muddywater

When sanding a gun stock for refinishing, how do you keep from flattening out the checkering? What methods should I use to get in the grooves with damaging the points?

Thanks!

diyj98

The easiest way to handle the checkering is to use a chemical stripper of some kind and stay away from the checkering with the sandpaper. An old toothbrush can be used to remove the old loose finish after the stripper works it' s magic.

bigbulls

When sanding a stock use some masking tape over the checkering and then trim it along the outside edge. Make sure that you use a small sanding block and not your fingers except in the small radiuses. That will make sure that you don' t get any wavy lines in your wood and it will also keep you from rounding over the butt of the stock. Make sure that you sand in the direction of the grain of the wood and not across the grain. You may not be able to see the scratches in the wood but when you start applying the finish I can assure you that they will show up.

Have you ever refinished a stock before? What kind of stock is it?

muddywater

This will be my first attempt at refinishing a stock. I' m going to refinish a Rem 700 stock. I' m mainly just doing it for fun. Any pointers and warnings would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your help!!

liquidorange

i used a straightened piece of coat hanger to hang my stock in the air in my basement. this allowed me to coat the whole stock in one shot. i would get a kit and follow the instructions but you will probably want to give it a couple clear coats which you will have to lightly scuff up between coats. if you want a custom color just go with a different stain than whats in the kit. take your time dont rush and allow plenty of dry time as you go through the steps and you will have something to be proud of

westbronco

The advice is good on protecting the checkering. When you get the stock smoothed down with fine sandpaper, try wiping with a damp rag to raise the tiny whiskers of wood. Then sand them off.

I' ve used Watco Danish Oil finish on a couple of stocks, and it works great. It penetrates and then hardens to give a good, tough finish. I finished my stocks with spray polyurethane, satin finish. First sand between coats and then use steel wool as you get near the lasts coats. I' ve used as many as twenty spray coats to get the pores filled. When it looks glassy smooth under low angle light, you are nearly finished. A stock finished that way is really beautiful. Good luck.

bigbulls

Does your 700 have the thick " clear coat" finish that Remington is so famous for? If it does then you need to get a scraper to get ot off the wood. Sand paper will just clogg and you' ll be there for ever. A local gun shop should be able to show what you need to scrape the coating off.

What kind of finish do you want to put on the stock? I personally really like a hand rubbed oil finish. If done properly and you take your time it is absolutly beautiful. Like night and day to the factory finishes. It takes a long time but it is worth it.

You can use a number of oils to finish the stock. Verithane and velvet oil are good oils.


#1) Scrape off the enamel that remington uses

#2) get a good stripper to get the enamel out of the checkering. This will probably take several coatings to get it all out. Use a tooth brush to get into the bottom of the checkering.

#3) Start with 120 grit paper and work your way up to 320 grit. Always sanding with the wood grain and using a small snading block. A big eraser works well for a sanding block. Wet (not soak) the stock in between each grit to " wisker " the wood. This simply raises the grain of the wood so you will end up with a nicer finish.

#4) Start a " mud rub" . This is simply using the oil that you are going to be using for the finish and sanding with it as a lubricant. As you sand you will see what looks like mud forming on the stock. This is the wood dust mixing with the oil. The purpose of this is to fill the pores of the wood. Work this into the wood with 400 grit sand paper. Let it dry for about 5 minutes then, with a clean cloth, wipe it off across the grain. This step is important to a really nicely finished stock.

#5) hang it with a wire coat hanger for a day where no one will touch it and nothing will get on it. Let it dry for 24 hours.

#6) Repeat the mud rub after it dries each day until all of the pores are filled.

After the pores are filled now you can move on to the hand rubbed oil.

#7) with the same oil dab a couple of drops onto the stock and begin rubbing in with your hand or fingers. Again with the grain of the wood. Very little oil goes a long way. Replenish the oil on the stock as you work your way up the stock. Make sure that the entire stock with the exception of the checkering gets hand rubbed in. You should feel your hand getting warm as you rub in the oil. When the entire stock has been rubbed in then hang it to dry for 24 hours.

#8) After it has dried for 24 hours rub the stock with 0000 steel wool in the direction of the grain and repeat #7.

#9) Keep doing this (#7 & #8) until it " looks good" . You will know when you are done. All of the wood will have a sheen to it and there will not be any dull spots on the wood.

#10) After the last hand rub then you can coat the checkering with oil. Let is soak in for a minute or two then take a clean cloth and dab up the excess. If any gets on the rest of the wood just rub it in with your fingers and let it dry.

Good luck! If you take your time and don' t rush it you will have a stock to be proud of.

muddywater

Thanks for the detailed info. Would it hurt to use the wood stripper on the entire stock?
Thanks!!

bigbulls

No it won' t hurt it but it will take forever and you will need to soak the stock in something like verithane oil to replenish the woods oils. Scraping the hard plastic like finish is a lot faster. Like days faster. You can get stock scrapers at most good gun stores or gunsmiths.

diyj98

Not all strippers are created equal. There' s joke there for whoever wants to run with it. But anyway, some strippers do take forever, but some are very fast. You can even check your phone book for someone that strips wood. They' ll dip the stock into a stripper and at least take that part away for you.