Colonel Kraken Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Howdy, since this is my first post I'll give a little introduction, I'm green as clover in the morning dew with 2 and 2/3 (last match got rained out) matches under my belt. However I was a civil war reenactor for twenty years and have been shooting USPA and other competitions for six years. My questions are about refinishing the stock on my Uberti - Taylor and Company - Winchester '73. I've stripped stocks before on reproduction 3 band Enfields and Springfields. On one of them when I stripped the stock I found a place where filler wood had been used. It had a green tint to it and didn't hold a stain. Looking at my Winchester it looks like it has some filler wood. I don't want to strip it and have an unsightly patch of filler. Am I right in thinking that's what this is? If so is the filler wood they use these days better than what I found 20 years ago? Will it hold a stain? Am I better off to just buy a new unfinished stock and save this one as a replacement for someone else's stock? Are there any other options? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Can I ask why it needs refinishing? All my guns were real pretty when I started out competing with them. Now not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Kraken Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 Hey Flash, I like to just have a linseed oil finish on my stock. I should have mentioned that was my intention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene, SASS # 27489 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Howdy Colonel and welcome. Lots of us have stripped our Uberti stocks with no problem. Although I've never seen one before that looked like yours. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Devil Dale Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 16 minutes ago, Flash said: Can I ask why it needs refinishing? All my guns were real pretty when I started out competing with them. Now not so much. I had the same thought. The stock looks pretty good, especially compared to mine or the others at the loading table. But with that said, filler wood itself should not be a problem for accepting coloring, but exposed glue is a different story. (The photo looks like a lamination used to get a wider starting board.) Stain is just wood dust mixed in solvent, so if the solvent would penetrate the glue, the glue would fail. Rather than staining, I've had very good results using dye. The vegetable dyes sold for leatherworking work particularly well. Woodcraft.com and other vendors also sell vegetable dyes made specifically for wood, but they are pricey. The dye is usually water soluble, so it will not color exposed polyacrylic (White) glue. That is a good reason to use epoxy glues for gunstock lamination and repair, since it dries clear and is less noticeable on a refinished stock. The dyes, properly prepared, are color fast, but their penetration is just so - so. After drying, they usually will rub off onto your clothing and hands, so a top coat of urethane or Lacquer is needed. But again, if the pictured stock was mine, I'd leave it a go do something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 My guess is you would have a HARD time getting that surface patch to match the rest of butt stock well. See VTI Gun Works for a finished butt stock and refinish THAT stock. Uberti uses a pretty tough polyurethane finish. Airplane paint stripper is often needed to get through that. Do not sand heavily on 73 stocks, as you will quickly sink the wood below the level of the frame! Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Kraken Posted October 30, 2019 Author Share Posted October 30, 2019 1 hour ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said: you would have a HARD time getting that surface patch to match the rest of butt stock well. Hey Joe, that's what I'm afraid of. I'll probably just leave it alone for now - being new I'm still trying to get all my leather and accouterments together. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 I cannot tell from the picture BUT my best guess would be that this is not a patch. When the wood is sawed at the mill it was flat sawed. Meaning that the wood was cut along the grain of the wood. It appears as this piece is mostly sapwood and just a bit of the heartwood was cut along with it. If it is a patch, someone did a very good job of fitting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Kid Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Stripping the stock is easy. Use Citristrip in a spray can. Non-caustic. Spray good layer (I use plenty of newspaper), wait over night and use a plactic scraper. If you have checkering use a toothbrush. May require two or three coats to completely remove finish. Absolutely no sandpaper, if needed light scrubbing with very fine steel wool. Once stripped, I wipe stock with damp rage to raise gain, coat of oil and light steel wool. This procedure was posted a while back on the OpenRange site. Done at least 4, all came out looking better than the orginal finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Solo Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 I also used citristrip. Took about 4 applications, and i did need a bit of sanding to get all the red out, but it was literally just 400 grit and a few passes. After that I stained it, filled the grain with a sanded in tru oil finish, and gave it a final few coats of tru oil. Came out amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 it looks really nice , i like the oiled look myself but never fault another for liking that shiny look , if we all thought alike there would be no diversity - nod to my liberal friends and they know who they are - i love them dearly , we do share so much great talk ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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