Refinishing stocks

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mike t

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Im going to be taking the high comb off the stock on my 7600 and will need to refinish both stocks. Im going to be using Tru oil or boiled lynseed oil. Any suggestions or tips are greatly appreciated as this is my first time doing this.
 
True oil will be quite high gloss.
Tung oil works well with 4 or 5 coats yielding med. gloss.
Boiled linseed will give low gloss and will be slower to finish.
I suggest you strip entire stock to bare wood and start from there.
 
I'm a linseed oil guy. Yes it takes longer but in the end I find the project ends up much nicer. Besides, it's a long time until next hunting season.
 
Soak wood for a few minutes till oil just begins to get slightly tacky. Then rub off all you can with soft cotton rag. Don't leave any wet behind.
After a few coats, left to dry between, a rub with 0000 steel wool will even out the sheen before topcoat.
Some woods may want a 320 grit sanding after a couple coats.
 
I use both linseed oil and tung oil, Do what vviking in the above post suggested and they come out quite nice. Some stocks do absorb the oil better than others, but given time they all come out good.
 
Boiled Linseed never really gets hard and it is a poor barrier to water. TRu-oil is the most common, easy to apply and does a great job. It is also very easy to touch up. If you want a lower gloss finish just cut the last coat back after it dries with a little rotten stone, or wet and dry 600 grit sandpaper till you get the amount of sheen you want. If you over do it, just apply another coat.

Several very thin coats of Tru-oil that are allowed to dry for a week between will produce a much harder and longer lasting finish. Use 4 aught steel wool to cut the coat back to a real smooth finish after drying and before applying the next coat. Let the final coat dry a month before sanding or cutting it back.

Anschutz stock I made from scratch and finished with Tru-oil

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If using linseed oil, boiled linseed oil or even double boiled linseed oil, you can get an additive that works as a drying agent. Believe there is a product called Japan Dryer just for that. There are probably other products out there that will do the same.
 
That's going to be a big job grinding the comb off the stock. Will the proportions be right if you do that? Does it have the big Monte Carlo, I can't visualize that stock.
It will be like a lux stock then, do you use open sights?
 
For a utility finish that actually looks good, I like to mix BLO with Spar Helmsman (satin). Using 220 grit, I only sand the areas that need it, then switch to wet-sanding with 320 grit using my BLO/Spar mix. Wipe the slurry with your hand, perpendicular to the grain to fill the pores. Wipe off excess - but not too much - and then let dry. Start again with wet 320 until you get back down to wood (removing all that now-hardened slurry) and switch to 400. Repeat the whole process down to 600 grit. Then use steel wool to knock back the final slurry and put on a hand-wiped coat of the mix.
 
I did a stock recently with Tru Oil. I was going for a high gloss finish. Rubbed it on with my finger, Lightly wet sanded every 3rd coat or so with 1500 grit paper.After about 40-50 coats as i lost track. I wet sanded and buffed, it looked pretty good but i thought i could improve so i wet sanded a bit more....or should i say a bit too much...Start at step one again.....50-60 coats later GENTLY wet sand and buff. The final result is the stock looks like it is dipped in glass! I waited 2-3 weeks before i buffed to make sure it was totally cured through.
 
Any advice on prepping the wood when there is checkering involved? Most re-do's look, well, re-done, I would rather have the beat up original finish then a clean one that is obviously not a factory job. Just my opinion, and it usually stops me from having a go.
T
 
When I refinish a checkered stock I avoid putting any oil on the checkering until the final coat. If you apply too much oil on the checkered portions you will clog them up and it doesn't look near as good. Just enough to blend the color in to the rest of the wood is all you need.
 
Google Truoil and Amour all. I dont think I am allowed to post a link to another forum so message me and I will forward it to you. Essentially you apply a thin layer of Armour all then apply your Truoil and wipe off the excess. This reduces the Truoil drying time to less than 5mins through some witchcraft. I've done 5 stocks this way. Fast and foolproof. fyi dont be afraid to hit the stock with 0000 steel wool in between a few treatments if you see runs or high layers. Also, blow the treatment out of checkering before it solidifies. Post some before and after pics-we all like to see the results here.
 
Use a chemical stripper and rub the finish off with finer steel wool. Do not sand the checkered portions, use the stripper and nylon brush in there and clean it out good. Finish your stock with oil, but again do not sand the checkering. If you are concern about a lack of finish in the checkering, carefully apply thinned, clear epoxy with a toothbrush into the checkering.
 
kawicrash said:
That's going to be a big job grinding the comb off the stock. Will the proportions be right if you do that? Does it have the big Monte Carlo, I can't visualize that stock.
It will be like a lux stock then, do you use open sights?
Click to expand...

The stock has no cheak piece, it only has the high comb(all the newer models have this) that works great for a scoped gun but I use open sights and with that high comb its almost impossible to get on the sights. A criend of mine is a cabinet maker and has all the fancy tools to do this as well he did the same thing with his rifle and it turned out wonderfully. Hooefully my stock turns out just as good.
 
Thank you, Kurgan. I could have filled grain or applied another ten coats with steel-wooling in between, but this is a hunter not a show piece.
 
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