VIII. Techniques

B. Rifle Techniques

4. How to Refinish a Rifle Stock

How does one clean up and restore stocks to a "military type" finish?

1. Remove the finish. This will require a lacquer remover, or if the finish is polyurethane it may have to be sanded. If sanded use a hard block behind the sandpaper on the straight surfaces of the stock to preclude dishing out the softer areas of the grain.

2. Take a moderately wet towel and place it on the stock. Use a very hot iron to steam the indentations back to the surface. This is very effective but any actual cuts in the wood will be slightly visible when the wood is re-stained.

3. Run water over the stock quickly but briefly to get it thoroughly wet but not to let it soak. Dry it over a flame or overnight in a good drying spot.

4. Using #0000 steel wool, rub down the stock to remove the fuzz that the water/drying process has (intentionally) raised. This step is important to obtain a good finish. Be sure that ALL of the steel wool fragments are removed (I brush and then use tape to finish this task).

5. Re-stain as you see fit.

6. The best and easiest final finish that I have found is Tung Oil. It can be applied with your hands and 3 or 4 coats can be applied in a day in geographic areas where drying conditions are good. Simply rub on a HEAVY coat. Keep rubbing (only a few minutes) until you feel the oil starting to set up. Set the stock aside for a couple of hours and repeat except use a thinner coat of oil. After the second coat, rub lightly with #0000 steel wool. I have used a minimum of three coats through a maximum of eight. Higher gloss is obtained with each coat but this can be dulled by the careful use of #0000 steel wool. A final rubbing with rotten stone and oil can also provide a very nice low luster to the tung oil finish. Rub carefully along any sharp edges on the wood such as along cheek pieces. It is easy to cut through the finish there.

7. Let set for several days before placing in a soft gun case to be sure of a complete cure. Soft gun cases can impress the new finish with the texture of the gun case material if the finish is not allowed to harden. Handling (shooting) a day or two after finishing does not seem to hurt the finish.

8. After thorough cure, wax if you like.

Note: Tung oil is expensive and once opened, will start to cure in the container if an airspace is above it. I buy it in 1/2 pint quantities so only a small amount of air space is above it when some has been used. It is supposed to be water proof whereas linseed oil is not.

God Bless!

Norm