Restoring factory stock

[TangSafetyM77]

I am working on my Father's early 70's vintage Ruger M77 for him. I am giving it a deep cleaning, mounting up a more modern scope, etc. The gun has always been scary accurate and hunted hard. But probably has around 500 rounds down the tube, total. The factory stock has what is left of the original glossy varnish. It has rubbed off in places and has a lot of scratches and indentations. Most of the marks are in the finish itself, the wood underneath looks pretty good. I have read here about using an iron and a damp cloth to steam out the indentations that are in the wood itself, and my Dad has expressed an interest in having a satin finish rather than the old glossy.

My question is: Is there anyway to remove the varnish but leave the original factory color stain? I want the stock to be the same color and retain the factory appearance, but I want to fix some of the dents and put on a satin-type non-reflective finish on it. If not, what should be my course of action?

This is going to be the first time I have refinished a stock, and I don't want to mess up Dad's pet rifle.

 

[Chawbaccer]

My experience is that the stain is pretty much integeral with the wood. A normal stripping should pretty much leave it untouched. If there are any lighter places just take the stock to the paint store and match the stain.

 

[jondar]

If there are indentations in the wood itself then you will have to steam them out either by the method you described, or by wetting the area of the blemish and holding it close to a stove burner so it dries fast, thirty or forty seconds. This is called whiskering and after the area dries it will feel rough and must be sanded or steel wooled down smooth. You may have to repeat this three or more times to get the dent level with the surface. Depending on the depth the stain penetrated I can see that you may have some change of color in these areas. Good luck.

 

[Oldnamvet]

Some outfits have mixed the stain with the varnish. Remove one and you will get rid of the other. But if you have good wood underneath, you can still refinish it to look even better - and with a satin finish.