Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Ever Wonder What's Under That Red Uberti Wood Finish?


Cholla Hill Tirador

Recommended Posts

That looks great. How long did it take? I always wondered why Uberti uses that red finish. Then I bought an original Winchester 1873 made in 1887. Wouldn't you know it, but the wood looks really close to uberti wood. So I suppose they tried to make it look aged, but then make the case coloring look brand new. I prefer my guns to look new and then age them myself. It's great knowing that I can strip my uberti and make it look new again. Or just stick with my brand new Winchester. One can never have too many options

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks OLG, I am in the process of refinishing the stock and forearm of a B92 for my wife. I had intended to use tongue oil, however she brought home linseed oil. She says she read that Winchester used that to finish the stocks on their long guns. I have never worked with linseed oil and was at a small loss as how to proceed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yellowhouse, that is what I had always thought. But she said that she does not want a shiny finnish on her rifle. So she did some research and came up with linseed oil. I am not about to argue with her. I am just elated that she wants to start shooting with me. Already got her an '87 shotgun, going to order a set of SASS Vaqueros, and had her old beat-up B92 sent out to be hard chromed. Before that I had Huckleberry do an action job on it, now it runs as smooth as oil on glass. Next I am going to find a Chiappa "87 and have Lassiter work it over, and have it hard chromed. Then the CIA '87 she has now can be her backup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Factory finish-

 

200%20yds._zpsgyhz345k.jpg

 

After stripping and hand rubbing in linseed oil-

 

After%20eefinish_zpsajycgpjg.jpg

WOW !

That is Gorgeous !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After stripping the wood, and cleaning it up, anybody ever do a slow cook/boil of the wood?

 

I heard this is the best way to clean out all the factory gunk, but I've never done it.

 

This a real procedure, or just voodoo?

Edited by Cemetery
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gun stocks are typically finished with a stain that compensates for difference in the wood quality and color that they use.

If a manufacturer says they use "walnut" they do not distinguish between sapwood or heartwood. High quality gun stocks always use heartwood regardless of the type of wood.

They use quick drying finishes that provides a hard shell. Varnish usually fills the bill.

 

A varnish provides a suitable and sometimes, with multiple coats, gorgeous finish.

 

Custom stock makers usually use some type of linseed oil finish. Linseed oil, like all oil finishes, soak into the wood and then dry to a hard finish. The difference is the drying time. Linseed oil dry the quickest. Tung oil is in the middle, and walnut oil is probable the slowest drying. The nice thing about oil finishes is that they can be easily repaired by reapplying the finish at any time. All oil finishes for gun stocks should be thinned with denatured alcohol to allow maximum penetration into the wood surface. The number of coats are up to you. I use a minimum of 20 coats.

 

When refinishing very light colored sapwood stocks, minwax makes a "gunstock" stain that gives a warm color to the wood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

 

 

That looks great. How long did it take? I always wondered why Uberti uses that red finish. Then I bought an original Winchester 1873 made in 1887. Wouldn't you know it, but the wood looks really close to uberti wood. So I suppose they tried to make it look aged, but then make the case coloring look brand new. I prefer my guns to look new and then age them myself. It's great knowing that I can strip my uberti and make it look new again. Or just stick with my brand new Winchester. One can never have too many options

 

The finish is BLO cut 3-1 with pure gun turpentine, no stain is used at all. The process takes weeks, sometimes months if the oil is slow drying and is definitely a labor of love. I strip the stock with the stuff from the hardware that would exfoliate an elephant. After whiskering the stock, using 1" squares of wet/dry sandpaper dipped in the oil mix, I sand the stock beginning with 220 grit, then 320, then finally 400 three to four times with each grit, allowing it to dry for 30 minutes before sloppily wiping it off with paper towels . The sand paper removes almost no wood, but makes a sort of mud that fills the grain. After each round of sandpaper, I let the stock dry. After the final round with 400 grit, I apply a tiny amount of the oil to the stock and rub it in with the heel of my hand and let each coat completely dry. I have no idea how many coats I apply, but it is a bunch. I stop when I like the looks of the stock.

 

This one actually didn't turn out as good as the others I have done as the oil didn't seem to want to dry, and I can't figure out why. Maybe BLO get old or something. I've been using the same can for years. Several years ago I did a stock on a '70 vintage Ruger 77. That stock had all the beauty of a mud fence, but refinishing it as described above, it took on a pretty, deep look and exposed grain that I had no idea was there. Ditto for an old Ruger 10-22 that my Dad bought me when I was a kid:

 

Before:

 

10-22before-4_zpsxoeymaoe.jpg

 

After:

 

Ruger10-22After-003.jpg

 

Redleg, coming over there and shooting is never far from my mind. I have a full set of ancient 38-40's I want to come shoot with BP, but I have to get some more brass and some more BP!

 

Cholla

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 years later...

When I was doing a search on the Wire a couple of 2017 posts came up including this one, and doesn't say archived at the bottom.  So I guess this is how some old posts get revived by un-archived ones showing up in Wire searches.

 

You may now ignore this thread, as all the photobucket pictures are gone anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use the boiled linseed oil commercial gun stock finishes on my guns.  Either TruOil or Brownells Linspeed.  If you have just "straight" linseed oil, it will take very long drying times between coats.     If you have Boiled Linseed Oil BLO - it will be faster drying.  But when I have to use the BLO, I still modify it a little with some Japan Dryer liquid,  which then gets most coats to dry in a day or two.  Read label on the Dryer - in other words, follow directions to get the best results. 

 

Hand apply the oils of any type and rub the finish as applied to warm it up, using the palm and heel of the hand.  Friction heat helps those oils polymerize and set better.

 

good luck, GJ

Edited by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use this recipe:

 

1/3 marine spar varnish

1/3 paint thinner

1/3 boiled linseed oil

 

I usually mix up 1/2 cup each of the 3 and keep it in a mason jar with the 0000 steel wool pad that I use to apply it. I use a soft cotton cloth to wipe off the excess after 1/2 hour or so. If you let it dry too long before wiping and it gets hard to wipe just recoat with more and wipe off. I use this on gun stocks, boxes and chests and other wooden projects. Usually apply 3 coats and let dry 24 hours between coats. Produces a nice hand rubbed oil finish.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/27/2017 at 4:25 PM, El Hombre Sin Nombre said:

That looks great. How long did it take? I always wondered why Uberti uses that red finish. Then I bought an original Winchester 1873 made in 1887. Wouldn't you know it, but the wood looks really close to uberti wood. So I suppose they tried to make it look aged, but then make the case coloring look brand new. I prefer my guns to look new and then age them myself. It's great knowing that I can strip my uberti and make it look new again. Or just stick with my brand new Winchester. One can never have too many options

Where have you been ? you don't use your guns anymore, they will never get old.

  R'N'R Rob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Rough 'N Ready Rob said:

Where have you been ? you don't use your guns anymore, they will never get old.

  R'N'R Rob

El Hombre Sin Nombre hasn't visited the Wire in a year and hasn't posted in 4 years.  Maybe he will be alerted to your post.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/27/2017 at 6:15 PM, Cholla Hill Tirador said:

This is what I see on my screen:
 

 

image.thumb.png.b06ee0605e0f2b1a4d602ea4d1141dc8.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was merely doing a public service by showing how these old unarchived posts can show up.

:)

But I guess while we're on the subject, this is before/after on a Thunderer grip.  Citristrip, Minwix dark walnut stain, then Ballistol for the oil finish.

 

01Dec08 009.jpg

DSC02419.JPG

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.