Stock refinishing

S

Sisco

New member
Did a search on this but didn't find all I needed to know.
Yesterday I aquired a .270 built on a Mauser action. The stock needs to be stripped down the the bare wood and redone. The finish on it has some type of a hard high gloss overcoat but is badly scratched, dinged & is cracking. Should I use a stripper or sand it off? The wood itself is in great shape, no gouges or dents and looks like some real nice walnut.
It also has an ebony forend, not sure what it's made of, any precautions here?
Plan on going back with a linseed oil or tung oil finish, do I use a sealer first or just the oil?
Thanks for any advice or internet links you'd like to share.
 
I would use Citristrip or something similar just to get rid of the "overcoat" then sand it. If you wet sand using your oil as a cutting agent you can fill the pores and seal the stock as you go so to speak. George
 
You can get the old varnish out of the checkering by using a stiff tooth brush and whatever stripper you choose to use. As far as the finish goes, take a look at Pilkinton's finish. This is a very popular finish for custom guns and is available through Brownells and a few other sources. It is an oil finish that you apply much as George suggests by wet sanding. The end result if you follow the excellent instructions to the letter is a deep oil finish with all the pores in the wood filled.
 
If your gun has an honest ebony forend, it may be tough to get finish to adhere to it. I use acetone rubbed over the ebony before I apply the finish. The acetone gets enough of the ebony's natural oils out that the finish will then adhere. I personally like TruOil for the finish. You may have to recut your checkering unless you are really lucky with the toothbrush and stripper.
 
I used 'ebony' as a description only, don't know what it's made of but it's black.
I just got done stripping all the varnish off, came off pretty easy. There's no checkering so that wasn't a problem.
I'll start sanding and steaming out what few dents there are later this afternoon.
Now the big question is; Tung or linseed oil? I think I'll make another post on this matter just to attract more attention.
 
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