Basic Stock Refinishing

[Mike-SoCal]

I just purchased a new stock/forearm that was from an 870 Police Magnum. In otherwords, unlike my early Wingmaster, the wood is nondescript with no figure or finish. The new funiture will not be exposed to harsh elements such as might be found when hunting, but I would like to make the set "look" as nice as possible and, at the very least, protect the wood.

Any simple tips, tricks, suggestions on how to go about doing this, keeping in that I can be careful & patient, but have zero experience in this area. All advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Mike

[HSMITH]

Well, you can just sand it down a tad a paint it, olive drab or flat black look great IMO on an express or a P model. Mine is currenty Krylon Extra Shabby Marsh camo....

The checkering is the hard part if you want to stain it, use a stripper on the checkering and then clean the stripper of ten times better than you think it needs to be cleaned. Sand the rest smooth and seal the wood with an ordinary wood sealer you get a home depot or similar store. Stain the color you want, polyurethane coat over the top 3 times following the directions on the poly can!! If you want an oiled look boiled linseed oil or tung oil look great. Follow the directions on the packaging for all steps and you really can't go wrong.

For wood with no character try taking a micro torch or similar and burn stripes lightly into the wood, you can make an attractive tiger stripe type pattern easily that sure helps ugly wood look nice. Practice on a plain board first to get the hang of speed and heat needed, you are just adding color not actually burning the wood. This must also be done before sealing and stain and poly.

Hope this helps.

BTW, there is a guy over at WWW.FALFILES.COM that posts as "Mosin Guy" , he does really nice work at prices I think are too cheap and he turns them around in a reasonable timeframe. If you chicken out give Fred a shout.

[riverdog]

I just finished an aftermarket stock I received to make my WM fit better for Trap. It's a beautiful piece of Walnut which needed a lot of sanding (starting with 80 grit and working up to 220 grit) prior to its first coat of 100% Pure Tung Oil (with no additives, others prefer Formby's, I don't). It will dry for at least one day and then I'll use steel wool to break up the surface prior to applying a second coat. You can repeat as necessary to get the finish you want. Once it appears to be done it will receive a coat of finishing wax and then it will be done. Judging from its appearance just after the first coat of oil, it seems to be a keeper.

I have also refinished Birch stocks using the same treatment and they came out okay, but without the dark beauty of Walnut. You'll need to use MPro7 or Simple Green or sandpaper to strip the current finish and then apply a coat of Tung Oil or Boiled Linseed Oil if you prefer. It's not the optimum for beauty, but it penetrates and protects the wood.

One problem with birch is that the end grain will get much darker with oil finishes and you will almost get a two tone finish highlighting the grain, with the end grain being very dark, the sides much lighter. With some stocks it looks good, others look dingy. YMMV. Good luck.

[Hand_Rifle_Guy]

Concerning oil-finishing, and stock finishing in general. LOADS of good info, provided you're looking for an oil-type finish as opposed to something like camo paint.

http://riflestocks.tripod.com/bstock.html
http://hometown.aol.com/jackcrawf/
http://pub109.ezboard.com/bparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums
http://www.arizonaresponsesystems.com/notes/wood/pagewood.htm
http://www.jouster.com/Bulletin/TUNG.htm
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138918
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=129064
http://www.jouster.com/Bulletin/refinishing.htm

Hope these prove usefull.

:)