? about refinishing rifle

[josephbw]

I bought a Winchester 88 in .308 recently. It's an early 1955 model 4xxx serial number (first year of production) that's in pretty good shape, but has a lot of cosmetic damage to the finish.

My question is, should I refinish the wood or just leave it alone and let the patina hang out. This side is the worst, the other side only has less than 20% of the damage that this side has. If I should refinish it, what would you suggest I finish it with?

 

[4v50 Gary]

I vote for refinishing.

 

[aubie515]

I never understood these types of threads. Only you know if you should refinish it or not....some random opinions on a forum shouldn't make up your mind. If you want it to look nice and pretty...refinish it...if you don't mind how it looks and you are going to use it in the brush...leave it in it's current condition.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I'd refinish it...I'd strip with with some quik stripper. Most of the finish will nearly wash off with the stripper. A tooth brush will clean out the checkering. I'd lightly sand it. If the color didn't suit me, I'd wipe a little stain on. I top it off with about half a dozen coats of Tru-Oil.....If you search, you can find a thread where I did the aforementioned with a set of Colt grips. The thread has pics.

 

[mshootnit]

If those scratches are deep refinishing might be hard in that you will put in alot of work and be happy with the result. Also properly refinishing with the checkering there takes some extra work. I would leave it alone. Its a nice old Winchester with character and any refinishing you do will not add to the collector value. If you don't like the way it looks buy another 88.

 

[BrocLuno]

Strip it, lightly sand it (never chase the dents or deep scratches), then use a hot iron and damp cloth to raise the dings and dents. Once the surface is all up, lightly sand again with a firm rubber backing block. Don't ever sand the checkering. Stain and blend until you get the color you want and then 12 or so coats of True Oil (not the spray, does not work well) over most of the wood. You'll probably only get 3 coats on the checkering. Any more will start to fill the valleys. Should come out very nice.

I also use a final top coat of Helmsman spray (rattle can) matte or semi gloss Spar Varnish. You can get that at Home Depot and such. Gives a "warm" sort of silky feel to the hand that a bare Tru-Oil finish does not have. Have had a lot of folks handle rifles out of my safe and comment on the feel. It's only good for a top coat. the Tru-Oil is the toughest drying oil I know of for actual build-up of of base finish

 

[bergmen]

Refinished Model 88

I refinished the stock on my Dad's 1961 Model 88 which I inherited:

I started by using an off the shelf paint stripper (Jasco). It took several treatments to remove all of the finish being especially careful in the checkering. I used a stiff toothbrush and dental tools to patiently remove all of the finish there.

I then lightly sanded it smooth all over (except the checkering). The stock turned out remarkably clean and smooth. I took my time to make sure all of the surfaces were clean.

I then sprayed with semi-gloss Varathane in several coats wet sanding in between each coat. I would rather have used a satin finish like I did on my Model 59 stock, it would have looked a lot better. It turned out fine but took a lot of finish work to result in a consistent, smooth surface all around.

BTW, I have an extra Model 88 magazine in .308 Winchester if you are interested.

Dan

 

[josephbw]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for the info. In regards to your offer of the magazine, yes I would be interested. How much are you asking for it, including shipping?

Thank you,
Joe

 

[bergmen]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for the info. In regards to your offer of the magazine, yes I would be interested. How much are you asking for it, including shipping?

Thank you,
Joe

E-mail me at bergmen-at-pacific-dot-net (@ instead of at, . instead of dot, no dashes) and we can discuss this. I won't ask for much, I have no use for it.

Dan

 

[Dr.Rob]

I'd refinish it.

I had a Savage that was like that: beat up high gloss varnish. Stripped it off with orange based cleaner, gave it a number of coats of boiled linseed oil/turpentine finish that looks really good.

Got my 'recipie' from Surplus Rifles.. pm me if you want it.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=67005&highlight=refinish

 

[Smokey in PHX]

There are many websites that take you step by step through a refinishing process. It really is not hard to do. Some guns lose value when refinished. Look at a couple sites as it will give you a better understanding of what is going on and also different finishes.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

This is what my 30 buck Winchester turned out like. You can imagine how rough it was if it only cost me 30 bucks.

 

[texasred777]

BLO finish

I don't know how well the pics will turn out, but this is a gun that my wife gave me for Christmas, 1968. Early to mid-70's it was scratched up badly. (Loaned it to kinfolk several times.) I sanded it, wet it, sanded when dry, repeated this numerous times, then finally with steel wool. Real slick wood. I took some Hoppe's stain and mixed it in a little boiled linseed oil and hand rubbed it in until I had the wood which was WHITE, stained. Every day or so I would rub some plain BLO on it and rub vigorously until it felt warm; then wiped off the excess. After 12 to 15 coats, this is what it looks like today. About the only that can hurt the finish is fire. This finish is at least 35 years old. HOWEVER you decide to do it, I hope it gives you the exact finish you're hoping for!