sticky synthetic gunstocks...repair ideas?

jjohnwm

jjohnwm

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I have a synthetic stock that came from factory with one of the "soft-touch" type rubberized finishes. It has checkered panels which are perfectly fine, but the rest of the stock, on all surfaces, has become unpleasantly sticky. It's not quite as bad as a plastic item that has been exposed to Deet, but it's still pretty irritating. I'm not talking about the type of rubbery feel typical to a Hogue grip or stock; I quite like those. This is just sticky enough to be bothersome, although without any black rubber actually coming off onto your fingers.

I've tried a couple of tips found on Google; wipe down with WD40, with mineral spirits, etc. and don't seem to be having any effect.

Has anybody got any suggestions, preferably an idea that they have actually tried and found successful? I've even considered painting the rubbery finish with something like the original Fusion paints, which apparently were designed to bond with plastic surfaces and were always very durable for me. But the surface has just enough "give" to it that I suspect any paint would quickly crack?

Any and all ideas appreciated. :)
 
Is it one of the Brownings? If it is, this is a known problem - google is your friend. A friend of mine had one, and from what he and I could find there's no cure for it other than a new stock/chassis or the EE
 
I would try laquer thinner but try a small test patch in the barrel channel or somewhere else that has bare plastic before you go all in, lacquer thinner and plastic may not play well together. If that failed I’d hit it with a soft brass wheel on a grinder or maybe media blast it with crushed walnut.
 
If it’s a Winchester or Browning I’d just get in touch with Browning and your problem should go away with the new one you’ll receive!
 
KePet said:
Is it one of the Brownings? If it is, this is a known problem - google is your friend. A friend of mine had one, and from what he and I could find there's no cure for it other than a new stock/chassis or the EE
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My friend had a sticky Browning and he took it to a hydro dip place. They sanded the sticky parts and hydro dipped it and it turned out great. Wouldn’t hurt to talk to a shop that does this and ask their opinion.
 
jjohnwm said:
I have a synthetic stock that came from factory with one of the "soft-touch" type rubberized finishes. It has checkered panels which are perfectly fine, but the rest of the stock, on all surfaces, has become unpleasantly sticky. It's not quite as bad as a plastic item that has been exposed to Deet, but it's still pretty irritating. I'm not talking about the type of rubbery feel typical to a Hogue grip or stock; I quite like those. This is just sticky enough to be bothersome, although without any black rubber actually coming off onto your fingers.

I've tried a couple of tips found on Google; wipe down with WD40, with mineral spirits, etc. and don't seem to be having any effect.

Has anybody got any suggestions, preferably an idea that they have actually tried and found successful? I've even considered painting the rubbery finish with something like the original Fusion paints, which apparently were designed to bond with plastic surfaces and were always very durable for me. But the surface has just enough "give" to it that I suspect any paint would quickly crack?

Any and all ideas appreciated. :)
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Try wiping it down with some corn starch (just a bit in the palm of your hand). Use a dry toothbrush to brush any residue from the checkering/crevasses etc.

I picked up a Sako 85 with a sticky stock and one application fixed it.

I'd recommend doing it outside. It's been three months and the stock still feels completely normal.
 
The gun is not a Browning or Winchester, but rather a CVA single shot. CVA has pointedly ignored both of the emails I have sent, and I bought the gun used, so...:(


guntech said:
I would just get rid of it... not worth any effort to make it better as far as I am concerned.
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Get rid of the gun? Lol, not likely, at least not at this point; it's the best-shooting muzzleloader I have ever owned. Get rid of the stock? If I could find a replacement, I would do that in a heartbeat, but no luck in that direction so far. It isn't unusable, as some plastic items become when exposed to a solvent like DEET; it's just a PITA.


blazinbilly said:
What about spray on clear coat?
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With little to lose, I already clear-coated two different sections of the stock with two different clear coat products. Both looked good, felt good...and both cracked and "shattered" when fingertip pressure was applied. No bueno.


MRP said:
Looked at one, a belt sander then a camo dip or cerakote?
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Butcherbill said:
I would try laquer thinner but try a small test patch in the barrel channel or somewhere else that has bare plastic before you go all in, lacquer thinner and plastic may not play well together. If that failed I’d hit it with a soft brass wheel on a grinder or maybe media blast it with crushed walnut.
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Starting to look like this general approach...physically remove the existing coating and re-coating with something else...is the direction in which I am now heading. I'm a cheap-ass DIY guy, so will probably be painting it myself.

This plan is complicated by the fact that the stock has soft-touch checkered panels that are perfectly fine, but which will complicate both the removal of the existing coating and the re-application of its replacement.
 
A-zone said:
Try wiping it down with some corn starch (just a bit in the palm of your hand). Use a dry toothbrush to brush any residue from the checkering/crevasses etc.

I picked up a Sako 85 with a sticky stock and one application fixed it.

I'd recommend doing it outside. It's been three months and the stock still feels completely normal.
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Holy crap! That sounds too good to be true...but it's also so simple I'd be nuts not to try it. :)

First thing tomorrow morning...unless my impatience gets the better of me and I end up on the patio in the middle of the night...:) Thanks, will post results.
 
jjohnwm said:
Starting to look like this general approach...physically remove the existing coating and re-coating with something else...is the direction in which I am now heading. I'm a cheap-ass DIY guy, so will probably be painting it myself.

This plan is complicated by the fact that the stock has soft-touch checkered panels that are perfectly fine, but which will complicate both the removal of the existing coating and the re-application of its replacement.
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It’s what I’d do and at this point you can’t make it much worse if your careful with your approach, I’d try lacquer thinner or maybe acetone. There will be some type of solvent that will be hot enough to take the existing coating off that’s failing but isn’t too hard on the plastic itself, I’ve always had good luck with a soft brass wire wheel on my bench grinder when it comes to removing finishes.

Once you get it off painting should be straightforward, I have a Houge overmold stock on a .308 that is rattle can painted successfully. It wasn’t sticky though, thorough prep to degrease and clean it then prime and paint. Has held up well for the 3-4 years I’ve had it, got it off a friend that did the initial paint and I added some extra shades.
 
Butcherbill said:
It’s what I’d do and at this point you can’t make it much worse if your careful with your approach, I’d try lacquer thinner or maybe acetone. There will be some type of solvent that will be hot enough to take the existing coating off that’s failing but isn’t too hard on the plastic itself, I’ve always had good luck with a soft brass wire wheel on my bench grinder when it comes to removing finishes.

Once you get it off painting should be straightforward, I have a Houge overmold stock on a .308 that is rattle can painted successfully. It wasn’t sticky though, thorough prep to degrease and clean it then prime and paint. Has held up well for the 3-4 years I’ve had it, got it off a friend that did the initial paint and I added some extra shades.
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Laquer thinner doesn't seem to touch this coating; haven't tried acetone...yet...

What kind of paint did you use on the Hogue stock? I'm curious how it holds up to the flexing of that nice soft rubber overmolding. I love the ergos and the "feel" of a Hogue stock and being able to paint one of mine is interesting, whether or not I need to use this idea on the CVA.
 
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I used rustoleum camo, same as what my buddy started with, same for the final matte or semi gloss clear coat. I always try to stick with one brand of paint if I am rattle can painting anything, have had different brands of spray paint react and wrinkle when used together. How heavy you lay it on can affect this as well, crackling or wrinkling and fisheyes suck.

I wonder if a paint stripper would do anything, or maybe easy-off oven cleaner. I know it can be used to strip paint, most people have a can under the sink so it might be worth trying it and letting it sit for a bit.

Here’s the painted stock, has held up well to a few years of hunting and range use.

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I think that would just add greasy feel
I have not run into that, wonder is a coat of floor wax, or auto wax would help ??
Maybe a wipe off with alcohol
A nice piece of walnut would solve the problem, I may have a slab left, Robert Wilson at Harris could copy your stock on his machine.
That's a 2 piece stock I presume. I presume you tried soap and water?
Did you get snow and ice like we did?
 
Okay, update on this: I have tried various types of soap, detergent, alcohol, mineral spirits, laquer thinner (apparently largely acetone), paint thinner, WD40 and probably a few other types of crap on this over the past few months. Most had no visible effect; none did what I was hoping they would.

But today I tried the corn starch method and in a couple of minutes the entire stock had completely lost that sticky feeling. Rubbed it on by hand, removed it with a rag and brush. The stock is completely usable and comfortable to handle; this is literally the only progress I have made in that direction. I can't tell if the corn starch somehow absorbed the gummy residue or if it was itself absorbed into the rubber. The surface itself has a very matte almost-grey look to it that makes me think that there is corn starch stuck to it, creating a smooth surface. There are also a fair number of marks, scratches and rough spots which may all be a result of handling and wear, or might be partially caused by the endless procession of assorted solvents to which I have subjected the stock. Overall it looks pretty crappy.

The stock is not "cushiony" like a Hogue overmolded stock, but has a very similar surface feel. I am going to try cleaning it with alcohol, perhaps roughen it up slightly with sandpaper, and then paint it. That will entail carefully masking off the checkered panels. Might have to actually remove all of the black coating, which now feels like it would be fairly straightforward to accomplish with sandpaper.

It'll never be a showpiece but that was never the intent. Just wanted it to be comfortable and usable.
 
Throw it out as its definitely not worth the effort and time to "fix" it. I've owned several factory rifles with sticky lint and dust collectors. They all got B&C or Boyds, then I sold them.
 
The Kurgan said:
Throw it out as its definitely not worth the effort and time to "fix" it. I've owned several factory rifles with sticky lint and dust collectors. They all got B&C or Boyds, then I sold them.
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If I could find one of those...or any other aftermarket stock...for a CVA Apex, I would never have even started this thread. However...

In any case, thanks to A-zone's helpful suggestion it's fixed already, ar least in terms of being comfortably useable. And I don't want to sell it, I like shooting and using it and will continue to do so.

I was heavily invested in the TC Encore system years ago. This gun is at least as well-made as those were, more accurate than most of the TC barrels I had, and infinitely better in terms of comfort, ergonomics and handling.
 
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