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

[Cholla Hill Tirador 34]

Factory finish-

 

 

After stripping and hand rubbing in linseed oil-

 

[Michigan Slim 1,834]

Nice! It sure brought that grain out a poppin!

[El Hombre Sin Nombre 1,175]

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 Original Lumpy Gritz 4,723]

Very NICE

How many coats.

OLG

[Tracker Jack Daniels,58780 174]

Very NICE

How many coats.

OLG

+1

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 4,723]

Wait a week and add another. Do this for 3-4 coats.

OLG

[Tracker Jack Daniels,58780 174]

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.

[Yellowhouse Sam # 25171 100]

I believe the original finish was a varnish.

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748 9,467]

WOW! That is really nice!

[Redleg Reilly, SASS #46372 48]

So what do we have to do to get you to come to the range and shoot that thing?

[Tracker Jack Daniels,58780 174]

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.

[Rooster Ron Wayne 1,027]

Factory finish-

 

 

After stripping and hand rubbing in linseed oil-

 

WOW !

That is Gorgeous !

[John Boy 451]

When I strip the factory finish on the Uberti's, tung oil & boiled linseed oil with burnt umber mixed in.

[Cemetery 140]

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 January 28, 2017 by Cemetery

[Ace_of_Hearts 578]

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.

[Cholla Hill Tirador 34]

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:

 

 

After:

 

 

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

[Redleg Reilly, SASS #46372 48]

Well, just a reminder that I'm holding a spot on the posse for you and my arms are getting tired.