I own an older 1979-era Ruger M77. I'd like to refinish the stock as the original finish is showing its age. It has minor cracks and bubbles in the sealant, but not major gouges.
My concern is the checkering. I've refinished old long gun stocks before, but none of them had checkering like this one. Previously, I simply sanded the stock down and rubbed it with 15-20 coats of tung oil, buffing it with fine grit sand paper between coats. I'm concerned that sanding the whole stock will mean I make the checkering look bad. Masking off the checkering and sanding everything else will make the checkering a totally different color from the rest of the stock.
Should I be looking into chemical strippers? Any recommendations?
Thanks in advance.
My concern is the checkering. I've refinished old long gun stocks before, but none of them had checkering like this one. Previously, I simply sanded the stock down and rubbed it with 15-20 coats of tung oil, buffing it with fine grit sand paper between coats. I'm concerned that sanding the whole stock will mean I make the checkering look bad. Masking off the checkering and sanding everything else will make the checkering a totally different color from the rest of the stock.
Should I be looking into chemical strippers? Any recommendations?
Thanks in advance.