Refinishing a Stevens (Sears) 20-Gauge Shotgun

[MisterMike]

I am in the process of refinishing my dad's old Stevens shotgun. I know it's not of much value, but I wanted to restore the stock, which was damaged (at some point a kid . . . possibly my elder brother . . . carved some initials in it) and the wood components were generally in rough shape. I'm in the middle of that part of the project now.

The barrel's in pretty good shape, so I'm just going to clean it up and leave it as-is. However the other external metal components have me stumped a little. It looks like they may have some sort of a lacquer finish that's noticeably scratched and worn in some places, plus just a little bit of spotty corrosion.

I do not intend to make this shotgun look "like new" again, nor would I want to. Is this indeed a lacquer on the metal? Regardless, how should I go about cleaning it up, removing the wee bits of corrosion, and applying a lasting protective finish?

Again, I know that this is not the world's most valuable heirloom, but it does have some sentimental value and deserves a bit of TLC. I'd value your advice.

 

[dogngun]

I have an old Stevens 67E pump shotgun - the slug gun version. It has a different finish on some non-steel parts. I touched up some of the spots with enamel paint from a small bottle for plastic model kits and a cheap brush. It looks good after a drying for a few days and a little hand sanding of the brush marks. I did not cover a large area with it, mainly around the loading area. Not a perfect match, but certainly an improvement.

mark

 

[MisterMike]

Thanks. This finish is very scratched and worn, so I think it's going to have to come off. I'm thinking some lacquer thinner might do the trick, followed by a bit of polishing and a protective finish of some sort. Is that the right approach?

 

[Tom Held]

Try Midway

Midway sells a complete kit with a DVD - "Gunstock Refinishing" which is really pretty good and a second kit called "checkering". I think each kit is about $30 bucks. Tom