My family has been refinishing guns for alotta years and here are some tips.
Naturally, when refinishing a gun stock, the old finish needs to be removed. Many folks attack their stocks with sandpaper to remove the old finish, and I can't stress enough that sandpaper is the WRONG thing to use for stripping the finish from a stock in many, if not most, cases. Sanding removes wood unnecessarily, may make for a wavy surface, and ruins positive checkering by removing the points that make checkering desirable in the first place. Also be carefull when sanding areas where the wood meets metal because it's very easy to round edges that should never be rounded. The use of a chemical stripper not only makes the job go faster, it prevents damaging the wood stock that you are trying to preserve. While it may take some serious elbow grease to do the job even with chemicals, the end result beats the heck out of an over-sanded stock, and it's almost always faster and easier to do. To remove finish from checkering or other tight spots, use an old toothbrush (or similar brush) to work the stripper into the pattern and to remove the old finish. NEVER use a wire brush because it will scratch and gouge your stock, no matter whether the brush is made with steel or brass bristles.
Hopefully some of this help because it took me forever to type it. LOL
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Dan Calkins
Chetek Bulldogs- Playoffs Level 4
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