Refinishing a rifle

[piled-up]

Just wandering if anyone has some input on stripping the old lacquer off. should I use some gel stripper or lacquer thinner? Does the gel stuff leave any residue that will mess with the new finish? Should I just start sanding?  I will probably use linspeed oil to refinish. Thanks in advance!

[thinkingman]

I assume you're talking about the stock.
Acetone and steel wool worked well for me taking the factory finish off a Remington 22.
Don't sand too much or you will change the dimensions, and very careful if it's checkered.
I would use aceton and a dental pick to remove finish in checkering.

I have had great luck with Tung Oil.

Either the Formby version or real.
If you use real Tung Oil, thin it 1/1 with citrus solvent, at least for the first coat.

[piled-up]

Thanks for the input and yes the wood stock!

[philepe]

I have only refinished 1 rifle, but I had good success with the orange spray on stuff, I don't remember the brand but it was safer to breathe so I chose it and was happy with it.

[Stilly bay]

I have only refinished 1 rifle, but I had good success with the orange spray on stuff, I don't remember the brand but it was safer to breathe so I chose it and was happy with it.

Citristrip. The stuff works great and doesn't have same toxicity as other stripping sprays.

For refinishing I prefer multiple coats of 1:1 mixture of tru-oil and mineral spirits.

[floatinghat]

What do you want to refinish?

Use a mild liquid stripper to remove all/most of the old finish. As for removing the old finish in the checkering, just scrub it with some old toothbrushes and blot it up with paper towels after the stripper has had time to do its work. This part of the process is time consuming, but it is worth the effort. And as for sanding the stocks without blunting the sharpness of the checkering, use painters tape, trim it to fit each checkered pattern with an X-acto knife, and then just sanding carefully around these masked areas if needed.   Don't look at the checkering or you will feel the need to sand. 

If you have dings or dents that don't breakl teh fibers you can often steam them out with a damp cloth and cloths iron.

Just to confuse you more, here is why I chose my finish.

Tung Oil is applied by just rubbing it in with a rag. The process is identical to Tru Oil, but I just think Tung Oil is a little easier to use. Like with painting more LIGHT coats are better. Resist the temptation, when I say LIGHT I mean 1/3 the amount of oil you think.

My process went like this...

Preparation:
Strip the old finish.
Sand / steam out any imperfections.
De-whisker. This should be very little because you are refinishing and not doing a lot of sanding.

Day one:
Apply one thin coat of Tung Oil everywhere. coverage is key for this first coat.
Wait 30 minutes and it should be dry to the touch.
Apply another coat.
Wait until the next day.

Day two:
Sand lightly with 400 grit using a sanding block, not the checkering. The sanding block is important.
Apply another thin coat of Tung Oil everywhere.
Wait 30 minutes. It should be dry to the touch. If not, wait until it is.
Apply another coat.
Wait until tomorrow.

Day three:
Sand lightly with 400 grit using a sanding block. Again don't touch the checkering.
Evaluate the finish. If you see little shiny spots, the grain has not been filled in.

At this point you have two options because the gain must be filled in to get that professional finish. You can repeat the 400 grit every day until the grain is filled in or you can do a slurry. Do do the slurry, instead of sanding dry, use the Tung Oil to sand with. This will create a slurry made up of the fine saw dust from sanding. This will fill in the grain much quicker. The long method is better, but it would take a keen eye and a magnifying glass to tell the difference. I chose the long method.

Apply a coat of Tung Oil.
Wait until tomorrow.
Repeat until the grain is filled in. (you see no shiny spots after sanding)

Day x:
Run your hand over the cured finish. You will feel some spots where dust has settled on your stock. Unless you have a sealed room, this will happen.
Use 600 or 800 grit and lightly sand again.
Wipe the stock thoroughly to remove any dust.
Wait at least one hour to let the dust settle. It would be better to move to another room where no sanding has been done.
Apply one thin coat. No need to go into the checkering with this coat.
Wait until tomorrow.

Day x+1:
Evaluate the finish. As you run your hand over the finish, you will still feel the little pieces of dust. They should be very light. How does the shine look to you?
Once you have a coat or two applied after the gain was filled in, you can begin to get the end result.
At this point I leave the sand paper behind. I will only use an old t-shirt to rub the finish down. Believe it or not, the t-shirt will take off the little dust particles and shine things up a little.

Keep doing this process until you have the shine you want. Resist the urge to stop after applying a coat and letting it cure. The final step must be a rub down with the t-shirt. If you don't, your finish may not be sturdy enough to stand up to regular use and will show scratches easily. Also, don't start rubbing too early. If the finish is not fully cured you'll bugger it and have to sand it down and start the final steps again.

I'm not a pro. This is just what I did and I'm very happy with the result. It's a long process, but worth it in the end. If you follow it, you will be happy too. What you don't want is to hear, "Did you re-finish this yourself?" Trust me, people can tell. What you do want is to hear people say, "Wow, that stock looks great!" Then you can say that you did the finish yourself and watch their surprise.

To leave you with two final nuggets, less oil more coats, less oil more coats.

[piled-up]

Wow! Sounds like some work but well worth it its an older sako rifle handed down to me from grandpa jack. Thanks for all the great info ill post up some pics when it's done!

[mountainman]

I too use nothing but rung oil. Have finished over a dozen stocks and maybe fifty longbows/recurve. Shoeshine with w soft cloth until you get the sheen you desire.

[TVHunts]

Awesome write up floatinghat!

[j_h_nimrod]

My method is a little different but have been happy with the results. I have messed with a number of stocks as well as different wood projects and have been happy with different oil finishes marketed for decks.  I know, it is not specifically made for this purpose but they are formulated to be persistent and tough and they were available when I needed them. I was previously in a super wet environment where I wanted my wood stocks as stable as possible.

To strip use whatever stripper you would like,sanding I would not recommend. Some strippers will weaken wood grain so be careful. Some factory finishes are pretty tough. Scrapers work well on non-checkered surfaces and, with strippers,light wire brushes work well for checkering. Brush with the grain of the checkering, never across or that knocks down the points. I have found some finishes very tough to remove with even the strongest stripping solutions, it just depends and may take multiple applications.

To finish I warm the stock and then apply a very liberal coating of oil which I rub in with fairly coarse steel wool which I let penetrate for 20-30 minutes. I then wipe all excess off with an absorbent cloth and then buff with more steel wool before wiping down again. I repeat this 3-5 times over a number of days letting the finish penetrate and dry until I get the finish I desire. 

This method has worked well for me and created some nice looking tough stocks.

[piled-up]

Lots of great info thanks all!

[wapiti22]

I've used spray-on oven cleaner with good scucess, particularly on old military stocks. Gets all the old oil and dirt off and takes that first layer or two of finish. Doesn't affect the wood.

[lostbackpacker]

Wow! Sounds like some work but well worth it its an older sako rifle handed down to me from grandpa jack. Thanks for all the great info ill post up some pics when it's done!

depending on what model sako...i.e. sako finn bear pre garcia...you might not want to refinish it.  that would take away some of its value if it's not done right.   

[phishisgroovin]

i made a step by step tutorial here, just for this type of question.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,76495.msg936203.html#msg936203