Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Redoing a stock

While I have this A Bolt (first gen medallion) at a gunsmith...is there anyway to remove the shiney varnish and just do a satin oil finish?

yes. it's tough stuff and will require a good gel stripper. do a search in "gunsmithing". there are numerous products recommended.

Whats the wood like under all that crap on the A Bolt? Am I making a mistake?

some of it is pretty decent black walnut that looks good with an oil finish.

FlFirmedic<

Try getting just some 0000 steel wool, a bit of wetting linseed oil, and gently rubbing that bowling ball surface to a smooth satin finish without stripping it.

Attend to the sharp edges so you don't cut thru too deeply there.Wipe often with a cloth and see how it's going.

That finish can be 'satined' nicely with a bit of hand work and care and so avoid the refinishing gig..

TRY that approach first..IF the results don't suit, you can still strip the wood and start from scratch..but I suspect it will..
Good luck and take your time..
When done , dry and wipe with an old tee shirt and put on some Johnson's paste wax ...buff lightly ...and take 'er out.Jim

Years ago I buffed out a glossy Remington 700 stock using steel wool. It took some patience, but turned out nicely.

UtahLefty, Those old Remington 70's vintage ADLs & BDLs sure had a high gloss finish..:)
Looked great in the corner gun case ( if you like high gloss wood) but a bit too slick and shiny for the hunter..:) Jim

Cira 1850 furniture stripper a good sanding, some Tru-Oil and you'll be golden.Also once stripped a wet towl and a hot iron does wonders at taking out small bumps as long as the grain ain't broken.

As above posters stated that Browning finish is tough to strip off.

hence my "vast" experience stripping and refinishing them with Tru-Oil and LinSpeed!

Do not use stripper on that finish unless you like being miserable! Just knock the sheen off with rottenstone and mineral oil on a felt rag. The rottenstone should applied in long strokes with the grain and not in little circles. Small circles will leave you an uneven finish that will be difficult to make uniform.

Just dip the rag in mineral oil and then in rottenstone to make a slurry. It is anything but easy and it will take some effort to get it done in reasonable time, but just get after it and do not wipe it down to look too much or you will disappoint yourself.

Never use steel wool on a stock as some tiy particles of steel will be left in the finish and it will "freckle" when it rusts. Tiny freckles will not be obvious unless you look with magnification... but they will be there robbing luster.
art

The only way to remove an epoxy type finish from a stock, yours or a 700 Remington, etc. is to use aircraft quality paint stripper. If you try to sand the stock, chances are you will do more damage than if you just left it alone, but with aircraft type stripper, which is "NOT" available at Home Depot, or your local hardware store, the job becomes easy. You can get this type of striper,at an automotive paint store. It will remove the finish, without a lot of work, and allow you to easily do a nice job. Mask off all plastics, as it will eat it as well. I learned this the hard way, but now I will refinish "ANY" stock regardless of finish, as long as I have the proper "Stripper".

Jerry

But if the shine is all that bothers why remove the finish? Rubbing to an eggshell luster will leave a good looking finish where glossy was... And it will be far less work and probably a better finish than oil from the standpoints of durability and waterproofness.

I'm with Sitka and Jim on this one- at least try removing the lustre before you go to the extreme of stripping that finish! Stripping a finish and refinishing is an endeavor that rarely works out like you thought it would..

I just did MY problem shiny Browning, a BLR, with 0000 steel wool as mentioned by Jim. I don't know one way or the other if the speckling problem will be a problem; hadn't occurred to me. If you'd like, I could try to get a decent photo of my de-glossed BLR and post it so you can see the results. It took about an hour and a half, and I really like the look now.

-jeff