In your opinion, what are the best chemical strippers to use on a tough finish, like a Remington stock?

Thanks for your replies!

Wanna save time, energy and frustration? Send that stock to a commercial furniture stripping business and you'll money ahead.. A local outfit charges me $25-30/stock.

Based on Weagle's recommendations, I began using Citrustrip and found that it works just like it claims to if you follow the directions. It will melt the Remington finish without harming the plastic forearm tip and grip cap.

Jeff

Thanks guys!

I'll try the Citrustrip, I saw that at my local store!!!

Citristrip is the stuff. The one thing I do that's not listed on the directions is wrap the piece in aluminum foil while it works. Wrapping it seems to accelerate the process.

Weagle

Weagle - How do You extract the Citristrip from the wood, before applying the Finish? Is there a special cleaning involved? I'd like to try this method, only am a little concerned about stripper residue left in the Wood Cells.

I clean it up with mineral spirits per the instructions.
Here's a 660 remington that I stripped with the citristrip and refinished with tru oil:

Weagle

Weagle what did you use to finish the rifle it sure looks good.Thank's

FWIW, I've had good success with "Kleenstrip" KS3 in the orange can which I bought at Home Depot. The stocks I've done include a Remington and a Browning stock , both with notoriously hard finishes. I like it because it's a gel formulation and "sticks" well to the stock. It also cleans up very easily. Whole process takes about 2 hours.

Rusty51, That one's finished with tru oil.

Weagle

Hey Weagle-

That is beautiful!

How many coats of Tru-Oil?

It's not a high-gloss and I like that, did you use their additive to dull your last coat?

Did you use #oooo Steel Wool in between coats?

Nice job!!!

Late Bloomer
A couple points... Additives to matte a finish do not make it a better finish; they weaken it. Rub out with fine abrasives like rottenstone on a felt pad with mineral oil.

Steel wool should not be used on stocks, ever. Tiny particles get left in the finish and cannot be removed. They will, in time, rust. The "flowers" may not be visible unless magnified, but do detract from the finish.
art

Thanks - Weagle - I think I'll give Your method a try. That's a good lookin 660. Wish I had never sold mine.

I thin the Tru oil with mineral spirits (50:50) and apply it till the stock won't soak any more in. I keep applying it ever 4 or 5 hours for 2 days then let it dry for at least 48 hrs. I use 0000 steel wool or grey scotchbrite to buff it down real good and then apply one more coat of thinned tru oil.

I've basically switched to using the scotchbrite all the time now because of warnings about the steel wool, but to be honest the ones I did years ago with the steel wool still look great.

I've also switched to using minwax sanding sealer for the first couple of coats just becasue it drys so quick and fills the grain well.

Weagle

Redneck knows the easy way. If you want to do it yourself, an alternative is to call around antique stores and see if one of the refinishers will sell you a gallon of commercial stripper. I'm not aware of anything you can buy retail that compares to industrial methylene chloride. If you don't want to waste any time, or don't enjoy stripping finishes, this stuff will spoil you for anything else. I don't think it will do grip or forend caps any good though. All the other strippers will work just as well everyone said they will, they just up the time and mess factor.

Tim