Thread: Refurbing a couple of oldies

G’day!

I have a couple of old BSA .222 the hunter is from my late grandfather and the other is one is a majestic owned by my father, I am looking at doing the stocks up on these particularly the hunter as grandad liked to splash varnish over his stocks, is there anyone in Christchurch that people recommend or a kit you can buy from somewhere to diy? Few years away yet but also planning on these being my 2 young fellas first centerfire rifles.

Cheers

you can do them yourself its not difficult just time consuming a job that should not be rushed - the metal comes out of the woodwork and butt plate comes off - if its rubber then that can be a little problem is it a slot head or a phillips inside holding it on - a slot head is likely but gentle feeling will tell you - then a good quality varnish remover toothbrush for the checkering and strip it - various grade of sand paper - dents can be steamed out suggest you you tube how to do that - some bad ones leave if its an older rifle they have been used and are allowed to show it - followed by steel wool down to 4x - last few sands with steel wool damp the stock with a warm damp rag let dry and sand again - your feel will tell you when ready for oil - smooth as glass is what you are looking for - boiled linseed ( a lot will suggest otherwise but this has been the go to for over 100 years trust it - including best English stocks ) - rub a coat in let dry - again - again rub rub rub use bare hand if you like - ( best English stocks done like that ) or a piece of rough towel is good - hand rub again and again and again - rub until stock is warm the more rubbing the better the finish

Thanks for the info, sounds like a good project!

The key is think before you launch into anything. Getting some advice has been a great start. One warning is if you decided to use a paint or vanish stripper and either rifle has white plastic spacers (butt, for end or pistol grip) be careful as the stripper will melt the plastic. And then you have a mess on your hands. Take it from me��

There are also alternatives.
Tru-oil, tru-oil and wd40 mix (look it up but haven't tried it), and another I have tried with pleasing results is Danish oil

tru oil is good but a trap for young players you are paying thru the nose for what is linseed oil with a stain one can buy linseed oil ( boiled only to be used ) and a small can of a walnut stain for well under 30% of the cost of one small bottle of Birchwood Casey tru oil

Have done up a number of these rifles and have a lot of parts. Small pachmayr pads fit them beautifully. PM me if you need any help. One thing I really like is to look out for low Leupold Sako rings, you need two sets and you use the front ring of each set. Just a little filing is needed to make them fit . There is another fan in Christchurch that does up these rifles as well.

I have done a few restos on wooden stocks and can offer this - dont use steel wool at all.You will embed bits of steel in the surface of the wood and they will go rusty.....

I have used tung oil as a finish. Depends on what shade you want , theres options out there . I do like Tru-oil though.

I would strongly advise the original poster to put those two emotionally important rifles aside and consider working on a less significant project first.

You seem to be coming from a low skill base.
And you will make a lot of mistakes on you first projects.
You need to be aware that the moment sandpaper apears in advice the value of an item is dramatically reduced. Both financially and emotionally.

You can not undo the "restoration mistakes " you make.

The basic rule of thumb is that a restored rifle is worth 50% of an original.
And that the restoration process is erasing the very thing you are trying to restore " the memories ".

Just me saying step away from the rifles and consider the outcome more carefully.
If you involve sandpaper you will not know where to stop and when you do you will almost certainly have gone too far.

Correction

I incorrectly inferred the OPs " low skill base "

This should have been " lack of experience ".

My apologies to the OP

Thanks akaroa, straight to the point lol no offence taken! I completely agree with not jumping into it. Have a lot of old .22 that would work as a practise. To be honest if grandad hadn’t varnished/stained the hunter I would be leaving it as is.i wonder if it’s something you can just strip off back to orginal finish

I do agree with Akaroa - many of the rifles I have done needed to be done - if the rifle has come from the factory with an oiled finish I would just use a rag- stiff towell is good and boiled linseed on it - or tru oil if you dont want a large bottle of boiled linseed sitting around - and rub and rub -I dont panic about a few dings on an old rifle - but some I have done were a laquer / heavy varnish finish and once chipped nothing is protecting the wood from water damage - my 1975 Remington 700 was a good example - I have done around 12 different rifles now and never had a problem with steel wool - it is recommended by many stock makers - but the way I use it is to use it last before oiling - once I have used finer and finer grades of sandpaper then I wipe the stock with a warm damp rag - allow to dry and repeat sanding with a very fine grade steel wool sometimes up to 4-5 times depending on how the stock feels - some seem to be more porous tan others - when I do put the first coat of linseed on I cut it down with some terps - this helps the first coat sink in and then rub and rub - get the stock warm - checkering cam be a head ache - sharp angles to sand into - I use the emery boards ladys use for their fingernails - choose a really fine grade and cut the board on an angle to match - then slowly sand out the sharp angle - the main part of the checkering I just use a tooth brush and varnish remover thats all - how much oil well you will know the stock simply wont take more - but dont use raw linseed mongrel stuff just goes into a sticky horrible mess

I have done a few using Tru Oil it is ok.
Removed varnish finish using a piece of glass as a scrapper.
Ice cream lids make a white butt spacer .
Then the whole dampen, heat-dry, light sand repeat.
Same with applying oil often and allow to dry between coats.
Just be aware linseed oil can spontaneously combust something to be aware of.
Watch a few you tube videos will give you an idea.

Originally Posted by erniec

I have done a few using Tru Oil it is ok.
Removed varnish finish using a piece of glass as a scrapper.
Ice cream lids make a white butt spacer .
Then the whole dampen, heat-dry, light sand repeat.
Same with applying oil often and allow to dry between coats.
Just be aware linseed oil can spontaneously combust something to be aware of.
Watch a few you tube videos will give you an idea.

A good alternative to this could be the plastic used in shower wall linings. I don't know about the risk of it "yellowing" with UV exposure though.

I do have some clean/new 3mm sheets of this if you need some.

If you have a varnish finish then Citri-strip is a very good way of removing the old finish. I prefer to use a scraper - I have a small industrial knife with a curved blade and very sharp point that is my main tool for old finish removal.

As for dent removal - once you go down that path you have destroyed the history of the stock. I prefer to clean around these areas , only raise the worst ones , and treat the rest of them as history to be admired.

But its your rifle so do what makes you happy. Akaroa's suggestion of trialing an old shitter stock is a very good one , worth considering