Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Refinish Stock on 1919 M99 in 250-3000?

Question for the experts. I acquired a 1919 take-down M99 in 250-3000 recently. The forearm and butt-stock are so dirty they're almost black. Will it hurt the value of the rifle if I chemically strip (CitriStrip) them and refinish with linseed oil? (Obviously NO sanding.) Is there a better product than CitriStrip for removing the old finish and returning the wood to its original color?

I’d just give the wood a gentle bath with Murphy’s Oil Soap and wipe it down with a couple applications of Old West Snake Oil or something similar
A gun is only original once

Yes, clean it first before moving on. Judging whether or not refinishing the stock will have an effect on value depends on the overall condition of the rifle. With some guns it won't matter due to things such as the overall condition not being very good or the rifle being a model with low interest. As such, a refinish of your stock may not affect value and a better assessment might be made with a more exhaustive description of what you have or even some pictures. If you do decide to refinish then keep in mind that the level of work you do with the wood should not greatly exceed the level of condition of the metal. Nothing sticks out worse than a sore thumb than having a high gloss stock attached to a rifle with high blue wear or a metal finish that has turned brown. That screams refinished. Keep the metal and wood looking similar and with some conservative steaming of dents and light sanding you might get some positive results. However, I cannot overly stress that no sanding should be done anywhere near any parts of the stock that adjoin the metal such as around the tangs. If you do this you run the risk of making the metal stand proud over the wood and will end up with the proverbial "sore thumb" screaming refinished stock. Best of luck in your decision.

Any kind of acid like lemon juice or citrus ,also bleach will attack metal and corrode it immediately upon contact and forever moreso if wood soaked material is left on for a lifetime. Murphy's Oil soap is the way to go.

Murpy's Oil Soap and plenty of elbow grease. After drying a good rubdown with Renaissance Wax. Liquid polishes are too ephemeral for my taste, Ren Wax is very durable/long lasting as well as lustrous - and adds a further degree of protection against water fenestration.

Eh?

fenestration
noun
fen·​es·​tra·​tion ˌfe-nə-ˈstrā-shən
1
: the arrangement, proportioning, and design of windows and doors in a building
2
: an opening in a surface (such as a wall or membrane)
3
: the operation of cutting an opening in the bony labyrinth between the inner ear and tympanum to replace natural fenestrae that are not functional

Mike, I never heard the word either, but I'm just a dummy.

Mr. Barker, I'll take Door Number 2!

Water penetrating a barrier. Think of it as the wood finish being a membrane protecting the wood beneath it. No finish is perfectly waterproof, even barrier finishes like varnish and lacquer, and oil finishes are downright bad in that regard. Add to that as finishes age they get worse. Water gaining entry through microscopic entry points and/or porous-ness is fenestration.

Add "water" before the word when searching the term. I learned it in books devoted to wood finishing. And is also a term used locally in the maritime industry when discussing ways to keep water from attacking wooden boat hulls.

Give the mans hand a shake for the $300.00 word and our enlightenment.

Thanks for all the info. I'll post before and after photos. May be a while. Too many irons in the fire.

If you can, post some photos now. They could help in addressing your question.

I got a bad case once and had to go to the sawbones for some prescription cream. Cleared my wood right up, no more fenestration!

Please, no pictures!

Hopefully I’m not stepping on any toes, but I have a similar question and didn’t want to start a whole new thread. I have recently aquired a franken 99. It started out as a Winchester cartridge, I think. It’s a 1975 detachable mag offering, but has been debarreled for .357mag. The mag was reworked at some point and cycles the .357 rounds. I was considering going full reblueing or possibly ceracoteing the barrel, action and magazine. Also, getting the stock to bare wood and hand rubbing it with linseed oil. All that said, considering the total modification already done, is there any reason not to re finish it?

Welcome to the campfire, Vic!

In my opinion, since it’s already been customized then I’d refinish anything with lots of wear. I can’t say it will increase the value… but it might. And as long as it’s well done, shouldn’t hurt the value.

With a rifle like you described I wouldn't hesitate doing any additional work.

Thanks for the replies fellas. I’ll post a thread with before and after pictures. Maybe a few three shot groups for good measure.