Stock cleaning

[Mauser655]

Hello... I recently acquired a Browning side by side 12 gauge shotgun. The gun has seen better days but still has a bright future ahead. The previous owner neglected this gun quite a bit. My issue at the moment is in cleaning the stock. I am hoping to avoid needing to refinish it. There was a recoil pad added and it was on there a long time. The material has 'melted' and bonded with the stock. I have removed most of it. Any suggestions for cleaning the rest off will be greatly appreciated.

[ibfestus]

It depends on what your goal is. If it is to have a great shooting hunting gun, you already have that. If your goal is to restore the gun to its original condition... you can't. With the silly recoil pad it will never be "original," again.

To clean the stock, (you will never see this advice elsewhere), remove all metal parts, spray the stock with sudsy ammonia, let set for 30 minutes then flush with boiling hot water and air dry.

Now you are down to the wood and repeated applications of linseed oil or its derivatives will make the stock OK, just not original.

[Hal]

Now you are down to the wood and repeated applications of linseed oil or its derivatives will make the stock OK, just not original.

There are two distictly different paths to take as far as a finish goes.

#1- would be the traditional oil - Linspeed (speed ), Tung or Danish - or any variation.

#2 - a surface coating, such as a varnish, poly or epoxy (or a converted (two part) urethane - or one of the newer 100% acrylic lacquers".

The better finishes - the two part ones, in catagory 2 offer the best over all protection, but, if and when they get banged up, they are miserable to strip off and redo.

The main advantage of the category #1 finishes are - a quick wipedown restores them to like new looking. The downside is - they suck as far as protection goes.
If the shotgun is going to see any field use in wet weather, this type of finish is going to need a lot of upkeep.

The mid strength - surface type finishes, such as varnish, poly, oil/varnish blends - are the most common. They offer some protection, but, they come off pretty easy if/when they get dinged up.

Shellec is also an option.

The old Soviet bloc AK's all had a shellac finish on the stocks.
It's ugly but utilitarian & subject to discoloration (white cloudiness) if it gets wet or comes in contact with anything that has ammonia in it.

One quick note - whatever you choose.

Only apply oil or finish to the outside - the parts you can see.
Don't finish the insides - such as the forend or the butt if a plate is installed.
Oil especially. It can cause the wood to swell and crack.

Good luck & be sure to take some before and after pictures!


Oh yeah - you can try some Goo-gone to see if it will work on the crud that's still on the stock.
Personally, I'd probably just start sanding it & use some Citrus remover in the checkering - if there is any - and start from scratch.

I've done a half dozen or so in the past. It's sort of fun to bring something back from the dead - so to speak.

[Tony Z]

I've had good luck using "Briwax", which comes in different tints, and contains a mild amount of "mineral spirits" to clean built up oil, etc., and coloring to fill in scratches. You'll find the product in antique shops. Bear in mind this is not a restoration, but more of a "dressing up" of the gun.

[olddav]

"Goof Off" may remove the old recoil pad, but if it is melted into the wood grain I've got nothing to offer.

[Skans]

I very recently refinished 3 really ugly stocks, all with excellent results. The guns were stored in someone's garage for years and the finish on all of them was scratched, crackled and flaking off. Also, the color of the stock was an unnatural dirty dark brown - basically looked like they had been handled with oily hands for decades.

I sanded each stock mostly by hand, starting with about 100 grit and incrementally moved up to 5000. The grits used were: 100, 320, 400, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, and 5000 buffing pad. I just get these at Advanced Auto Parts. Basically, I took each stock down to bare wood, worked my way up the grists and polished the stock by hand before adding any finish. I then used a light to moderate amount of minwax stain to even out some areas of discoloration and highlight some prettier features of the wood. Once that dried, I again polished the stock starting with 1500 grit to 3000.

Next, I sprayed minwax satin polyurethane on the stocks - 2 good coats, that's all the stocks it needed. I prefer the durability of polyurethane, but I admit I don't usually like the feel of polyurethane. Once the polyurethane cured for a couple of days, I then polished the stocks - two of them needed to be polished with 3000 and 5000, one didn't need it. Then I used Johnson's paste wax and buffed the stocks to a silky smooth finish just using the wax. The results looked and felt like the stocks had been professionally finished. To me, the feel of the stock is as important as its appearance. Two of the stocks were definitely walnut; the other was probably walnut, but possibly a lower grade.

These stocks did not have any checkering, so I didn't have to worry about ruining the checkering with all of the sanding I did.

[Tony Z]

"Goof Off" is pretty strong stuff, and may craze the finish, if your intentions are to salvage the existing finish. You can minimize the effects by using a good quality painters tape to cover the exposed stock, making sure you do a top notch job in pressing the tape to the stock.

Also, don't use the product anywhere where the drips may hit carpeting or floor tile or anywhere where your wife may turn that gun on you!

[FITASC]

Removing the remainder of the pad should be easily accomplished with a paint razor scraper.

What finish is currently on the stock now? If it is that really hard poly material Browning uses, it will take some serious solvent - my gunsmith had to redo a stock after a repair that had that finish. He hates working on stocks with that finish because they are a PITA to strip.
If it has the oil finish, removing that is easier and then the BLO or Truoil as previously mentioned.