Well, I just did something stupid

A

awesomeame

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Etobicoke, Ontario
Got my remington model 5 .22 wmr back from the 'smith today. had to mount a scope and whatnot, decided to give it a good cleaning, using hoppe's barrel blast and clean. Well the cleaner took the finish right off the wooden stock :( it looks like sh!t, everywhere where the chemical dripped it took the finish off. I noticed this right away, but by then the damage was done.

how do i repair this-does remington sell a touchup kit for their wood coloring? am i going to have to refinish the whole stock? or should i just put a clearcoat on it to remind me forever and ever :D

Matt
 
so how do i go about doing that? should i just take the barrel blast and spray down the whole stock to get all the finish off, then just stain it? it's a laminate stock, will the chemicals effect the wood strength?

Matt
 
Sounds like that cleaner is an effective stripper for the original finnish, so use the minimal amount to remove the remaining finnish. Use a solvent such as acetone to clean all the residue of the cleaner from the wood, then sand the stock with fine sand paper and clean the sanding residue away with the solvent, and let the stock sit for several days to allow all traces of solvent etc. to leave the wood. You will then be ready to apply the new finnish.
 
Hoppe's Blast and Clean is a combination of alcohols. The finish was likely a shellac, which is (easily) dissolved by alcohol. Shellac comes dissolved in alcohol.

You could reapply some shellac on the affected areas and "blend" it into the existing, wiping down the entire stock. If it doesn't work, then wipe everything down with alcohol and start again.
 
Spend $10 or so and get a proper stripper. CIRCA 1850 is a stripper sold at most hardware stores. Using the bore cleaner might cause more harm than good.

When you sand, be very careful not to remove too much wood, in fact I rarely sand at all unless I'm fixing some scratches. I use fine steel wool to take off the loose wood fibres and leave it at that. Sanding too much rounds off sharp edges and makes the metal to wood fit more sloppy if it's not done carefully and correctly.

The first rule of gun maintenance and repair is the same as the first rule of medicine: DON'T DO MORE HARM. In other words, if the treatment is going to cause more damage to the patient, don't do it. LOOK at what you're doing, THINK about what could happen. Take PRECAUTIONS. Gun maintenance and life in general can really benefit from a little forethought.

In case you think I'm being an a**hole, let me tell you that I have done as bad and worse many times. People learn from making mistakes, and losing a little finish off the wood is not a big deal. In fact it could even be a good thing. Enjoy.
 
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If the finish is shellac then you don't need a paint stripper like Circa 1850. It is a methylene chloride based paint stripper. Many other paint strippers are guess what? ALCOHOL plus toluenes (lacquer thinners).

Since the finish is obviously very sensitive to alcohol, just use alcohol to remove the existing finish. As a bonus, it won't touch the stain under the finish.
 
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