Gun Stock Dyeing

Centaur 1 · 08-23-2009, 08:00 PM

I've been out of work for several months now due to a bad back, and I'm having some major surgery on November 2nd. I'm not able to do very many things so I've been going over my guns one at a time.
It all started with refinishing a Remington 700 BDL, I love the gun but I always hated the plastic coated look of the stock. I got my courage up and bought polyurethane stripper and within a couple of days I was down to bare wood. I have to say, Remington uses a clear and shiny polyurethane finish but it sure hid the true beauty of the wood. I'm new to stock finishing so I read up on all the different types of finishes that are available, and after visiting all of my local stores to see what was on the shelves, I decided to try Formsby's Tung oil finish in low gloss. I protected the checkering and sanded all the way down to 500 grit, I even wet it so the grain would raise then sanded it again. I diluted the first two coats 50/50 with mineral spirits, then put about ten more coats. Between each coat I sanded with 0000 steel wool, I let each coat dry a full day between layers. The only thing I can say is WOW!!!! It looks like a custom gun now, The wood is absolutely gorgeous.
I quickly moved on th my second project, Mossberg 500C 20 gauge. I got this gun new in 1971 and I have to admit, it's been a workhorse. I was actually suprised to find real walnut under the camo paint job I did back around 1980. This stock stripped much easier than the 700BDL. I even tried the iron trick on two dents and it worked, after a little sanding you cant even tel the dents were ever there. Sanded, yada yada yada, steel wool-tack cloth-rub oil, repeat repeat repeat. I then touch up blued any bare metal, now I'm just waiting for the receiver to get a layer of Duracoat and this gun will look better than when it was new.
Hopefully by now everyone is still reading this post, my wife says that I have a knack for making a long story endless. Guess what's next? You guessed right, my 10-22 stock. I'm going to do some reshaping, I'm leaving the barrel band but I want to round the forearn so it feels better in my hand. I also want to round off the top of the stock between the pistol grip and the buttplate. I also want to make the palm swell more pronounced. Now since this is going to be my first non-walnut stock I've been reading about dyeing the wood, and I have an idea.
Has anyone ever dyed using two different colors? I'm looking at all of these laminated stocks and it has me thinking. I'm thinking about using black and dark red. When you finish wood the grain usually takes on two different colors. What if I were to dye the stock black, then lightly sand using a sanding block and 500 grit sandpaper. I'm hoping that doing this will lighten the lighter parts of the grain, Then dye the stock with a very dark red that is mixed with some black.
Has anyone ever tried anything like this, am I crazy for trying?

elgallo114 · 08-23-2009, 09:13 PM

I've never done mulitiple colors on a wood stock. I've stained a wood stock with a beautiful cherry red once. Looks cool.

As for mulitiple colors, I've only done that with DuraCoat. In fact, I'm waiting for my latest project to dry right now.

Post some pics of the stock you've done. I'd like to see it.

driftrider · 08-24-2009, 05:34 PM

How could you, in good conscience, post that and not post pictures?! Come on, man! It's just not right!

I'd like to see the results of your effort, so if you don't mind snapping some pics, I' think a lot of folks here would like to see it, too.

Mike

Centaur 1 · 08-24-2009, 07:37 PM

I'll get some pics up tomorrow. I just put the Mossberg 500 back together tonight and it looks great also. I even touched up all the bluing, I even blued the bolt which Mossberg doesn't. I don't know if it will actually make a difference but I coated the worn spots inside the aluminum receiver with a baked on dry film lubricant.

Centaur 1 · 08-25-2009, 01:34 PM

OK, here are some pics of the guns that I've finished so far.

statjunk · 08-25-2009, 01:46 PM

Nice work!

Tom

Rebel Hog · 08-25-2009, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Centaur 1

It all started with refinishing a Remington 700 BDL, I love the gun but I always hated the plastic coated look of the stock.

That plastic coated look was probably RKW finish that Remington use to put on there stocks...........RKW finish is what is used on bowling pins.......

13pointjomc · 08-28-2009, 05:23 PM

Nice work!!What caliber is the Remington 700?

mauser06 · 08-28-2009, 06:01 PM

looks good!!

about the 10/22, id say go for it and try it!!! if it turns out bad, you can strip and sand it again(maybe not with dye..) but if not and its ruined, theres 10000s of 10/22 stocks floating around from guys that swapped stocks...heck, you could likely pick one up for a VERY low price...

maybe try it on some scrape lumber and see how it works??

ive never seen a true hardwood stock done like that..could turn out awesome!...

there are makers of colored wood stain out there...we did my grandmas kitchen with blue stain...and ive used green on turkey calls...

ive been VERY tempted to run green on a gunstock...just havent yet...ive only done 2 stocks and neither were getting a color job...my buddy would killed me if i did a color job on his 9422!! ahahaha...should done it hot pink now that i think about it!

Centaur 1 · 08-28-2009, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 13pointjomc

Nice work!!What caliber is the Remington 700?

It's a 30-06. I bought it when I was 15 back in 1976, it took me so long to save for it that I decided to get a bolt action 30-06. That way I would be sure to have enough rifle should I get a chance to hunt something other than Pennsylvania deer. Although I still haven't had an opportunity to hunt elk or mule deer I never regretted my choice. Thirty three years later I just bought the Marlin 336 that I really wanted.