Refinishing Italian Grips

I

Indian Outlaw

New member
Does anyone else do this besides me? I would be interested to hear your methods and/or see pictures.

I don't like the glossy red finish on Uberti grips. This is my latest set, on a Cimarron, redone with Danish Oil (still curing). Obviously, the grain isn't comparable to a set of custom grips, but for stock grips it's not terrible. This gun is being antiqued.

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I used to see grips made out of Ivory dust and epoxy for sale (I know that sounds crappy but they looked great and after time wound turn yellowish)
Anybody gut a line on where to get these?
 
I dislike the clear coated grips. I prefer a oiled finish. I have done many 'fancy' grips on my cartridge guns, but I'm starting to go with just a plain Walnut. Stag or Ivory looks good on some revolvers.
These are stripped and then three coats of tung oil.
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Nice old stags on a Ruger
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I rub it on with my fingers. After an hour I well wipe any still on the grip off with a rag. Then I give it 24hrs to dry.
If you keep adding coats, steel wool between every two coats you can fill the grain and get a very nice glass smooth, satin finish.
 
Can one of you describe the process you use from beginning to end in the refinishing process for the factory grips?

The re-done wood ones look really nice!
 
Yeah, absolutely I agree and I dislike that weird gloss red as well. It's not easy to see in such a small photo but the 1851 up top has refinished Italian grips. I've yet to do the funky 1858 below.

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I strip the grips, evaluate the tone, stain if needed and then buff in some True Oil with steel wool. I hit 'em with another coat a day later, wipe it off, let dry again and that's it.

Cheers,
Oly
 
Here's my method:

The Uberti finish is tough but comes off nicely with Citristrip Gel. You brush it on thickly with a soft bristle paint brush, let it work for an hour or two, and then brush off with a medium or stiff bristle toothbrush. I had to apply a second coat, but the finish eventually came off. I removed the remaining gel with a clean cloth. I applied Watco Danish Oil, Medium Walnut, immediately afterwards, to prevent drying and shrinking and to darken the natural color a little. The wood drank greedily of the oil. Starting with the second coat, I let the grips sit for a day or two before applying the next coat. I applied four thick coats before the wood started rejecting it. When the wood had finally had enough, I wiped off the excess and, when dry, buffed ultra lightly with 0000 steel wool, following the grain. Grips done.

Addendum: I just read that Watco Danish Oil requires a topcoat of wax in order to repel water. So I'll add that tonight.

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I do mine similar to Indian Outlaw. Stripping is the biggest part of the job. After I strip, I dry the wood over night. Then very lightly sand with 400 grit. If I have any dents I raise them with a steam iron and a wet cloth. I use Tung oil as a finish, no stain. Two or three coats, 24hrs apart, looks good, you can keep adding coats, steel wooling every two or three coats and it well fill the grain. You end up with a glass smooth satin finish that you can buff out to get some shine but not a lot. The tung oil well harden the wood, making it more dent resistant, plus it touches up very easy.
 
I wonder why it is that it seems that everyone who gets an Uberti revolver ends up with the glossy orange colored grips but when you look at Uberti's website they show something else?

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None of my Ubertis are orange, either, but they do use a red-tinted finish. You can see in the upper Remington where there's a little overspray on the grip escutcheon.

My Remington is a little 'red', but the rest of mine look (figuring notwithstanding) pretty much like those pictures.
 
Some owners describe it as glossy "red", others glossy "orange", still others "orange-red". I've heard that the glossy red-orange was actually typical of original colt BP firearms.
 
I used a different stripper once that removed the stock Uberti finish in layers. Below the hard clearcoat exterior was a layer of reddish "paint," for lack of a better word. Below the red paint was the wood. :)
 
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