Stripping wood on C&R rifles

[hundy]

Hello, I have actually read two posts here on restoring wood on certain rifles. I was reading several articles from the CMP on the subject. I have several C&R rifles I would like to strip and re-finish the wood.
The CMP recommended Miniwax Antique Furniture Refinisher for stripping and that was for a Garand.
I have 2 Trapdoors, 1 Krag, 1 1903 and several Garands I would like to refinish.
I was curious if anyone has used the Miniwax product as a stripping agent. If anyone has used it or has something else for the above mentioned rifles I would love to get some feed back.

Thank you,

Jay

[Capybara]

Hold on there Jay! C&R and stripping wood aren't good words to be in the same sentence. Of course, they're your guns, do what you want but realize that stripping the wood on any C&R, varnishing, shellac, re-stain basically negates all or most of your C&R's intrinsic value as a collectible. Almost all C&R collectors view refinishing wood or metal as Bubba-ing and will pay typically a quarter or less of the value of the gun if it were original. If you will only own them as a drastically devalued shooters, go sick. But if you ever plan on selling or trading any of them, don't refinish them or better yet, save the original stocks and then buy replica or replacement beater stocks that you can put your barrel and receiver into. That way, if you ever go to sell, have appraised, insured or trade, you are covered.

Kind of like buying a '55 Chevy and restoring it with a digital dashboard, modern upholstery and a new engine. You can, but why would you? C&R collectors value history and history is lost when a gun is refinished, re-plated, nickeled, etc.

Don't have any tips for you about Minwax but think twice, then another time before going down this road. When I hear refinish "several Garands, Trapdoors and a Krag", I wince.

[socal m1 shooter]

I would agree with Capybara on that, pretty much.

OP did not post any pictures, so sight unseen, I would encourage caution.

About a decade ago, on a different forum Gus Fisher posted some of his advice regarding stock refinishing. I reposted another post of his from the "Culver's Shooting Page/CSP" era here on CG. The "Culver's Magic Paste" he refers to is a mix of 1/3 turpentine, 1/3 beeswax, and 1/3 boiled linseed oil. Make it yourself or buy a commercial equivalent.

For people unfamiliar with Gus Fisher, this is one of his GCA-related seminars. He was pretty active on CSP, and later, the M14 forums.

• GF on Dupage, et al., commercial stocks
• GF on stock finishes

Anyway, OP, might want to try hand-rubbing some of the "Culver's Magic Paste" into one of those stocks to see if you like it. You just put a small dab on the palm of your hand and work it in to the wood. The heat from your hand and the friction will make it flow. Let it dry; repeat as you like. Hope that is helpful.

[hundy]

Thank you for the replies, I do appreciate both of your thoughts on the subject and I am re-thinking my plans. I am not sure if I used the correct term for what I was thinking of accomplishing. Forgive me as wood working has never been my strong point. One of my rifles (Trapdoor) has a real thick coating of probably a shellac, or several coats of years of shellacking on it. I was hoping to remove that (without sanding) take down to original wood and then put on a protective coating, such as Boiled Linseed oil or Tung oil. I am not looking to sand and take down and re-stain.
This is actually why I posted this question here. I was thinking of what I could do with the rifle and I read some articles. I then posted here to get an idea what others have done or thought on the subject. The response has had the desired effect as I am rethinking the idea.

Thank you again for the information.

[bruce381]

on gobo not collector stocks i use wait for it Oven Cleaner, Spray let soak a few minutes then wash off in garage sink let dry. Then steam out any bad dents and let dry rub in blown linseed oil and wipe dry repeat as needed.

[SVT-40]

Thank you for the replies, I do appreciate both of your thoughts on the subject and I am re-thinking my plans. I am not sure if I used the correct term for what I was thinking of accomplishing. Forgive me as wood working has never been my strong point. One of my rifles (Trapdoor) has a real thick coating of probably a shellac, or several coats of years of shellacking on it. I was hoping to remove that (without sanding) take down to original wood and then put on a protective coating, such as Boiled Linseed oil or Tung oil. I am not looking to sand and take down and re-stain.
This is actually why I posted this question here. I was thinking of what I could do with the rifle and I read some articles. I then posted here to get an idea what others have done or thought on the subject. The response has had the desired effect as I am rethinking the idea.

Thank you again for the information.

Leave the shellac, it's original. it's doing it's job protecting the wood.

Remember you can never go back to original.

You will just about kill it's collector value if you remove the original finish.

[bigbossman]

Depends on the rifle, and on the stock.

I have not lost one thin dime on any of the Garands with plain-jane stocks I have stripped and refinished over the years. If it has a nice cartouche I will just gently clean it with gum turpentine to get the grime off, and then re-oil. Replacement stock? Strip and finish to your heart's content.

Always on a case by case basis, rifle by rifle. On Krags and Trapdoors, I'd be really, REALLY hesitant. But unless the stock is something special on a Garand (WRA, etc.) stripping and refinishing won't kill any value as long as you don't pimp-shine it.

I just refinished a couple of $60 Korean era stocks I got that were ugly. They came out very nice.

[hermosabeach]

are they oil soaked tent pegs around the actions?


Some old rifles have mushy spots from decades of oil....

[C&Rtrader]

If you can post some pictures...

with Shellac... you can also liquefy it with denatured alcohol and re spread the original around. it improves the look without killing the "original" nature of it.

[19K]

If you can, buy a replacement stock and refinish/finish the replacement.

[peppermintman]

The most I’ve ever done was wash the wood with soap and water and a little steamed but I’d never sand use steel wool and oiled the wood. A super smooth wood finish is easy to detect.
Looks like you’ve got quite a big project.

[hundy]

Thank you again for the replies, I do appreciate all the advice. I have done some more reading since posting here and I will probably not do anything to the stocks. I do have two that bother me, and I will post pics soon. My wife and I had to travel up North as our Grandson was in the ICU. He is out now, and we are helping our daughter out. I will be back around Tuesday and post some pics of the two rifles.

Thank you

[Full Clip]

Go to Ebay, Apex or Numrich and buy appropriate replacement stocks.
Refinish them after putting the original furniture away for safekeeping.

[IronsightsRifleman]

A rifle that had been properly cared for its whole life may develop a patina that should be carefully maintained. A little mineral oil will clean the surface and keep the wood from drying out. But, let's face it, most rifles have seen some abuse in their time. People get nostalgic thinking that their water damaged stock came from a foxhole in Germany in 1945, when in fact it came from a flooded basement in Pittsburgh in 1973. If someone applied a coat of spar varnish to a Garand stock, then removing it with a chemical striper like Citistrip is the proper thing to do. If the finish is sticky or gummy or foul smelling, it should be removed by the mildest means possible. Try using mineral spirits, alcohol, or a little soapy water- if none of those is effective then the Citristrip will do the trick, followed by cleaning with mineral spirits. The main thing is to never sand a stock. Fine steel wool or copper wool are acceptable abrasives.
Once you have the offending finish removed you'll need to refinish. In my opinion, a traditional hand-rubbed oil with Linseed or Tung is the only correct answer for C&R rifles.

[Mojaveman]

I've had a few old stocks that just had A LOT of grime on them. They looked almost brand new after a good scrubbing with Simple Green or 409. There was no need to strip and refinish, just re-oil after a good cleaning.

Some stocks are terrible though. In that case use a citric acid-based stripper like Citristrip, it's not as bad as oven cleaner. You can then wipe down the stock with a light solvent, give it a light sanding with some 200 grit and then finish with oil. I really like REAL Chinese tung oil from China. Not the crap they sell at The Home Depot. You can buy it from Real Milk Paint Co.

Been playing with guns for a long time.