents, and then rub in about three coats of tung oil varnish (which is also called tung oil finish, and as far as I can tell has no varnish in it). But Tru-Oil will work just as well. Put on three coats with a soft cloth rag, drying between coats, and then a final coat by putting a dab of Tru-Oil on your hand and rubbing it in, repeating as needed until you've covered the whole stock. This last is called "oil finishing," and works really well to bring out the beauty of the wood.

Put up some "after" pictures, will you please, when it's done?

[twisterx44]

I will put up pictures. And thank you for clarifying that. When you say strip the stock, though what do you mean? Remove the reciever+barrel?

So you think I don't need to remove the old finish then? Or sand it?

Can I pick up Tru-oil at a place like home depot, or perhaps a sporting goods store?


EDIT:

Wow...A little surprised. I just took out the barrel, reciever, and "stripped" it down to just the wooden stock, and look what came off

It must have been held together by the clamp at the end of the rifle...Wood glue?




Edit 2:

Hmm...Just talking to myself on here haha...Well i took a little superglue and you cant even tell it came off. Still, A little taken aback by coming across that. I'm gonna see if I can pick up some True Oil tonight..but where?

[andrew cochran]

Look at hardware stores or gun shops. You might try shellac too.

[twisterx44]

Found some. Just did the first layer. Left my hands reallly sticky....soap+water isn't helping

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Originally Posted by twisterx44

Found some. Just did the first layer. Left my hands reallly sticky....soap+water isn't helping

Mineral spirits will take the stickies right off. Then wash up with Dawn dish soap the get rid of the turpentine stink.

[Big Dog]

I was thinking in terms of simply rubbing some TruOil on the whole stock, to even the finish and protect the dinged areas, retaining the 'character'. But a total refinish isn' a bad thing. I've found TruOil at Wallymart. Formby's Tung Oil Finish is good too - dries fairly quick and is easy to apply.
That broken piece can be tacked back on with some good carpenter's wood glue. Clamp it in place as it dries.
Sometimes these old stocks get dry and brittle as they age.
I may need to totally strip and rfinish mine too - it has some serious ugly 'spotting' - like dirty oil in the wood.

[twisterx44]

I've put on 3 layers of tru-oil now, lightly sanding with 400 grit in between layers. I will put up pics tomorrow night when its all re-assembled, and you guys can tell me what you think.

EDIT:

Decided I'd just take some pics for myself to document the refinishing process...here are two, hard to really tell if it looks better in the pics, but here ya go:

[twisterx44]

For anyone following this post, go here to see the finished rifle

http://www.gunandgame.com/forums/oth...tml#post497489 (Refinished my first rifle!)