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Want to give your long guns a little character?


Deuce Stevens SASS#55996

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I like my guns to have a little character to them. I just finished the wood on my Uberti 73' done by Wheeler Gunworks. I used Citristrip because of the low fumes and the kids can be around without worrying about it. Then I did 12 coats of Tru Oil using scotchbrite in between every coat. I prefer the Sctochbrite pads as they don't leave shavings like steel wool. It's cheap and easy to do and with a little bit of patience and elbow grease you can make a ho hum stock set look a lot better than the red Uberti finish. I'm a hack with wood and I know there are guys that have far better skills than I do (yeah I'm talking to you Yul LOL) but I"m very pleased with the results. It's a fun project and encourage anyone to try it. 

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Looks great!  Did the same thing to one of mine during the long white season.   I don't care for the red finish either.  GW

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I have a Winchester Miroku 73 that had a dull finish.  I have the habit of using Thompson Bore Butter as final bore patch and then wipe down outside with oily parch.  I'm sure the Bore Butter has wax in the formula as it has put nice sheen to the wood.

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Howdy

 

Regarding the reddish finish that Uberti puts on their stocks: I seem to recall I read in the past that it is a reproduction of the original finish that Winchester was putting on their rifles. I do not know for a fact if this is true. In fact, I may be responsible for spreading a rumor.

 

This Model 1873 was made in 1887. It has the typical brown finish one sees on old Winchesters. No idea if it has been refinished in the ensuing years, I suspect it has.

 

Anyway, if I had Mr Peabody's Way Back Machine one of the places I would like to visit would be the Winchester factory in the 1880s to see what color the rifle stocks were when they left the factory. I would also like to visit the Colt factory and the S&W factory.

 

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P.S. Uberti uses Circassian Walnut for their gunstocks. This is the native European species of Walnut. It may be a slightly different color than American Walnut. I also used to work in the furniture industry many years ago. When we made something out of walnut, we would routinely stain it and not finish it with a clear finish.

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We ran a sawmill business for some 20 years.  We started out with the plan to dry and sale furniture grade hardwood lumber, including walnut directly to the public.  We built up an inventory of kiln dried major domestic species and tried to attract local woodworkers and cabinet shops. We didn't do well.  Our lumber was kiln dried by a commercial kiln operation.  But we soon found out there was a lot of prejudice in how the customer wanted his lumber dried.  Some wanted only air dried that takes a year or more to achieve and doesn't kill the bacteria in the wood (they wanted to reproduce or repair antique furniture).  And some were ok with normal heat kiln dried lumber but expected it to be all 1"x12" by the thickness and the length specified in their plan.  Hardwood does not produce standard size lumber.  Then there is quarter sawn and grade sawn that completely changes the grain pattern. 

 

Walnut had another element of variation.  Color.   Normal air dried or kiln dried will have a burgundy color to it with some varying shades of brown.  But it's been industry standard in the US to steam the walnut.  This turns everything,  including sap wood that is white, to a black color.   A customer would show up and asked for walnut and I'd show him our inventory and they would be shocked to see it an oxidized brown color and rough sawn.  They pictured the lumber to look like the finished product.  

 

One last odd note on the color of walnut. The wood is olive green until exposed to air.  You slice off a board from the log and the inside cut is green just for a split second but once it gets air, it starts to turn brown. 

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