Refinishing wood - help/opinion

[boludo12]

I inherited two Stevens 311c 12g shotguns from gramps. One is in pristine condition. The other has had the wood repainted and a few dings filled. Gramps or my uncle did a paint job on it that makes the stock and foregrip look like plastic.

Both have case colored steel and I'm wondering how I should redo the wood. The wood has been stripped and sanded. I'm thinking of just doing a boiled linseed finish to bring out the nice lines the wood has. It almost looks like oak.

Or I'm thinking of putting a colored stain on the wood to match or bring out the blue-ish color of the steel.

Any thoughts/opinions welcome.

[sixoclockhold]

Certainly no expert on it but I think you'll find the foreguard is a lighter wood color and take that into consideration when doing the job.

I wanted something deep in color and rich so I applied a paste stain, rose color and went a little heavier up front.

I then used Formby's Tung oil, I know I know, not over stain. First coat is the tricky coat, got it on quick and little rub a dub dub. Then multiples bringing out the color I wanted and a nice smooth gloss.

I was very happy and the colors matched well with the different woods.

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[bigbossman]

I refinished both of my 311's. The factory "stain" was a mud-brown opaque color that looked like crap, so I stripped them both down to bare wood, sanded them lightly to smooth them out, but I did not re-stain. Instead, I rubbed in several coats of boiled linseed oil, with a very thin coat of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil rubbed in as a top coat to give the wood a satin sheen.

On both guns, I ended up with a honey-blond finish that looks great. I think the wood is plain-jane maple, birch, or similar, and it does not have a very pronounced or interesting grain structure. The BLO with the Tru-Oil top coat really made the guns pretty.

[hermosabeach]

Hard to go wrong with BLO

Have a dust free cabinet for it to dry the week or two between coats and you are all set

Midway USA and a few others have vids on U tube for refinishing and using BLO.... Little tricks to fill in dents and voids....

[sixoclockhold]

http://www.gun-tests.com/special_reports/long_guns/Inexpensive-Fixes-Savage_Stevens-311s-gunsmithing-14242-1.html#.VygKvb_IP3g

[boludo12]

big thanks to you guys. I'll either go light color or a dark, rich, satin-ee color. This shotty is a 1966, pretty sure the wood is birch.

The wood is a different color as mentioned.