Flatlander

Gun stock refinishing 101

Thu, February 02, 2012

As deer season comes to a close I like to have a winter project or two to keep my mind and hands active, to distract myself from the fact my favorite time of year is over. This typically includes shooting a new gun or fixing up an old one.

It’s always a big question to finish or not refinish a gun stock? There are several factors; are you fixing a damaged or extremely worn stock or just wanting a nicer finish? Is it a collector piece or a shooter? Will it help or hinder the value? All good questions, but ones that should be answered before starting.

I first look at the value, if it is a classic or collector type gun then it’s a big deal on the refinishing, if the stock isn’t in too bad of shape by all means leave it alone, nothing is worth as much as original, if it’s just a shooter or even a classic you never intend to sell and just want a nice finish or some blemishes fixed I see no reason not to work it over.

You may have started to read this thinking I am some sort of an expert on gun stocks, nothing could be further from the truth. I have done a few, some good, some not so good, this is really going to be a learning experience I will share as we go through it together.

The project I am starting is on and old Enfield, originally thought to be a British Enfield, but upon further inspection it isn’t a British Enfield.  While researching this rifle I found it wasn’t British and it wasn’t .303, this really isn’t good or bad news, It’s actually an Ishapore Enfield (Indian) 7.62 x 51 Nato (.308) which will be easier and cheaper to find ammo for. The build date reveals a 1966 that was likely used some then cleaned up by an arsenal and packed with cosmoline and put away.  I think the gun actually looks pretty good but all that cosmoline has gummed up the stock and turned it dark. One area on the stock is actually pretty ruffed up and feels like Velcro, and this is the area that makes me want to refinish it.

I don’t believe I will be hurting the value of the gun as this stock is older than 1966 and has actually been redone by the arsenal at one time or another, so if I do an adequate job it will look like the arsenal intended before the cosmoline (synthetic ear wax) took its toll on the finish.
Here is a before picture

Here is the spot that really motivated this project, it felt like Velcro and was as black as coal

Simply using some Krud Kutter has taken off most of the old oiled finish, and I also used some spray on paint stripper that had no effect.  You can see just how dark and greasy it had been before giving this old wood new life.

Stay tuned to see how it progresses; it will either be a big success or a semi expensive learning process
God bless
Matt Cheever ~ Flatlander

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