Bringing back an heirloom.

Depending on the paint and how the stocks finished I'd either scrape it, or use a stripper and refinish the whole thing with minimal sanding and an oil finish.
The head is probably restore to bright or pop a fiber optic infront of it just for ease of use.

Brass can usually be brought back with metal polish, like Brasso. I believe it's mildly acidic, so don't get it on blued surfaces. Or just grind the tarnish off with 0000 steel wool.

Starting with the bead and barrel I would drill a small hole in some thin plastic like a milk jug or pop bottle and place it over the bead. With the barrel protected in this manner rotate a piece of 0000 steel wool over the bead to bring back the original shine.
For the paint I would take some mineral spirits on a Q-tip and gently rub it on a spot of paint to see if it comes off in than manner. If it does, then a soft piece of cotton pushed over your finger and dampened in mineral spirts could be used to remove the paint. A follow up with Tru-oil rubbed in a few times should blend into the original finish. Use as many coats as needed and let dry overnight. (it should only take a few coats to bring back a moderate shine). If someone with more wood finish expertise has a better way then go with whoever has the best method in your opinion. PS: If it is newer house paint with a water base then substitute somewhat hot water for the mineral spirits.

WestKentucky said:

I have a couple guns that came from my grandparents and one characteristic of them is that they have a little bit of overspray of white house paint on the stocks. This hasn’t bothered me because I know the story and I actually remember it happening so to me it’s just another thing that happened with my grandparents that reminds me of them. One of the guns needs to go to a new home though. Technically my sister inherited it from grandma but my sister is not partial to guns in her house due to a few folks she has known having attempted or succeeding in suicide. Not opposed to guns, just doesn’t want it in her home until she is more comfortable and is more able to properly secure it when it’s not in use. My niece is 16, my nephew 13, and both remember Grandma. The gun In question truthfully belongs to them but they don’t know that it even exists, yet, but they will very soon as this old shotgun is going to my dad who will be it’s caretaker where the kids can enjoy it under supervision. How do I get the paint off without damaging the stock? Should I polish the brass bead to make it shine or leave it a dull tarnished blob? I want it to be as nice as possible even though it’s a cheap gun, I want it to be something to be proud of.

It’s an old bolt action Mossberg .410, and so far I have the metal back to about 98% the paint and the brass bead are the last things to sort before it goes to them on either thanksgiving or Christmas (assuming the holidays aren’t Covid cancelled)

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I have had good results removing paint from wood with chrome polish and a micro-fiber rag. Good luck!

Here's my solvent schedule for all surfaces. My first solvent, the least aggressive, is rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth worked gently - then a bit harder, next, if that doesn't work is, as already mentioned, a bit of paint thinner (mineral spirits) on a rag and some elbow grease (my last step with mineral spirits is with finest steel wool - but expect some dulling of any finish where it's used...). Next, and quite a bit more aggressive is a very small amount of lacquer thinner on a clean rag worked lightly as possible.... Lacquer thinner on a clean rag will remove most paints but you have to be cautious since it will also remove the finish underneath if you work it hard enough... The trick is to remove the paint without damaging the finish underneath - and if you're successful you'll immediately go over the area that's been treated with oil to restore it (if the underlying finish is oil based..). On fiberglass surfaces my last resort is acetone - but it will remove any finish it comes in contact with...

There is one other technique that doesn't involve any solvents at all... and that's to use that finest steel wool with oil if the underlying surface is oil based.. Work it lightly and very gradually you may be able to remove the paint without damaging the surface underneath...

Hope this helps and remember with each solvent try to work a very small area that's not obvious first... and if all else fails go to Formby's for finish remover - the re-do with Tru-oil or other quality oil finish... after separating stock and barreled action.

The original finish on the stock should be determined first. Is it a typical oil finish, boiled linseed oil would be an example, is the gun old enough to pre date poly finishes and there fore true varnish. An oil finish would be easier to deal with as it’s not a surface finish.

lemaymiami said:

my last resort is acetone - but it will remove any finish it comes in contact with...

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Interestingly enough, acetone didn't work on the Stoeger lacquer stock I stripped and restored a few weeks ago. Neither did Nitromors. I didn't have any xylene at hand to try but I doubt that had worked either. Had to scrape the lacquer off manually with a heat gun in the end.

Stripping the stock is quite a bit different than removing paint stains, but still.

I have used Flitz successfully on just about any metal surface you can think of, without harming the blued finish that was on the gun. It works on brass, nickel and chrome plating, stainless steel; even on blued metal with no loss of metal or finish.

I have a U.S. Model 1898 Krag Jorgensen that had probably been a parade rifle for some veteran's organization back in the '30s. The metal was bright chrome plated and the wood stock heavily varnished. I stripped the chrome off by soaking it in Hoppe's No. 9 and sent it out to have the parts blued. When I got it back they had given it a matte black finish instead of the rust bluing I had requested. So figuring I was going to have it reblued anyways I decided to try a little experiment to see what would happen if I used Flitz on the bluing. To my amazement it not only didn't remove any bluing it actually polished the blued surfaces and gave it close to the finish I originally had wanted!

I then gently sanded down the varnish on the stock so that I could stain it. When I was done with that I applied several coats of Tung oil to seal the wood surface. I think it turned out pretty good overall and everything has held up vey nicely over the years.

I have used 0000 steel wool to correct badly refinished stocks on old inexpensive rifles. The 0000 steel wool is soaked in tung oil and rubbed into the wood. The steel wool will remove the paint flecks and any other surface blemishes. The stock when "cleaned" in this fashion will look amazing when "finished".

I have also restored bluing on old inexpensive rifles using 0000 steel wool soaked in cold blue and rubbing into the metal and removing surface rust. Be sure to re-oil the metal finish to stop further "rusting"! Turned out amazing.

I refer to this method as "cleaning" and "stopping" further deterioration!

Smiles,

I've had good luck using soap, water and a plastic pot scrubber to remove house paint from guns, furniture and devices like antique sewing machines.
I try to avoid solvents in cases like these.