Cooey 840 12ga restoration

Wow guys, thanks for all the kind words! A lot of trial and error as this is my first high-gloss gunstock. My only other resto was a lee enfield.

I plan to take my dad out shooting this father's day with a few of my guns. He hasn't shot this one for 30 years and he doesn't know we're going to the range. Should be fun :)

I'll keep my eyes open for a kick-eez. I hate the cheesy plastic pad on there!
 
Skaal-tel said:
Wow guys, thanks for all the kind words! A lot of trial and error as this is my first high-gloss gunstock. My only other resto was a lee enfield.

I plan to take my dad out shooting this father's day with a few of my guns. He hasn't shot this one for 30 years and he doesn't know we're going to the range. Should be fun :)

I'll keep my eyes open for a kick-eez. I hate the cheesy plastic pad on there!
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Sounds like a great way to spend Fathers day! Like REAL MEN!

Fantastic job by the way. I LOVE how it turned out... I have a mid/late 70's 840, but the wood dont appear to have the nice figuring like that one!

I may attempt the same thing on mine one day. She's pretty Blah with the factory finish;




Oh and x2 on the hard plastic butt plate. Have you shot it yet with only a T-shirt on? Do it and you'll want a recoil pad even sooner. Mine weighs in at about 5 lbs and aint much fun for high volume shooting.
 
Hahah the first time I took it out, I made it through about 3 boxes of shells before I gave up. I could feel the bones in my shoulder shifting with every shot. And that was #8 birdshot too! The 840 has a well deserved reputation for recoil.

I use a little pad in the shirt for skeet, and I've gotten used to it. Lots of fun to pass to curious people at the range.. some have never seen a single shot before. Maybe I should keep some buckshot on hand... hahaha

Yours looks pretty darn good for a 40 year old fire arm. Hard to judge from a picture but there could be a nice grain under what looks like a fairly opaque stain. If I were you I'd be hesitant to mess with a good condition finish like that, even if it isn't in style nowadays.

That said, circa 1850 will have that finish off in seconds.
Circa-1850-Furniture-Stripper-62698_image.jpg


Could be fun, if the grain is a little boring, to experiment with some different colour stains - maybe something chocolate or more deeply red?
 
Skaal-tel said:
Hahah the first time I took it out, I made it through about 3 boxes of shells before I gave up. I could feel the bones in my shoulder shifting with every shot. And that was #8 birdshot too! The 840 has a well deserved reputation for recoil.

I use a little pad in the shirt for skeet, and I've gotten used to it. Lots of fun to pass to curious people at the range.. some have never seen a single shot before. Maybe I should keep some buckshot on hand... hahaha

Yours looks pretty darn good for a 40 year old fire arm. Hard to judge from a picture but there could be a nice grain under what looks like a fairly opaque stain. If I were you I'd be hesitant to mess with a good condition finish like that, even if it isn't in style nowadays.

That said, circa 1850 will have that finish off in seconds.
Circa-1850-Furniture-Stripper-62698_image.jpg


Could be fun, if the grain is a little boring, to experiment with some different colour stains - maybe something chocolate or more deeply red?
Click to expand...

Yes mine is in quite good condition for its age... I think the reason being it was not shot much ~ for obviuous reasons. Its fine when the weather is chilly and I have a jacket on, otherwise not so much...

And yes, I am somwhat hesitant to mess with it... Its pretty much like new, except for one small gouge on the heel of the stock from a safe it was in. I think Ill leave it for now, but may do something with it one day down the road. It belonged to a family member who lost his life at a relatively young age, so its not just a cheap gun, its gots some meaning to me, as I'm sure yours does to you....
 
Well, your family sure lucked out with the wood quality. I've got an old 84 that fourtunetly has a walnut stock. But it isn't ANYTHING like yours! ! ! !

I suspect that ol' Dad hardly recognized it when he saw it.

Island'r, your stock will likely spruce up nicely with a strip down and nice oil finish. Just don't expect a "diamond in the rough" that emerges like Skaal-tel's stock came out.
 
BCRider said:
Well, your family sure lucked out with the wood quality. I've got an old 84 that fourtunetly has a walnut stock. But it isn't ANYTHING like yours! ! ! !

I suspect that ol' Dad hardly recognized it when he saw it.

Island'r, your stock will likely spruce up nicely with a strip down and nice oil finish. Just don't expect a "diamond in the rough" that emerges like Skaal-tel's stock came out.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I cant justify stripping it at the moment. aside from a single scratch it is like new...

And I'm pretty sure its birch or something. Its not Walnut that's for sure.
 
To nobody's great surprise except perhaps my dad's - we had a great time out together. He knew about the work I was doing but he was just about speechless when he saw it. He thinks I should go into business restoring fire-arms but I don't think there's a market for it :)

We shot a complete box of skeet and then some between the two of us. We blasted a few really old shells - some "extra long range" purple shells, and some old winchester goose rounds. Mostly cheap target loads.

The 840 worked perfectly for the first time EVER in my hands. No more breaking open on its own. I tweaked the spring and the steel in the forend and that seems to have fixed it.

He was very surprised and said it reminded him of shooting with HIS dad years ago.

Anyway, it's a little late now, but here's to dads everywhere! May their faithful old guns always shoot true.
 
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