Refinishing Indian Made musket

[TheThunderGun]

I already know there are some haters for the Indian made muskets I've had no fault yet. However I want to refinish the wood on my Brown Bess 1st Model to get it close to an original, I know they are made with teak wood but was curious if anyone had a good stain and finish they would put on the wood to refinish, I atleast want to take of the lacquer and refinish it. I was thinking about sanding it down lightly and restaining with walnut stain or a maple stain and finishing eith truoil that i will dull down with fine steel wool and mineral oil. I may add some patina to it in the process of finishing. Im more concerned about which stain to use? Those were just my initial thoughts. Thanks in advance.

-Donald

 

[ArmorerRoy]

Fieblings brown leather dye and tung oil makes for a good finish.

 

[TheThunderGun]

Fieblings brown leather dye and tung oil makes for a good finish.
View attachment 354330

Beautifully done how many coats of tung oil did you use? Did you dilute the leather dye? I definitely think I'll follow this I love the way that turned out. I might put it on a few pistols.

 

[ArmorerRoy]

Beautifully done how many coats of tung oil did you use? Did you dilute the leather dye? I definitely think I'll follow this I love the way that turned out. I might put it on a few pistols.

I removed the factory finish with citristrip and scraped everything with a razor blade. I put the leather dye on straight and let it dry. Then four coats of tung oil and steel wooled between coats. No sandpaper was used. I also browned the lock. I didn’t even remove the barrel.

 

[ArmorerRoy]

I removed the factory finish with citristrip and scraped everything with a razor blade. I put the leather dye on straight and let it dry. Then four coats of tung oil and steel wooled between coats. No sandpaper was used. I also browned the lock.

The top left is the before.

 

[ArmorerRoy]

Here is another Japanese one the I did the same routine.

Before

After

It’s super cheap and easy.

 

[wiscoaster]

....I know they are made with teak wood..... I was thinking about sanding it down lightly ....

I'd suggest not sanding. Teak isn't especially amenable to sanding. The sandpaper gets really logged. The wood is really soft. You'll end up removing more wood and modifying the contour more than you expect if you're used to walnut or maple. I'd suggest steel wool. You might take a look at what I did with my Sea Service pistol:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...istol-from-loyalist-arms.186013/#post-2716044

 

[TheThunderGun]

Here is another Japanese one the I did the same routine.

Before
View attachment 354378
After
View attachment 354377
It’s super cheap and easy.

I'll look into doing this I'm thinking about getting a pistol to go with my bess here. I'll give it a shot.

 

[TheThunderGun]

I'd suggest not sanding. Teak isn't especially amenable to sanding. The sandpaper gets really logged. The wood is really soft. You'll end up removing more wood and modifying the contour more than you expect if you're used to walnut or maple. I'd suggest steel wool. You might take a look at what I did with my Sea Service pistol:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...istol-from-loyalist-arms.186013/#post-2716044

Thank you! I didn't know not to sand teak wood. I've heard it's hard enough I didn't know it was a bad idea to sand it. I'll follow armorer Roy's steel wool advice and yours as well. Thank you

I'd suggest not sanding. Teak isn't especially amenable to sanding. The sandpaper gets really logged. The wood is really soft. You'll end up removing more wood and modifying the contour more than you expect if you're used to walnut or maple. I'd suggest steel wool. You might take a look at what I did with my Sea Service pistol:
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...istol-from-loyalist-arms.186013/#post-2716044

What brands of tinted linseed, mineral oil, red tinted paste wax did you use? Think I might try your finishing method.

 

[wiscoaster]

....

What brands of tinted linseed, mineral oil, red tinted paste wax did you use? Think I might try your finishing method.

Transtint dye, and boiled inseed oil and regular mineral oil. This finish job I tried Mequiar's paste wax for the first time and it worked out fine. I've been trying to find a suitable replacement for Johnson's, and both Mequiar's and Mother's seemed to work pretty good. Both available only at auto parts stores. Mequiar's gives a little better shine but is harder to buff. IMO there's none better than Johnson's, but you can't get it any more.

 

[Doug Fay]

Try ACETONE if you want to strip the finish off Indian-made guns.

I now own 3 Indian-made flintlock pistols. On the first one, I noticed the finish kept getting sticky if it came in contact with alcohol or just about anything else, so I decided to strip and refinish it.

To strip it, I used mainly Citri Strip. It took a LONG time and required extra work to completely strip.

On the second two, I used just acetone, and the finish came off IMMEDIATELY AND COMPLETELY!

They were all apparently finished in lacquer, which explains both the stickiness of the original finish and how well acetone worked to strip it off.

Anyway, I'd suggest trying just a little acetone on a spot, and if it works, just use acetone for the whole job.

I refinished them all with stain mixed with Tru Oil (which requires patience and benefits from a little heat to fully set), and finally a coat of gun wax. They all turned out fine in the end.

 

[RAEDWALD]

As I understand it the stocks are not teak. They are a local hardwood whose species varies depending upon supply and price from hardwood dealers. A shorthand name is rosewood. Not that they are Rosewood but similar in look and crafting.