Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Would you re-finish?

Have a Sauer 101 for a couple yrs now that has some nice grain and burl in the stock. I can live with it the way it is but I don't like the glossy finish that I'm assuming is a sprayed on epoxy or acrylic. Also hard to see in any picture but plenty of open grain in the wood. Thinking of stripping the finish off and wet sanding to close up the grains and giving it a hand rubbed oil finish.

But nice enough rifle as factory, maybe I should let my hands off of it.

Had a real shiny Browning like that, with the thick urethane finish….had it redone with an oil finish and it was much nicer…. You won’t regret it.

Don’t touch it

My brother has a Browning Safari that has really pretty wood but the heavy urethane finish was cracked and some of the sharp edges like on the cheek piece were dinged. I stripped it and rounded off some of the sharp edges and gave it a nice satin finish and it looks much better. A fun rewarding project.

Don't know if I'd do anything with that finish but on a Remington BDL I had with that shiny bowling ball finish got worked on. Gave it a light rub down with 0000 steel wool, just enough to break the sheen and now it looks more like an oil finish. A light application with Pledge about once a year keeps it looking nice.
PJ

Yeah I was thinking that route also, but don't know if I'd be able to stop at that. But, I could always knock off that gloss which is easy enough to do and see how I like it.

Grey Scotch-brite pad with paste wax is your friend when taking the shine off of a high gloss finish. Use a light touch and follow with a micrfiber cloth to remove the wax left behind. Steel wool will leave metal slivers embedded in the finish which will later rust.

Rottenstone for me.

You can probably knock it down to a satin finish with some pumice powder or rottenstone powder and a damp cotton pad.

Knock it back and leave it.


That finish is way better than oil on a hunting gun.


Yep.
He said it.

If you can knock down the finish to reduce the gloss before refinishing completely it might save you some time. The wood and finish look pretty good besides the gloss . The worst that would happen is you would need to strip and refinish after.

You could knock down the finish a number of ways. If it were me, I would use a gray 3M pad and knock down the gloss finish to a point it would be a completely dull looking outer surface. Then you sand with 1000/2000 grit wet/dry paper to bring it back to a smooth surface, then polish it to a relative gloss with an automotive polish and a soft cloth. Once you get it to the gloss you're happy with, put on a couple coats of good wax like Rennaissance Wax of Johnson wax and buff ....

You can also do this with rottenstone to start off and will probably get about the same results if you know how to use the stones for finishing ....

Rub it with 4F pumice on a dampened felt pad.

80 grit and spray paint. Hint………..

I’d leave it as it is

Yeah I’d leave it alone too

I would leave it alone. Why do you not like gloss?

That's the way you do it...money for nuthin' and chicks for free.

I agree with this. I've seen some of your stocks, so I know you know what you are talking about. Something else I've used to knock down the shine is Birchwood Casey's stock sheen and conditioner. Then like you say, hit it with a couple coats of Johnson's paste wax.

Stock looks great to me. I wouldn't try to dull it.

Leave it alone

I've used 0000 steel wool wet with your choice of oil finish. Go slow, then buff with a soft cloth. Don't like it, do it again.

I actually shoot and am not into fhuqking around. Hint.










Just sayin'........................

Knock it back or leave it, but assuming the interior is well sealed, nothing else will weatherproof it better than those shiny poly finishes. If you ever sell it, the raccoons will hate you for removing the shine.

Don't pffuck with it

TAG

What Gunswizard said about the "light touch" but much emphasis on the light - you don't want to buff the wax but wipe it off with a rag followed by a soft rub with a piece of cotton flannel. If not you'll end with another gloss finish.

Seems the majority consensus is to leave it be. Pappy seems to be suggesting if I go to sell it people will not like that it's not original. Hadn't really considered that on a modern rifle.

Here's another picture showing the full rifle. It's pretty glossy.

After seeing the entire rifle, my position —> leave it alone, is even greater.

Beauty of a gun

I'd not touch it.

Thank You. It's been a shooter. They generally run pretty good money, more than I'd want to pay. This one was listed as used since it was used for demo's and displays at shows. I'm assuming because of the wood, I personally hadn't seen a 101 before with that kind of wood on it. Fall of 2021 they were running a clearance on different guns and this was one of them. Under $900 I couldn't resist. Haven't been sorry as it shoots very well, just not a fan of glossy stocks.

You only go around this world one time. If you like it and think you'll use it, then make it the way you want.

True enough. I can live with it either way, but would prefer without the gloss. If it was my one and only carry rifle from here on out, it would be exactly how I'd want it without a second thought.

Sounds like you answered it to me! To hell with the collectors. Let the folks complain about it on here when you're gone.

We see 100's of butchered P64's I complain about, but the owners liked them when they had em.

Haha. True!

Your rifle, do with it as you wish.

While I prefer a less glossy stock finish I would probably leave that alone if it were mine. If a stock needs refinishing, that’s one thing. This doesn’t. You’ve got some nice checkering on there, pretty fine by the looks of it. I’m not sure how you’d handle that and if you leave the checkering alone and dull the rest it might look weird.

Also, these high tech polymer finishes are made to be durable and, without actually going after it, there’s no telling how it might respond to some of the methods suggested. As Pappy mentioned too, from a practical standpoint there’s no better way to keep a wooden stock sealed than these modern finishes.

As I said, I prefer a soft oil finished stock, but if I can live with some of the synthetic stocks I’ve got in my accumulation, I can (and do) live with nice wooden stocks with shiny finishes. Variety is the spice of life..no?

Refinish what? Hands off!

Are you going to hunt it or display it? As a rifle on the used gun rack, it will sell better if you leave it box stock and shiny. As a hunting rifle be prepared to spook game if you are hunting in sunlight. I put a very nice buck into launch mode with my then new Remington BDL and that bowling ball RKW ultra shiny finish. Have a buddy take it a ways away and move it around when they are standing in the sunlight and you'll have your answer. That BDL of mine now has a Brown Precision replacement stock and the entire rifle is camo painted. Beauty is as beauty does. Problem solved.

I too would leave the finish intact but dull the gloss by rubbing it out, then wax it. Can't beat a barrier finish like that for weather protection. Stripping and refinishing with oil would look like a million bucks but for me would then be relegated to occasional "sunny range day use" and showing off to my buddies - it would suck as an all-around/any weather hunting rifle at that point.

As for the earlier comment about hitting it with Pledge, that would be about the last thing I would put on a gunstock, or any other piece of fine wood for that matter. Its effect is ephemeral and does nothing in the way of true protection such that paste wax delivers. It's the darling of unwitting housewives and housekeepers and that's about the extent of it.

I personally don’t care for the glossy f ish and would either strip and refinish or at least knock it down some. It’s your rifle and you should be happy with it. If you think toning down the gloss would affect the resale, that only matters if you’re planning on selling it! And, if you’re planning on selling, go ahead and do that and get what you really want.

This ^^

kwg

Your gun your soap. Do as you wish.

I won't do it too. looks nice enough.