Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Should I buy this gun.....?

Couldn't say for sure, seems like I heard about one. I handload so I don't pay much attention.

Well, it shoots straight with the Hornady 150's. Didn't have a deer walk in front of it though. I was very surprised with the recoil. It kicks more than my 7mmMag. Quite dramatic that the difference in weight would have that much effect on felt recoil. Don't think my 10 yr old will be shooting this one for a couple more years.

Maybe these can help. Remington sells reduced recoil ammo as well.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/18...n-308-winchester-125-grain-sst-box-of-20

Since this is a beater, I plan to strip it down to the bare wood and refinish with sanding and boiled linseed oil over the winter. I have seen mention of various stains in my searches here as well. Should I stain it before linseed or just go with the blo?

If I decide to refinish the steel, what method would be recommended? Cold Blue wipe? rust blue? parkerize? maybe a ceracote?

Just looking to clean it up and make it look as good as a non-collector can...

Oh, what exactly is a 'grey rat' I am guessing this gun would qualify for that designation?

Don't sand, instead steam dents out. There's nothing worse than wood taken down below the level of the metal. I'd also use something better than boiled linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil provides no moisture protection.

I own a grey rat - a mid 50's G (I think) that has oddly placed sling swivels, a somewhat poorly installed recoil pad and the rear sight has been removed in order to accommodate the Tasco scope that was on it when I acquired the rifle.

While your rifle is grey, I would not consider it a rat. If you cerakote the metal it might qualify as a rat.

If it's unmolested (in terms of having been previously refinished, d/t'ed, recoil pad, etc.) a strong argument can be made for leaving it alone as its "rattiness" was gained honorably.

That said, rust bluing would be my vote for the metal- reasonably period correct, durable, and you can do it yourself with a little coaching/research, and it looks good. As for the wood, the previous advice regarding steaming before doing anything else and avoiding BLO is to your benefit. (Straight linseed oil is a piss-poor moisture barrier, although it was commonly used by all the arms makers and arsenals for stock finishes. Why? Because it was cheap and quick not because it was the very best finish.)

I believe we are talking about a post mil E with birch stocks if it's the one in the pics above. Appears to have a previous refinish attempt on it from the blotchy appearance.

Might be a good one to turn into camo?

If it was mine I would go over the metal with some Vans cold blue and let it go at that. Vans is good stuff but not well known for some reason. Warm the metal to about 110 degrees, wipe on and 0000 steel wool after 24 hours.

Never heard of Vans. There is a discussion on cold blues on the Gunsmithing forum with much said about Oxpho Blue. Which is my "go to" cold blue. Without robbing this thread, how does Vans compare?

PS - your stocks look good. Steam the dents and only do a very light sanding to knock down any roughness after "feathering." When you have the stocks off clean the metal and then go over it with several coats of Oxpho Blue. Be sure to steel wool with 0000 between coats and keep the metal heated. When done drench everything in Remoil and place it in a warm area for several hours. I usually like doing this on a hot day in the summer around here as the temps will get well above the century mark and the metal will stay way too warm to handle. I think the heat helps draw in the blue and preserves your efforts. Much luck!

What I really like about Vans is that it doesn't stink and it doesn't turn to rust if you don't oil it right away. That gives you time to apply several coats to get a good blend before putting the oil on.

Looks like some good stuff. TAG.

I would love to get my hands on that wood, easy to make it look great again.
Refinishing the wood is a great winter project.
I've done many and used spar varnish, polyurethane over minwax stain and Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil.
I've found the Tru-Oil the easiest to use and gives a great wood finish that's pretty weather proof. Just follow the directions.
Here's a couple of pictures of an old GI stock that I recently redid.




Part of owning a beater is the ability to make it look good again.

Thx All. I pulled the wood off yesterday and this is what I found...
old wood

Birch, how awful...

I wonder if stripping, steaming, light sanding staining and then finishing is even worthwhile... I

Maybe I should look into getting some decent walnut from somewhere. Boyd's, Macon, Gunstocks inc., others?- any comments on who has the nicest wood and easiest fit?

Vans seems the easiest bluing option with nice results.

You can make it look a lot better but it takes a lot of work and the will to try different ways to go about it. It will never look like walnut.

update:

Seems staining uneven, mildew damaged birch is a fools errand. I was not happy with the result so I am in the process of ordering new walnut from Boyd's. (and wood for a couple old shotguns)

I have now cut the old birch stock down to my son's LOP of 12" and block sanded to 320 grit for a second time.

The idea being two sets of furniture - something nice for me and something for the kids to use. My 10 year old loves camo, so I am considering a diy paint job over the ugly birch and a grind to fit Limbsaver. With Managed recoil loads it should be a pretty tame set up for an 85lb yoot.

I cannot source VANS or Oxpho locally, and no-one seems to stock any rust bluing products. The local shops only have a G96 product - is it any good or should I go through the effort of ordering one of the above products over the interweb? (unsure if any US supplier will ship these chemicals up to Canada...

merci

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

I know, right...

If it turns out ok I'll post pic's. Or just show off the oiled walnut from Boyd...