Just don't make it look new. I worked on 18th century mahogany and walnut, using 10X steel wool very lightly. Hopefully what you have is an old stock from the 40s, 50s, or 60s. They can come up nicely with a cleaning and removal of a portion of old finish and reapplication. Never use stripper. I have even used tung oil, so lots of things on the market work, even in conjunction with an old finish, including the TruOil already mentioned. The boiled linseed is really a classic finish, but does take a long time to dry between coats. "Once a week for a month, once a month for a year, once a year for the rest of your life" was an old saying. Be gentle. You hear of people scraping a finish with a piece of broken glass! Don't!
Restoring 700 Bdl stock
- Thread starter Bob Wright
- Start date
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ofbandg
Well-Known Member
It has been my experience that those varnish type finishes are not deep and come off quite easily starting with a medium grit sandpaper. Stocks with checkering and rosewood or ebony add-ons are difficult to strip chemically and it's best to do it the old way. I have seen stocks that had a mass of deep dents improved by boiling in a drum but they were from very old rifles. I don't know if I would try it on something with minor dents.
LanceS4803
Well-Known Member
No.
Remington uses some type of proprietary finish to give it the "bowling pin" gloss look.
I have done a lot of stock work and currently restoring an early '60s BDL. This original finish was, by far, the absolute worst to remove of any I have done. Literally soaked in various finish removers and scraped every square inch. Don't even get me started on the checkering.
Bottom line, you have your work cut out for you.
google remington rifle stock finish to see what other people have encountered.
B23
Well-Known Member
I figured it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble and I'd end up making a mess of the stock or have more time and money in the thing than it's worth.
Not sure what Remington coats/seals/whatever you want to call it, but it's almost like a plastic coating these things have on the outer surface. I suppose it helps make them very water/dirt/grim resistant but I'm just not a real big fan of the high gloss finish.
Chokoloskee Joe
Well-Known Member
The Remington "bowling pin" finish is a two part epoxy that is very difficult to remove as noted by Lance. The only way to properly and effectively remove it is by sanding it off with a hand sander starting with 120 grit paper being careful to not gouge the wood. As you start to get down to the wood, change over to hand sanding with 220 and 320 paper. I know as I've done several of them. If you think your finish is lacquer, then it is not an original finish as all Remington 700 stocks are either epoxy or oil based finishes.
Bob Wright
Well-Known Member
Yes, it has the skip checkering. I will have to call Brownells and get the correct tools. $$$$.
Bob Wright
Well-Known Member
No, Its the original epoxy. Lacquer was all I could think of at the moment, lol....
Chokoloskee Joe
Well-Known Member
Unless there is significant damage to the checkering, you just need to cover the checkered sections with blue painters tape when you do your sanding. I would strongly suggest you not try to do your own checkering repair. It takes a LOT of practice to do it correctly!
Bob Wright
Well-Known Member
You know, I don't think it did have any nasty damage. But I have an identical "stripped to wood stock" that could be experimented on in the future.
Chokoloskee Joe
Well-Known Member
That would be the right way to learn checkering. Use an old stock that is not dear to you. Refinishing on the other hand is pretty easy to do yourself if you are just patient with the process. The hardest part to learn is filing the pores. As long as you do not over sand the stock, everything else you do can be undone or corrected without damage.
tony d willIiams
Well-Known Member
Leave it as it is. Every scar and crease has a story behind it. The grip held by hands over the years. The scratch that came the first time your boy set up to shoot. As we get older we keep a few things as mementos, remembering our youth and great times.
If you pass the gun down your children will appreciate it more. A cup of coffee, a fire, grandpa's stories.
SMK1000plus
Well-Known Member
I use CITRISRIP Stripping Gel. MAKE SURE to cover/protect the Black Plastic forearm piece, cover/remove the plastic grip cap and remove the butt pad. This stuff WILL EAT UP those parts if not removed/protected! After removing or protecting everything that isn't wood, apply the CITRISTRIP gel very liberally on the wood finish with a thick paintbrush, using long single strokes. Do NOT try to use repeated/multiple strokes over the gel to spread it around. Just coat each area in one single heavy stroke. Make sure you have your work area covered as this stuff will drip a lot, if you are applying it properly. Once the stock is thoroughly coated, SEAL the gel on the stock by wrapping it air-tight with Cling-Wrap plastic wrap. This will allow the gasses released by the gel, to dissolve the finish much better. Leave it on and covered for about 40 minutes. You should be able to see the finish wrinkling up under the Cling-Wrap as the finish turns loose.
In about 40 minutes, unwrap the stock and GENTLY scape away the old finish. I use an old soft plastic cooking spatula to remove it. In the checkering, use a stiff bristled toothbrush. Remove the old finish and the CITRISRIP, BEFORE IT DRIES OUT! You can use a damp sponge to finish wiping the stock clean but, don't soak the wood!
If all the finish does not come off (it usually takes two times), just repeat the process.
Bob Wright
Well-Known Member
In this case, what was a beautiful stock was destroyed in one day by my brother. I would rather erase that memory, lol. It's a stock only, looking for a different barreled action, and then it starts new memories with one lucky granchild on upcoming youth deer hunts to start with.
