Thread: stripping varnish off rifle stock

Originally Posted by BSG 75

Yes, that looks nice, and is appropriate for a newer gun. I could sand all of my stocks smooth and make them look brand new too, that's easy, but that's not what I want for my milsurp guns. I want them to look better (sometimes, most of the time I do as little as possible) but still "look their age", including some of the scrapes, scratches, and dings they acquired along the way. Just a matter of personal preference.

But if you want the stock on your 60+ year old milsurp rifle to look like it was made yesterday, by all means scrape and sand away and I'm sure you'll get the results you desire.

I'm confused? You want your mil-surp guns to look old, but you want the stock to look newer but old? Why not just leave them old? Refinished with chemical stripper doesn't look old. It looks like a beat up stock with a new finish. Your choice, just my opinion.

The only time I use a chemical stripper is when I have checkering on a stock that I cannot scrape, or I have stains (not stain, but stains) that I need to remove from the grain. But hey, they're your stocks, do what you like. I know what my customers like, and its not always the same. I do know if they want a stock to be refinished but still look old, I generally send them to gunbroker or ebay to find a correct stock in the look they want. I can do what they want, but from my own standpoint, I just don't think it's appropriate.

Originally Posted by MountainBear

I'm confused? You want your mil-surp guns to look old, but you want the stock to look newer but old? Why not just leave them old?

Old, but "cleaned up", a middle ground. With that carbine stock, the oil and cosmoline were so thick you couldn't see the markings and it just looked bad. I wanted to remove the finish on the surface of the wood but I didn't want to make the wood itself brand-new smooth, so I didn't sand it.

Again, that is one of the few stocks I have used stripper on. The vast majority of my stocks I have done essentially nothing with. They still have their original finish and character, and they look their age, but they aren't greasy/grimy/dirty. One exception to leaving them as-is is a new-production birch Garand stock that came with an ugly brown dye job. That one I sanded, but only to correct its shape and to remove some of the dye. That stock looks new because it is new http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/vie...p?f=53&t=78117

Originally Posted by Gunner3456

The issue I have with chemicals is that they seem to dissolve the finish and then it soaks into the wood, discoloring and/or sealing it. They also raise the grain.

No. The chemicals (e.g. dichloromethane) do not soak into the wood, and therefore cannot raise the grain. That's why they're used for refinishing.

Any abrasive process will sacrifice the patina, which is the only thing that differentiates the appearance of a new piece of wood from an old one.

If the surface is so badly scarred that you don't want to keep it, then fine, start over and take off the old surface. But IMO that aged surface is irreplaceable.

cover the stock with easy off then seal it in a plastic bag
after 30 min wipe it down with rag and your done

Originally Posted by chemist

No. The chemicals (e.g. dichloromethane) do not soak into the wood, and therefore cannot raise the
grain. That's why they're used for refinishing.

Any abrasive process will sacrifice the patina, which is the only thing that differentiates
the appearance of a new piece of wood from an old one.

If the surface is so badly scarred that you don't want to keep it, then fine, start over
and take off the old surface. But IMO that aged surface is irreplaceable.

If you're satisfied with this for "patina" and believe you saved it, go for it. You can see from
the before and after pics in the complete post how much darker the scratches and dings
got, and how much more they are noticeable after using the stripper.

The scratches are deep and dirty. When you liquify the old finish, it's going to get into
those wood fibers and seal in the dirt.

If I want a refinished stock I'm going to refinish it. If I want the original patina I'm going
to leave it alone.

I can see absolutely no benefit in this "refinish" job. None. In fact, I think the stock is ruined.

Originally Posted by Gunner3456

If you're satisfied with this for "patina" and believe you saved it, go for it. You can see from
the before and after pics in the complete post how much darker the scratches and dings
got, and how much more they are noticeable after using the stripper.

The scratches are deep and dirty. When you liquify the old finish, it's going to get into
those wood fibers and seal in the dirt.

Actually, that's not an accurate analysis at all. The reason the scratches are more noticeable is because before the finish was stripped the scratches and dings were covered with several millimeters of congealed old linseed oil, cosmoline, dirt, and grime.

For example, this arsenal rebuild mark was almost completely obscured by the extremely thick old finish:



The reason the marking is now "more visible" is because the stripper removed the thick old finish that was covering it, not because it did anything to the wood:



If you like milsurp stocks to be smooth, scratch-free, and brand-new looking, fine, I have no problem with that, but not everyone shares your tastes. Personal preference.

As for "ruining" a milsurp stock, the best ways to do that are to sand it or to use oven cleaner on it.

Simply from a collector's standpoint gentlemen, any refinishing you do to a stock ruins it. It may ruin it to your particular taste, and that's fine (either way you choose to refinish it). As long as you don't refinish a stock and try to pass it on as original, do what you like...

Originally Posted by MountainBear

As long as you don't refinish a stock and try to pass it on as original, do what you like...

Originally Posted by ernurse

Hey guys, thought I would ask, what is your favorite way to strip varnish off a rifle stock, the rifle in question is CMP M1 Garand that has had the stock varnished by the previous owner, it looks nice but I want to return it to the BLO look, any hints greatly appreciated, by the way the stock is a Boyds replacement so no worries on damaging a original issue stock. thanks.Scott

If you plan on sanding this stock then scraping is one choice. I've always gotten better results using a chemical stripper to remove varnish. My product of choice is Citristrip as it does not effect the wood. On mil-surp stocks that have a BLO finish after the varnish is removed I well steam all traces of cosmoline and then the dents as much as possible. Then I clean them with a 50/50 mix of BLO and turpentine using a stiff toothbrush. This cleans the old dried up BLO out of the dings. Normal BLO application after that.

These stocks are between 50 and 70 years old, several were almost black before I refinished them.

Originally Posted by madcratebuilder

If you plan on sanding this stock then scraping is one choice. I've always gotten better results using a chemical stripper to remove varnish. My product of choice is Citristrip as it does not effect the wood. On mil-surp stocks that have a BLO finish after the varnish is removed I well steam all traces of cosmoline and then the dents as much as possible. Then I clean them with a 50/50 mix of BLO and turpentine using a stiff toothbrush. This cleans the old dried up BLO out of the dings. Normal BLO application after that.

These stocks are between 50 and 70 years old, several were almost black before I refinished them.

Those are nice!

Thank you sir, it's a passion to bring these old gals back. I need to sell a few, I'm running out of room.

Several countries SOP was to grease the wood. These can be challenging to get clean again. I'm amazed at the cartouches take come up with a good cleaning and steaming.



The Swiss used a lot of grease on their K-31's.


This rifle didn't show the tiger strip when I first got it. I wish I found this under every one of them.