How to Refinish a Rifle Stock - woodworkweb 

“This will prevent the stripper from drying out” ... :D was I the only one who giggled a bit when he said that?

Colin you brought back memories from 50 years ago while I was defending the DMZ in Korea. The weapon I had was an old M1 Garrand, the stock issue for enlisted at the time, I took the M1 apart and began to stip the finish off the stock. I used the glass from a whiskey that we had emptied as a scraper. We didn't have stain to put on the stock but had linseed oil that was dated 1948. I spent many hours hand rubbing the oil into the stock as there was nothing much else to do at the DMZ. One day my Sgt told me he was going to NCO academy and was taking my M1. NCO academy was two weeks but Sgt returned a day later. All the instructors loved the rifle, but one never goes into combat with such a weapon, it was too shiny and pretty. Needless to say SGT didn't go to academy until he returned to the states.. I attempted to bring the M1 home with me but someone had it replaced and he took the M1 home with him.

My dad has a .22 from the 30s that needs some TLC like this. This video inspired me to final do it for him. Thanks Colin!

I have done this to a few of my older rifles and I must say you did an excellent job. To keep the stocks looking great for a long time I put a coating of 'Renaissance Wax' on them. I put it on the entire rifle...the wood and all metal surfaces. It's easy, fast, and a little goes a long way. I shoot all of my rifles and that wax holds up under all weather conditions. You will not leave fingerprints on the stock or the barrel. It's just good stuff! Very nice video.

Watching here from England, UK. Fantastic Video. Easy to follow and clear instructions. Almost relaxing. It feels like I'm watching a Bob Ross class. True professional. Thank you.

I was going to do this with my cooey model 60 and the first video to show up was this cooey model 39. What an amazing piece of Canadian history.

I love the focus on safety ! Well done !

Great video Colin!

Great stuff there. I am going to restore an old English air rifle and have a good idea of what I aim to achieve and this video went down a similar path to get the results. I will watch the re blueing of the barrel next.

Best informative video I have watched in years! I've tried allsorts of methods for this task, but this sure looks fantastic, just sourcing the UK products! Thanks

good job really like the results

Very nice! I might refinish the little 22 that I learned to shoot with. Lots of great memories.

Planning to restore an Nepalese Enfield P1853 musket, and you video is super informational! Can't wait to put your knowledge to work.

I personally would have glued, filled the holes , then sanded the damaged area smooth prior to staining, but that's me & it's also not my gun. Loved the visquine wrap to prevent the stripper from drying to fast. The rifle looks great & thx for your finishing process. Well done video....

Brilliant video Colin and you did an awesome job of it. I am looking forward to the Cold Bluing video. Take care Amigo. Derek

I immediately recognized your Cooey. I have one with the tubular magazine, that I've had for 50 years. Great little rifle. I also have a Hoban, but it's missing the bolt.

Well done, the danish oil and wax really leaves a nice finish.

This is great! I want to refinish an old .22 that i just got and this will help a lot. Was wondering if you could please give a list of the products you used. May do this this weekend. Thanks!

Very Helpful! I am really excited to restore my Remington 41!

Wow. Looks BRAND NEW!

Brilliant video, the blue-ing video you done is fab too. I'm going to follow your lead on a 410 bolt action I am about to start restoring, THANKS +++

Just what I needed to know ... thanks for the video!

Great safety tips. Safety first and always

Nicely done! Thanks for the video! I have a couple older rifles that I want to refinsh!

Absolutely awesome video.just looked up how to do this and your video came up and it's the exact same gun as I'm looking to do.would you have a link to the two materials you use if you have time appreciate the video

Absolutely beautiful.

Very nice job!

Nice will follow most of your steps thank you

Great job. Great video.

Great video and good explanation. I’m thinking about refinishing the stock of an Anschütz 54 rifle. I think it is oil finished, so I can go straight to sanding. However, how should I tackle the are where there is checkering? Thanks.

That wood turned out beautifully.

Thanks! I'm refurbishing and refinishing my grandfather's Crosman 1400 .22 air rifle in inherited when I was 8. Now it is time to pass it to my son. Well, maybe not quite yet ;-)

Beautiful!

Awesome Colin, I love that finish. I re-done a very similar old 22 and wish I would have known about Saicos. It's my favorite little "dead on" gun. Perhaps I can find that stuff in the states for the next one. I'm excited to view the blueing video. Thanks for sharing.

Great video. Thanks.

👍great tip on glueing…..Thanks

If you're interested, it's a Model 39 Cooey. My mum bought me one from Canadian Tire for $15.99 That ought to show you how old the both of us are. This video is inspiring me to get it out of the gun case and re-finish it at last, Thank you.

Πολύ τέλεια δουλειά φίλε μου. Ευχαριστώ.

Also What color / brand was that dye please? What is the curing time before you put the finish on the stock?Thanks again .

This is exactly the kind of thing I'm interested in. Thank you for making this video.

Beautiful. What is the colour of that aniline stain?

Great Job! Is the Saicos a Satin, or Gloss sheen? Getting ready to order some.

Good Job Colin.

do you ever finish with linseed oil and if so is there a particular brand. Is just boiled linseed oil alright to use? Do you have a video of linseed oil finishing?

Good job and Thank you 😎

Nice work, appreciate sharing with us. Going to give it a go on some rifles. New Subscriber, Thank You Very Much... Need the link to your cold bluing?

Just a suggestion for users that might want work with an old gun that isn't necessarily a valuable collectible. There are hollow ground screwdriver sets available for relatively cheap prices ($15-$50). You can easily damage the screw head using a regular screwdriver, a hollow ground screwdriver makes damage less likely.

Thanks for this and the cold bluing video. Makes my future restoration of my grandfather's Stvens Crackshot 22 a lot less intimidating.

Good stuff.

80 grit just too course! Except in the most extreme gouged and scratch stock. You'll have to do a lot of sanding with finer paper to remove all the scratches the 80 left. Try 150-180 first see how that works on getting rid of dings and imperfections

Hi Colin, thanks for a great video. Did you build that rifle rest / support? If so, do you have the plans available for download? Thanks.

Beautiful job :)

which SAICOs product did you use? Did you use "PREMIUM HARDWAX-OIL - EFFECT", or just "PREMIUM HARDWAX-OIL"?

This weeks video on how to re-finish a wooden rifle stock

Very nice

Colin, a list of products used would be helped. Great video thank you.

Very nice job overall. I would have addressed the broken piece very differently though. That part was not repaired properly.

What kind of dye do you use?

What is the make and model of this firearm? It seems to share several parts (rear sight, possibly front sight and trigger guard) with my old '46 Remington Scoremaster. Maybe some of the parts were contracted from one manufacturer to the other?

Searched all over the comments and can’t seem to find an answer to the questions about what Saico or Osmo finish you used or the die specs. Nice video and nice work. Could you put the specs in the description of the vid?

Thank you

Nice video mate👍🏻can I just as what exact water soluble dye you used a link would be great if you can put it down below👇🏻

nice one Colin, now I am starting to think about finishing the body of this lap steel that I am planning on building, i was thinking about French polishing with shellac, don't think I would want to dye or stain this gorgeous tiger maple, but maybe shellac would be a nice touch, I was also considering tru-oil, not sure yet how to go about this little magic trick, by the way, Alberta spruce won't be getting any finishing, or maybe I should try one of the proto types for finish to :)

Looks great. Saicos might not be available in the states. Is the Osmo brand comparable? I like the idea of if it is good enough for a wood floor, it should work for most wood projects.

Is SAICOS waterproof ? having hunted, and having been in combat in rain that you can shower in I find it a real necessity.

What colour of dye did you use?

Thoughts on using synthetic scouring pads that may be relatively non-abrasive to the wood, but harder than the softened varnish?

Gonna restore the stock on my type99. I know it’s a sin to do to old war rifles but it has already been sporterized and is missing the top hand guard so that there is wood showing that was normally covered and needed refinishing. Gonna use your video as a guide.

I recently purchased a Court model 64b for a project gun. Im just wondering about stopping where there's checkering. What do you recommend ?

I have a 1954 M1 Garand. Would it be a bad idea to get it re done?

Enjoyed watching this process. I may be finishing a gun stock sometime soon. Did you upgrade your camera and lights? This video looks amazing!

Please use hollow ground tipped screwdrivers when working on firearms. Standard tip screwdrivers have a tapered tip and will damaged the slot.

Saicos Premium Hardwax Oil is sold in Canada , what is the equivalent in the USA ?

Could one also use boiled linseed oil??

I am wondering why you didn't stain ( dye ) and rub finish into the barrel channel and when you did the bluing why not blue the inside of the bolt channel ? When I have done a gun like this I seal the wood even under the butt plate.

What kind of die did you use? Why? What is the SAICO? What kind of oil? You barely showed the container. What did you do between coats?

Very cool step by step tutorial, gonna do my .22 lr as well soon... The rifle stand you have in the vid, did you make it yourself and if so, is there a video available ?

This "old rifle " brings back memories of Norm Abrams on " New Yankee Workshop " & " This Old House " . Sold my Scout Squad & just got a new M1A walnut standard - ' gonna' sand the stock , steel wool it and treat it with boiled linseed oil , wish me luck .

Looks like a Winchester Model 67. I have one from 1934 with the finger grooves on the fore end.

I didn't think you could put a water based product down then cover it with oil based, I am a neophyte at this so please take no offense. I used Tru Oil on my stock only. It came out nice but a little too shiny for my taste. I really like that finish you came out with thanks for posting this. What additionally did you do with that chip? Did you have to re sand that spot ?

nice

Put the buttpad back on after stripping. That way when you the sand the stock, it prevents rounding over the edge and also allows you to perfectly fit the pad to the stock to the point of not even feeling the transition with your finger. Just my recommendation for anyone cares to try it. Also alcohol based dyes won't raise the grain.

Enjoyed your video. Most informative. Please consider using screwdrivers which are made for working on guns (Wheeler or Grace). Using these screwdriver, which have straight tips, will prevent rolling out of the slot and gouging the wood or finished medal.

fun fact if you use an oil like tung oil if you use water to wipe it down then sand with 320 to remove the lifted grain then apply tung oil over a few weeks let it dry. then when you get it wet the grain wont lift and ruin all the work you just put in to re oiling the stock

I have a 1947 Browning A-5 12 gauge shotgun and was thinking of using this method . Any thoughts on this

I,m sorry buy sanding is not just sanding. Sanding is 90% of the work to refinish. anything. How you sand is key to making a quality product.

Oh what a coincidence. My family also has a family heirloom that's a remington model 510. It's been in the family since my grandfathers time. It's also certainly seen better days to. I'd like to ask. Do they still make the buttplate for that model?

Never have heard stain called dye

Im redoing my bar 270 and in ebony stain and tung oil.

What stain did you use? Was it a water based stain. I am doing a rifle build with raw wood. Does it matter whether water or oil based stain?

What color stain ? What brand ?

Old cooey .22 I have 2 one of the most accurate 22's every made

Where can get the wood stock for a 22 rifle that holds ten shells

Also use TRU OIL for Rifle Stocks

two thumbs up!

Re-sand that glued on piece before final finishing. Id also go through much finer sand paper stages. And probably peel off that trashed layer of newspaper before applying the final finish coats.

The song while you're staining reminds me of kind of the hill intro lol

Curious, Is this a Canadian made Lakefield Arms Mark 1 22LR ?

Instead of sandpaper I use 4-0 steel wool lubricated with paint stripper. When using paint stripper always neutralize it with turpentine, then a good alcohol clean.

Why did you use a dye rather than a stain?