stripping the finish on an "old" gun

[bbassi]

hi all. I just picked up a CVA big bore mountian rifle from a guy that had no idea what he had (there is a thread on the percussion page about it). Anyway, I got it home tonight and realized it had a BIRDSEYE maple stock, from the factory. The finish is dark, as I assume all the production guns were. But being a lover of wood and wood grain as I am, the first thing that came to my feable little mind was to strip it and refinish it in a lighter tone so the birdeye stuck out.

Has anyone ever tried this and if so, what were your results?

B

 

[44-henry]

It wouldn't be hard to do, there are several books on refinishing gunstocks. My suggestion would be to get yourself a container of zip strip. Remove all metal parts from the wood and follow the containers instructions. You will probably have to do it a couple times. You could sand the finish off, but you'll probably take away too much wood in the process and in some areas you will not want to do this. On other areas, you might very well want to reshape, CVA's are good quality, but the factory finishing process usually left way too much wood on in areas that could be improved by careful reshaping. Once the stock is stripped, replace the buttplate, patchbox and nosecap and than sand using progressively finer grits, ending about 320. You can than apply a finish of your choice. For birdseye maple I have had good luck painting the stock with a lampblack (available in art stores). Paint the stock with this until it is black and than allow to dry. The pigment that makes up lampblack will settle in the more open grain of the birdseye, when dry you can sand it off, you will discover that the birdseye figure will be highly contrasted to the white background of the stock. I prefer to stain the wood very dark when using this treatment and the results are quite dramatic, I suggest you try it on a scrap first to see if you like the effect or not. For a finish coat I use Tru Oil quite a bit and have no complaints, Pilkingtons is another favorite of mine.

 

[Riley/MN]

I have taken a couple of guns to an antique stripper - that is a stripper of antique furniture. After using the recipe for my friend William Young's (Wahkon Bay) Tru-Coat, I sent him an inquiry, to which he replied:

Dear Riley,
No problem, you can not over apply, as one may easily kill back with #0000 steel wool, if too much. Generally, when it is applied in thin coats, rubbed vigorously into the wood, when still tacky after 24 hours during non-humid conditions, the wood is well saturated and applications should cease. To kill that tackiness back, I rub down with rotten stone and lemon oil mix.
Incidentally, the easiest and most efficient method to completely strip and remove all prior finish from wood is to soak it for anextended period in lacquer thinner, it pulls everything out of the wood, and the refinish is truly from ground-zero with no inhibiting base remaining.
You can wax over linseed base finish if desired, but not necessary unless you intend to subject the stockwood to some rough weather conditions. Wax is not durable, but only gives temporary protection.
Have a good one. William

I don't know if you know Mr. Young (as we called him when I was in school), but he knows a thing or two about rifle finishes.

 

[crockett]

Oh Boy, a hundred different ways to do the job. IMO when you use any kind of solvent you can get the old finish soaking into the stock. Sandpaper can SORT OF do the same thing. Why not think about a cabinet scraper? You will be only removing the finish and usually the scraper leaves a pretty smooth surface versus sandpaper, etc. You can make up custom shapes from an old saw blade for all the curves, etc.