Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing stock stripping ??

Trying to refinish a Browning BBR. Have been using Jasco brand epoxy stripper, and its not working worth a darn! I have used Klean strip brand before on a few rifles, even the Remington clear finishes with good success.Is the Browning finishes that much tuffer to remove? Any help appreciated.

Try Certistrip from Brownells. I haven't used it myself but intend to. Everything I read about it (posts from other users) say it is the only way to go on those tough Browning finishes.

The one and only time I stripped a Browning stock I gave up on the stripper after it only softened it a bit. At that point I scraped it off with glass shards. If I'm ever faced with one again I intend to use Wonko the Sane's method whereby one submerges the entire stock in acetone until the finish lifts.

I refinished a BBR stock and just used a palm sander to remove the old finish

That is the stuff I use. Slather it on good and thick and wrap in in tinfoil so it wont dry out, give it several hours to work then scrub the crap out of it under scalding hot water to raise any dents, wear chemical gloves so you can work in the hot water. Repete in nessary, might take a time or two to get all the poly off.

Forgot to add, if you get it all stripped off there is very little sanding to do other than gettting it smooth to finish. Try not to sand too much

Permatex aerosol Gasket remover and plastic razor blades . Will take several applications . Comes off like one coat at a time , will not raise grain ! Steve at Brownells put me onto this several years ago . There is no better way , trust me . Don't bang your head against a wall , I already did that for ya ! One can will do multiple stocks , by the way .

Those Brownings have a super hard as well as thick finish. I'd use a dull pocket knife. Its what I use on anything that thick.

Joseph

Citristrip, wrap in tin foil- 1 day. Scrap off with a plastic scrapper. Do it again until it is sripped.There will be some finish still in the pores.Citrisrip and a scotchbrite pad will remove. Clean with acetone and the scotch brite. Srcub brush with Murphy's oil soap & hot water. Immedialety wipe dry and hit, gently with a hot air gun to dry out the wood. The stock should look bleached out. A good finish will bring this back, but that's another move. I like a gloss spar urethane on a 130 degree heated stock.

Don't some Brownings have a faux wood grain finish under that poly?

130F is WAY too hot for any finish. It will also dry the wood significantly in the process, changing shape and fit.

Geez Art, I thought I got the 130 degrees from your teachings. How hot do you go?

110 is on the edge. Hotter than 110 and you cannot begin to hold it in your hand.

I am not sure the spar varnish is helped by the heat the way epoxy is... But it probably does penetrate a lot deeper if you can keep the coat thick enough and continuous enough to keep it going down in. My thought would be the solvents would be flashing off causing the finish to thicken and leaving you with limited workability.

Trying to get finish down into wood is a tough thing...
art

Certistrip from Brownell's
I stripped a stock this weekend using an unopened can of Certistrip that I bough in 1999. The finish on the stock was thick and glossy, looked like it was dipped in lacquer.

One application on Saturday, waited 15 minutes and wiped off with old cotton towel. Second aplication Sunday, waited 15 minutes and wiped off with old coton towel. Let stock set overnight and polished with 4O Steel Wool and stock is ready for new finish.

No raised grain, total time invested 2 hours. Absolutely the easiest finish remover Ihave used.

Thanks. I'm only trying to learn.

I haven't stripped a Browning but I have other gunstocks. I just use Zip-Strip. It has the consistency of snot. Slather it all over the stock and wait a half-hour. Then wipe it off with an old bath towel (terricloth?). The finish comes right off with the snot, right down to bare wood. Finish wiping it off with a towel dampened with water. The color looks somewhat mottled after stripping, but it will even out with a proper oil finish applied. I recommend NOT sanding after stripping. The pores will fill just fine with an oil finish. I use Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil finish. The first coat soaks into the wood so you can put in on rather heavy. Rub it in with bare hands until your hands start to drag quite hard, indicating the oil is starting to dry. Each subsequent coat requires less and less oil to cover the wood evenly. Let each coat dry completely before applying the next coat. Rub lightly with fine steel wool before applying the next coat to even-out the rough spots. Stop applying coats when the finish suits you. I like to stop while there is still some grain visible in the finish. This usually takes only 2 or three coats, depending on how coarse the wood grain.

Tru-Oil is the simplest gunstock finish I ever used. It dries quickly and is easy to get fantastic looking results.

You won't strip a Browning with zip-strip . That Browning finish is impervious to it !

Citristrip, you can get it at Home Depot. It will eat plastic etc...Orange gel, coat it liberally, wrap it in aluminum foil overnight, lightly scrape off, then blast with hose.

http://citristrip.com/

Not sure if there is another product called "certistrip" like was posted prior, or if it was simply a typo.

How do you hose down a stock without raising the grain of the wood ? I have been finishing stocks for about 20 years and I try not to raise the grain !

What does it mean to "Raise the grain?"

Certistrip is sold by Brownells. Expensive and I haven't found it to work much better than Citistrip.