Refinishing old rem Stock?

[SnapShot]

just went and checked it, scrubbed about 80-90% of that junk off and starting to see wood grain. Im getting excited. reapplied and will scrub it down again in a little while, it had a very reddish/brownish tint from the stain/paint i expect will come out with further treatments and then sanding.

 

[Medic!]

Wow. That stock really is like a box of chocolate.

I wonder what you'll find under all that brown?

 

[Certaindeaf]

.hollowing out the barrel cavity in the stock some more attempting to free float it..

That "barrel cavity" is called the "barrel half circle thing" (lol, not really).
Before you free-float it, how did it shoot?

 

[jbett98]

Is there a small bump of wood located on bottom of the barrel channel near the muzzle end of the stock?

 

[SnapShot]

Certaindeaf - it shot average with factory ammo, 1-1.5 moa, when my grandfather was alive he did some reloads for it that made it more like .75-1 moa, but i remember he loaded about a 150 grain bullet - I've been hesitant to shoot like a FGMM out of it because the 788's were known not to like "hot" loads. I haven't even began to work up a load for it. (i mostly attempt to duplicate FGMM or the like 175/178's for my 700.)

Jbett - in some of the photos below you might be able to see what I'm talking about, but after a light sanding, it starts to seem like it was there intentionally. it seems that there is a slightly raised platform if you will at the bottom of my barrel channel (what ever its called) that the barrel looks as if it actually rested on. as it moves froward from the lug to the muzzle it becomes less pronounced. and really you can only feel it about 2 inches in front of where the lug goes. but you can see wear marks in the wood going most of the way, and when reexamining the barrel itself, the wear marks appear on it neer the font of the stock. Ive never had a bipod on it. (you might be able to see in the stock channel photo)

here are some update photos on how the project is moving along. ( i hear that the original stocks were walnut, what does this grain look like to you?) - i have no idea- most of my wood working experience comes from nailing 2x4's.

i can see what appears to be the machine marks (circular pattern) along the top of the comb, and along the top and bottom ridges of the forend. can i sand these out? to make it look more natural? or should i just sand as normal and not worry about them. (one of the phones below shows em (its the one where you can see the magazine inlet/where the bottom metal would go)

 

[11Charlie]

dang that looks way better already. Nice job

 

[jbett98]

The bump I was talking about is intentional and easily seen.
It helps put some upward pressure on the barrel when it gets hot and also helps with the barrels harmonics when firing.
I like to take an old can of red mahogany stain and scrape some of the thick putty like deposits that have settled on the bottom of the can and hand rub it into the bare wood grains as the next step in the refinishing.
It's called the "French Red" way of filling the open pores. let dry over night and lightly use some 4/0 steel wool to smooth the grain, then apply the finish stain of your choice, with a slight rubbing of the same grade steel wool between coats.
Those swirl marks are from the radius router bit and it's burned into the wood.

 

[SnapShot]

Thanks SKrueger - my first go at this, so i'm not so confident and asking a lot of questions. I appreciate it though. I'm feeling better about my decision to tackle this project.

 

[jbett98]

When you apply the finish coat, get a piece of coat hanger and screw it to one of the butt plate holes.
Makes it real easy to hang it up while drying.
During winter times, I would hang the smelly finishes up in the spare bathroom and turn on the fan to ventilate the fumes while drying.

 

[SnapShot]

Jbett- my plan was to put on either BLO, or Tru Oil, and do the wet sanding technique to fill the pores. I still haven't decided to use BLO or Tru, from what i read Tru Oil is easier and more forgiving, and BLO will take about 10x as long, while you are waiting for it to dry. (and the technique in application) (someone told me on another forum that BLO "never dries" and even sweats out on hot days. he's pushing for Tru oil. I asked him isn't Tru Oil - BLO based with some "other" oils? (as stated on their website) I'm trying to learn the differences. He gave me a big answer on why BLO is outdated and why i should use Tru Oil.

 

[orygun]

That's lookin very nice. That should show a little character when finished.

In the picture of your barrel channel it looks like the barrel is touching off center. It might not be a bad idea to sand the stock down so that doesn't touch there and then glass bed the action. I'd leave the forend pressure bump in the front of the channel for now. It can be removed later if needed.

Brownell's has a kit for cheap that works well If you decide to bed the action. I think if you have gone through this much effort, why not?
The 788 is known to be an accurate rifle, but why not hedge your bet?

This is what I used. More than enough for one project.

BROWNELLS GLASBED® | Brownells

 

[jbett98]

All I use is Tru-Oil. It's by far the best and easiest for someone new to this.
I use small square of some brown lint free chamois cloth that I found at the dollar tree store.
The beauty of Tru-oil is that it dries fast, can be lighty rubbed between coats and after the final coat, lightly rubbed with some worn out steel wool to give the stock an old worn look.
On vintage type military stocks I rub in some black shoe polish to fill any pores that might still be open and then buff to a nice deep shine.

 

[SnapShot]

I had a plan to attempt a bedding job on this one. for practice, and then maybe bed my 700 in a new B&C stock. (still thinking about paying a smith to do that one)

 

[SnapShot]

well thats another vote for tru oil... I'm just about convinced. especially because its more forgiving, and dries faster.

 

[Greenbug]

Looks like Walnut to me, I don't think it is Birch. Needs some sanding to bring out the grain and smooth the surface for finishing. The more time you spend sanding/smoothing with 220-400 grit sandpaper the better the finished product will look. Finish with 0000 steel wool before applying your finish of choice, use latex gloves during this final sanding step to ensure no oils from your hands get on the bare wood and affect how the wood takes your stain/oil.

Looking good so far!

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I wouldn't sand that one too much, it's fairly smooth as it is, start with 400 if you must sand it. I'd just go over it with a finishing pad to be honest.

Truoil should work well.
I've been working with raw Linseed oil for ages now, and no it doesn't exactly dry, per sé, but it's an old military finish.

You other option, as i previously mentioned, is Tung oil, which is what they switched to late/after WW2, it's tougher/easier to work with, dries reasonably well and is water resistant more so than the other options. You'll find it easy to get hold of as it's recommended for outdoor furniture.

That does look like Walnut, you can test what it will look like with oil by wetting a part of it and wiping over with your finger a couple of times, should go nice and dark

 

[SnapShot]

Streaks in Tru Oil -
i ended up with streaks, (and by streaks i mean by looking into the finish, you could see what seemed to be slightly raised bumps maybe about an inch long and about a grain of sand in size. ... that i didn't notice until i was about 2 coats over them. I didn't use my finger to start out, now i am. It was coming out ok, one of those drive by at 25 things it looks good from a distance, but on close inspection and rotating it though a light source, you could see tiny streaks of oil that appeared to be raised through the finish, i had already covered up with additional coatings. - So i sanded her back down but to what appeared to be about the first coats worth. Got her smooth again, and then wet sanded with 320/tru oil, in small sections to apply another coat, it dried pretty flat, just now put another coat on with a finger, and hoping that i got all of the streaks out.

awaiting to see how this coat turned out.

It just seemed like the right thing to do, tell me what i didn't do or should have done, what you would have done.

was it my application (not finger to begin with) (i think it was part of an old pillowcase that i used). is it an optical illusion and I'm not seeing raised bits but sanded bits maybe where the steel wool or sanding job) concave vs converse ...
i didn't see them all over but in a few areas they were more pronounced, in the middle kinda flat area of the buttock , and on the flat middle about where checkering would go on the fore end. Im thinking it was the application through media, and maybe not sticking to the wet edge.

i tried to take pictures but i couldn't get the light right.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Without the pics (and i know that can suck, tried with my 1903 stock with dry/oiled areas) its' hard to say, but i would guess it was applied too thickly for the base coats.

I would say you should be starting out thin to get the base settled, you're past that point now though.

 

[jbett98]

Sounds like you're using sandpaper and the Tru-Oil at the same time and just letting the Tru-Oil cure without cleaning off the sandpaper dust.
I'm confused about the process you're taking.

 

[SnapShot]

might have been dust..... i only wet sanded what should /would have been the second coat. trying to create a natural wood filler with the dust and oil, maybe i didn't clean it off good enough before reapplying. but i did sand lightly with 0000 wool or 400 grit to scuff up between coats.3 and onward.. once again maybe i didn't get all the dust off.

after originally sanded -
first coat - let dry
second coat (wet sanded with oil 320 paper) to try to fill wood pores.
let dry
lightly sanded/buffed
wiped clean with a damp rag
repeat
light sand/buff/wipe/reapply

when i noticed some small streaks under the top layer

sanded back down to about what the first coat was, seemed smooth and even coating (220/320)
clean, wipe down
reapply
where i am now