Re-finishing my stock

[jamesw]

Well, my free mauser looks horrible.

Someone gave it a crappy spray paint camo job.

Are are any tricks, or anything i should know, or should i sand it down, stain and seal it?


Any recommended products?

Here are some pics.













I also have a .22 that i want to do, so if the mauser comes out nice, ill do that too.

[nathangdad]

I do not recommend sealing as it is not a natural
state for wood.

What I do recommend is a good sanding stepping down to very fine grit.

Then progressively treat with boiled linseed oil. This is a natural process that will waterproof the wood, make it look good, and you can easily put on more linseed oil if you get a scratch. You can
find more detailed instructions on this process.

[jamesw]

I'm kinda thinking about paint now.
I took a wire wheel to the metal parts and they came out almost silver. Im thinking black wood and silver metal would look cool.

Anyone paint thier guns?
If so, which paint?

[Mooseman684]

So, Bubba, How are you gonna keep the un-blued metal from rusting Now that you removed the finish ?

[jamesw]

Originally Posted by Mooseman684

So, Bubba, How are you gonna keep the un-blued metal from rusting Now that you removed the finish ?

Well my names not bubba, but it was rusted to shit anyways.

[Dookiebutt]

Originally Posted by Mooseman684

So, Bubba, How are you gonna keep the un-blued metal from rusting Now that you removed the finish ?

Well Moose, he could spray the stock with black grill paint and then hit that newly brushed metal with some clear poly. It would match my wife's oven and dishwasher.

[Troy]

i took this from a post that a member by the handle of Stock Doc uses. he was kind enough to post it. you should get some cold blue on the parts you brushed asap if you dont want to put up the cash to get it blued by a pro.

Gun Stock Refinishing

Ok here it is. First I get a hold of E-Z-GO hand cleaner or GO-JO which is waterless and gritless. Most probably any will do. I rub it on stock in sink of course and then let it set for about 15-30 minutes depending on amount of dirt and if markings are on stock. Now I take and rub on a hand full more then take a tooth brush and rub it but not real hard near edges and cartouches. I rinse with warm water again careful around markings incase there weak.Use the tooth brush to brush off hand cleaner while rinsing.
If the stocks is heavy oil and no cartouches {or cartouched be gentle}use Bix Stripper int eh red and white can its not so harsh. Follow instructions on can. Also you can try Trisodium Phosphate and make a paste out of it then tooth brush it on. Wait 10 minutes and rub some water on with the tooth brush to make sure it doesn't dry on stock. Now wait about 5-10 minutes and rinse you will see the dirt still but after it dries you will be amazed. You can repeat this method until happy but again be careful if there are Cartouches.If the stock is terrible I use a cement plastic mixing tub with TSP {Trisodium Phosphate} and hot water. I soak them for a day if needed. I scrub them periodically to remove the grime the TSP brought out at that point. Let water cool down don't worry about getting new hot water in the tub even though hot water is best. Now when satisfied rinse them off and hang dry for a day or more. The stock will look dark when you take it out but when it dries you will fall over.
Now you can steam if wanted I use a bucket of water ,a rag and a iron with steam cycle. I soak the rag and lay it on stock dents then iron it until steam stops or water is out of rag. I fold the rag sometimes to hold more water and the steam last longer. This is a hit or miss thing it may take days of this to see results. Most times it just lightens them up.
Now sand lightly with 100 or 120 but lightly to not put big scratches in the stock when happy with this Then take 220 and lightly sand the whole stock in direction of grain and periodically use 0000steel wool to smooth it out and see scratches that need to be 220 out. When happy with this steel wool the whole stock until smooth . {

NOTE} Some stocks especially IHC and Winchester are known to have heavy sand marks in the wood hand guard especially. This under no circumstances should be removed and only steel wooled lightly. Heck it make you're job easier. The collectors value is allot higher on a unsanded marked up fat stock over a smooth skinny one trust me. Keep in mind the very early Winchester stocks were hand carved because the lathe was not finished for them so they inletted them and carved the final. I have one of these and it is a exceptional piece with a No-Trap butt without the hinge cut out.

Now you stain to you're color preference Remembering in WWII they only oiled the stocks not stained so you're choice on stain now. Leave it natural if you want true history. I use Chestnut Ridge on Walnut and on Birch Chestnut Ridge and then FIEBING'S Dark Brown leather die some times to get a muddy red color. I Also use brown then FIEBING'S Mahogany on Birch to get reddish/Brown kinda Black Cherry look. Chestnut ridge and others can be put on to darken and also put on after oil is dry and on while refinishing. You should let stains dry 24 hours and 24 hours before you add another color. Peaceful not to use the bottle to dip as other color on stock will contaminate the color you are using to top coat. Example if I put Mahogany on then use rag to shake bottle of Chestnut Ridge on rag to top coat for a match the Mahogany will get in to the Chestnut Ridge and slowly ruin the color. Try and get a little cup or something to pour stain into then take it from there for stock.
Now the next day If Stain lifted grain you need to lightly steel wool it down. I brush or small piece of rag on a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil {use gloves then hand cleaner off the oil later}and wait 20-30 minutes then take a old t-shirt and rub the oil off making sure there is no excess anywhere. I rub it to death to buff it kinda. I repeat this every 24 hours till 5-7 coats are glossy and even with no dull spots. WARNING hang the rags out and never let them sit balled up on the bench they will self combust and you will burn you're house down. It almost happened to me and I was very lucky. I finished for the night and went up to my office with a stock to get some photos off for a client. About a hour later I was fighting with myself to take the stock back to the shop or leave it until morning in the office. Finally I took it back and set it in a rack outside of the shop and noticed a stock with a repair pin shining and decided to touch it with a dark brown stain pen. I walked in the shop turn on lights and fell warmth then noticed a vapor in the air like steam on hot pavement. I was confused what was going on and then smelled something weird. I looked down to my right on the bench and heard a small woosh and low pop sound and the rags ignited in a light colored flame. I picked them up and ran to other room and tossed them in the wash tub and rinsed them. If I hadn't gone down there my home would have been lost. You can also wet them and toss them out in the yard till morning but keep them away from house. They make a special can for this purpose if you decide to do this allot.
Now I take 0000steel wool and lightly dull surface with it. Then I take Minwax Furniture Polish for dark colors {light one will stick in grain and look like white paint if you leave it to long}and put two coats of this on and I am done.


hope that helps.

[jamesw]

Yes, that helps alot!

I just bought all the stuff to blue the metal stuff.

Any good write ups on how to do that?

I just blued everything, I gotta say, it looks nice.

Im kinda pissed though, the rust and blue remover cracked my sight spring plate.

It was just sitting there, because it needed two minutes, and i hear a crack, i later find out, thats what happened.

Now the sight just flaps around.