RESTORING A SHOTGUN STOCK

[DuncaninFrance]

A friend of mine has just spent about 400€ / £340 / $490 / AUD 580 having his Beretta O/U shotgun re-blued and various parts replaced by a gunsmith in Bordeaux http://www.larquebusier.com

The wood needs some attention to a crack and various 'dings' as well as the finish so I PM'd Candyman and asked if he would be prepared to guide us through the works if I posted pictures and detail as we went along so everyone could benefit. He kindly agreed so I will soon be posting pictures of the current state of the wood - watch this space

[DuncaninFrance]

OK, here we go.
This is the woodwork from a Beretta S55 BVE O/U which was bought in about 1978 and is in need of some TLC on the woodwork. The gun has just been to have some minor repairs and also be re-blued.
The aim of the project is to bring the wood up to the same standard as the barrels/lock but instead of a varnished finish it would be nice to have an oiled wood/polished finish.
The following pictures should give you a good idea of what is needed.
The plan is:-
1) Remove all the varnish. You will probably be able to see that there are areas of the stock where the varnish has already been worn away and this presents a problem. I assume that where the varnish is missing the wood will be dirty and the colour will not match the wood currently protected by varnish. I assume that this difference will have to be addressed.
2) Remove the various dings in the wood which have been caused by knocking against various hard objects and also the sling
3) Repair the slight crack at the rear sling swivel mounting hole.
4) Oil and then polish the stock prior to re-fitting the barrel/lock.

So Lee, over to you mate, where do we start?

[Candyman]

First off you will need to strip off the old finish. This is best done with a Chemical striper.
Here is a link to a post of striping the stock. http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewto ... 37&t=61170
After stripping the stock, you will need to steam out the dents. I wouls stram the whole stock to prep it for a light sanding.
Once the stock has been striped and steamed you will need to let it dry.
Once it is dry you will need to address the crack. Drill a hole into the crack with a small bit. You will need to drill at an angle from inside the stud hole. Use an epoxy (clear with 30 min. set time) to fill the hole. Be sure to put paste wax on the stud screw and screw in into the stock while the epoxy is setting up. After anout an hour or so remove the stud and alloe the epoxy to finish curing.
Use masking tape to cover the checkering. Don't make this hard on yourself. Just place long, over laping strips of tape over the checkering and then use a razor knife to trace the outer lines and remove the extra tape.
Using a sanding block, sand the stock lightly, starting with 200 grit paper then 300 then 400. Remember, you are only lightly sanding.
If there are some blimishes from where the old finish had chipped off, you can stain the stock just a little darker to blend them. But first you will need to deside which finish you wish to use.

[DuncaninFrance]

OK, a good start! One thing to confirm please.

Steaming the whole stock - how do you suggest this is done? Should I hang the stock ( and forend ) over a slowly simmering pan of water till the dings seem to fall out or is there a better way?

[Candyman]

After striping the stock it will be wet. Use an Iron and a wet rag. Place the rag over the dents and place the Iron on top. Be sure not to dry out the rag and burn the stock.
You can also use a spray bottle with water to spray the stock after removing the Iron and rag. Do the whole stock in sections bot be careful to avoid the checkering.

[DuncaninFrance]

Have started the stripping and looks like it will take 3 days with the drying in between. Thinking ahead to the new finish - oiled stock - will it need any work to fill the grain BEFORE we start to apply the finish?
My thoughts were that after staining the first coats should be a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and white spirit followed by coats of 100% linseed oil and finished with a beeswax and linseed oil polish.

Is this going to work or should we approach it differently Lee?

[Candyman]

Sounds like you are on the right track.
When staining the stock you could use a stain that has a filler in it. I really like Herter's French Red from Brownell's.

If you want a softer look to the stock you can do an Oil Scrub finish. Here is a link to my sticky at SRF on doing an Oil Scrub.
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewto ... 37&t=51760

If you want more shine to your oil finish, use a paste wax that will dry hadt and you can buff. Mini Wax and Johnson's paste wax work great. You just have to buff with a soft rag and finish off with nylon. For nylon get a lady's stocking.

[DuncaninFrance]

For nylon get a lady's stocking.

Got plenty of those.................................NO NOT MINE , I use them as a pullthrough after shooting my shotgun to remove the crud at the range. It gives me a bit more time to clean the gun later, maybe the following day if I am rushed.

[DuncaninFrance]

OK, so, the wood is now stripped using a chemical stripper. There are a few bits of varnish left which the stripper does not seem to effect. I am leaving the wood to dry for 48 hours before working on the 'dings' with a hot iron and a damp cloth.
I have been all over the web today looking for some grain sealer ( the stock is cheap wood by modern Beretta Standards ) here in France ( easier finding rocking-horse shit! ) and finally rang a company in the UK called CCL near Redditch, Worcestershire. I had a long ( 30 minute) chat with the boss there and have now bought some of their Grain Sealer and some Conditioning Oil from Frankonia for 32€ including postage. By the time it arrives we should be ready to use it.
So, here are some progress pictures:-

[Candyman]

Duncan

Go ahead and strip the stock again to remove the rest of the old finish. Remeber, as long as the striper is wet, it is working. Keeping it in the shade will give it more time to work.
When you wash off the striper be sure to clean all of it off. After washing rub your hand on the stock, if it fills a little slick, then there is still a little striper on the stock.

Don't let the stock dry before steaming it, do it while it is wet. If there are some dings that don't seem to want to come up, wet some tissue to make small wads and place them on the dents. Be sure that the wads are very wet. Let the wads dry over night. As they dry they will pull the dents.