Stock refinishing

S

sawzallnick

Inactive
Hi, I am new to the forum but very excited after browsing this site. I have a cz527 varmint, it's a tack driver, but the stock is very plain and almost has an orange-ish finish. Is it worth my time to strip the stock and tru oil it? I'm really trying to bring out more grain in the wood. Any suggestions other than a $1000 custom stock?
 
Chances are you won't get that stock much better looking than the factory did. The color and pattern of the wood itself is going to be the driver - not the finish over it. That is probably plain walnut at best and may even be a cheaper material.
 
I'm not sure exactly what your stock looks like, but on very plain stocks I like to jazz them up with a forend cap & pistol grip cap. Ebony is my favorite installed with black epoxy, but other high-contrast wood will work too. Install, strip/sand all, stain a bit darker & then Truoil.

FWIW...

...bug
 
Turkish walnut can be very figured and beautiful. However, it can also be quite plain. It all depends on what tree it came from.

Look at it this way - what is the worst that can happen if you decide to strip and refinish? At worst, you'll still have a great shooting gun with a home-finished stock. On the other hand, you might get lucky and be able to enhance the looks.
 
Don't forget you can always stain the wood before you oil finish. Just make sure you get pure stain, not stain+finish. But be aware that depending on the previous finish the stain might take unevenly if you don't sand very deep what's not always an option. Good luck
 
I can talk you through the project if you'd like. As a full time gunsmith, I have lots of experience with such things. PM me if you want to try your hand at it. It's not hard to do and the results can be very nice.
 
My experience with CZ wood stocks is that CZ uses mud to finish their wood. Whatever material they use covers up any character the wood may have.
Strip the stock of its original finish with paint remover, sand and whisker the wood. Use Minwax natural stain to bring out whatever character the wood may have. Go here: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=240961
for instructions on how to apply a great finish. (not easy, but well worth the effort)
The photos are of my CZ 452 FS refinished in a similar manner to what I suggest.



 
Its according to the wood type. If it is indeed walnut, you can strip it, sand it smooth, apply a stain, then sand it lightly to be rid of the raised grain, and apply a new finish. Aniline dye stains are the best for this, not water based.

Most all manufacturers stain their walnut, even Winchester, who had a proprietary color they used, which was a reddish brown. Some even use a filler, before the finish, which is like a thin mud wiped into the pours.
 
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