Any advice about stripping down an old Rem 700 stock?

V

VaniB

New member
I never attempted to strip down an of an old glossy 1970's Remington 700 BDL stock. It's got a very nice color and wood grain, but it's has a couple of nasty little dents, and a few nicks and scratches that I'd like to remove. Can I turn it into a nice looking stock again?..... Or is that old glossy factory finish going to be too difficult to attempt?

Any tips and advice would be appreciated.
 
Vani

I used to strip a lot of older wood stocks, and the best stuff I found was Klean-Strip, which is actually used to remove all finishes from Gelcoat Fiberglass boats. It works really well on the Polyurethane finishes that many of the high gloss stocks have. It will not harm the wood,and water neutralizes it.
As for re-finishing, Beerchwood Casey True Oil is still as good as it gets. The first few coats will raise the grain, you sand this down to the wood a couple of times, and then it starts to layer on, and you get that finish that looks 2 inches deep. A lot of work, but the results are worth it........jackie
 
ditto on what Jackie said. I'm sure I haven't done as many stocks as Jackie has but what works.....works...

Hovis
 
One product I've been using is Citristrip. It doesn't have the fumes of other strippers and doesn't dry out, you can let it set and work for a day then wiped off with a rag or paper towels. After all the finish is gone, the final step is a wipe down with a wet rag to remove stripper in the grain.

Here is a Mod 7 a friend's son "refinished" using some unknown black paint skillfully applied with a cheap brush.
Mod7-1.jpg


After the first coat of Citristrip. It removed all the paint and almost all the factory poly in all but a few small spots using one coat. The checkering was cleaned using a small brass brush.
Mod7-5.jpg


There were a few small dents easily raised with a damp cloth and a soldering iron. The finish I used was 5 coats of Tru-Oil rubbed between each coat, this is what it looked like almost finished.
Mod7-8.jpg


Since the lad sanded the barrel removing most of the bluing and painted all the metal (trigger included!) it needed striped and refinished too. (Be careful! Citistrip may remove bluing)) For that I used Duracoat matte black.
Mod7-Finished-2.jpg



See...there is life after death!:D

Bill
 
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Did a google search and found that "Clean Strip" is carried by Lowes and Home Depot, and so it can easily and conveniently be obtained.

Thank you gents for your help. If you guys or anybody else out there can address any of these 3 particular concerns I have, I'd appreciate it:

1) The Remington 700 BDL Deluxe might have some kind of a hard clear epoxy product, instead of a urethane paint product. Anybody ever worked with that particular Remington finish to know how difficult it is and if "Clean Strip" works as efficient on it?

2) I need to try not to damage, sand down, or really flatten the stamped checkering of the stock. Hopefully, that hard gloss Remington finish will remove easilly from those delicate checkered areas.

3) Once I have removed most of the dings and scratches, I then want to spray a clear gloss finish back on. I want this stock to resemble a factory Remington BDL Deluxe. I'm not sure what kind of gloss product to use. My concern is not use something that will yellow, or will dry 99.9 % instead of 100%
 
I've never had a problem on a Remington that I can remember. A few years back I ran into a Weatherby that was a whole different story. Never found a stripper that would touch it! Sandpaper was the only thing that I found that worked and it was the toughest d#*n finish I've ever seen to sand too. I now know to run as fast as I can from a Weatherby that someone wants refinished, at least til someone can show me an easier way of stripping them.---Mike
 
.....ain't it funny though how a Weatherby Mark V stock will sure ding and dent just as fast as the rest of them when abused. I never understood how folks could buy a beautiful piece of furniture, just so they could take it into the woods and practically use it as a paddle to dig out the camp latrine. LOL


BTW, I'm hearing that I'd be better off using one of the more solvent style strippers. (I assume this means the more toxic varieties especially requiring good ventilation and latex gloves) Some of the water soluble based strippers will raise the wood like mad I'm told, and require sanding. This is not a good thing if I'm trying to remove the finish from the checkering and leave the checkering mostly undisturbed. I don't want to have to sand the checkering.
 
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VaniB said:
Did a google search and found that "Clean Strip" is carried by Lowes and Home Depot, and so it can easily and conveniently be obtained.

Thank you gents for your help. If you guys or anybody else out there can address any of these 3 particular concerns I have, I'd appreciate it:

1) The Remington 700 BDL Deluxe might have some kind of a hard clear epoxy product, instead of a urethane paint product. Anybody ever worked with that particular Remington finish to know how difficult it is and if "Clean Strip" works as efficient on it?

2) I need to try not to damage, sand down, or really flatten the stamped checkering of the stock. Hopefully, that hard gloss Remington finish will remove easilly from those delicate checkered areas.


3) Once I have removed most of the dings and scratches, I then want to spray a clear gloss finish back on. I want this stock to resemble a factory Remington BDL Deluxe. I'm not sure what kind of gloss product to use. My concern is not use something that will yellow, or will dry 99.9 % instead of 100%
Click to expand...

(1) The stuff I recommended "Citristrip" will completely remove the Remington finish usually in one or two coats. Another advantage, it doesn't swell the wood. After stripping all thats needed, other than raising dents, etc, is whisker the stock and it ready for the first coat of finish.

(2) Work the stripper in the checkering, allow it to work then use a stiff brush to clean it. The brush I use looks like a brass bristled toothbrush, stiff enough to clean it , but soft enough not to do any damage.

(3) The closest match I've found for the Rem finish (which does yellow) is the old regular MinWax Poly for both touch up and refinishing. The Crystal Clear water based poly will give a good durable finish, but won't match the factory color.

One other tip. When sanding, leave the recoil pad in place. Sand it right along with the wood. You'll have the tendency to round the edges of the butt and the parting line between the wood and pad will look like crap. The plastic on the pad can be cleaned up afterwards with a Scoth-Brite pad and the rubber with Mother's "Back to Black". If you look close in the picture I posted you'll see the pad and grip cap are in place and matches the stock contour perfectly.

Bill
 
Bill, somebody else mentioned some stuff at Brownell's called "Certistrip. But it raises the wood grain.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=4984&title=CERTISTRIP

You are not talkng about that stuff. This link below is what you are talkng about, right? ;

http://www.citristrip.com/

This product is available at Lowes and Walmart, so it's easy enough to obtain. That'll save shipping costs too.

Thanks for the tip about leaving the trim pieces on the stock. I guess between you and Jackie, I've got enough good info to start the job and get into some real :D trouble.
 
VaniB said:
Bill, somebody else mentioned some stuff at Brownell's called "Certistrip. But it raises the wood grain.

http://www.citristrip.com/

This product is available at Lowes and Walmart, so it's easy enough to obtain. That'll save shipping costs too.

Thanks for the tip about leaving the trim pieces on the stock. I guess between you and Jackie, I've got enough good info to start the job and get into some real :D trouble.
Click to expand...

Yes, thats the stuff, the "Gel" in the jug on the right. I've used it quite a few times and haven't experienced it raising or opening the grain any more than using a damp rag to whisker a stock does. In fact, after removing the finish all I needed was to whisker the stock with SS steel wool cleaned with denatured alcohol. I had to do very little sanding.

One place most everyone messes up..they rush the job, "Get-R-Done" be it refinishing, bedding or whatever. TAKE YOUR TIME!!! Put a coat of finish on then forget about it for a day or so. It ain't going anywhere!
 
There was an article in Rifle magazine about 20 years ago that was about stock work, to include stripping. One of the people in the article recommended and used Easy-Off oven cleaner. So I tried it on a 40X stock. Worked pretty good. I don't remember how many coats it took, or if it raised the grain a bunch, but I know it took the finish off.

Justin
 
Furniture refinishers use a liquid remover that will remove polyurethane & leave the stain intact,without raising the grain.
Wipe it on-wait a few seconds-wipe it off.

I've used the product several times with excellent results,only problem,I'll have to contact a younger brother to get the name of the product(he removed the label also) as he packed it off when I was finished.

Stock looks excellent-BTW.
 
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couple of ideas to

i read the article on the oven cleaner too. tried it and it really cleaned and bleached the wood. i would only recomend this for the tough to remove finishes.
one i used is acetone with sinthetic steel wool. this will melt any oil or polyurthane finish without taking the patina out of the wood. just use gloves and good ventilation. keep the acetone in a separate container and when the pad gets gunked up rinse it out in the acetone. keep rubbing out the finish in small areas. this method assist in polishing the wood as it is removing the finish.
actually the article on the oven cleaner recommended using it outdoors as it is so nasty. as others indicated tru oil is hard to beat for a finish. Greg Moyer
 
So tell me BillPA, or Dan's 40,

Will I end up losing some, most, or all of the original color on this stock? It would be nice to try and keep it as much as possible:

7s-5.jpg


7s-1c.jpg


The photo below of the chamber port is the worst area. But, the whole stock has numerous scratches and dings, and it's a shame what somebody did to this stock. It's a worse shame the time and money I spent making sure I would win this stock on the auction sight! :rolleyes: :D
It hasn't arrived in the mail yet, and I'm going to be scared to open the box.

Wish me luck with this stock refinish job. I think I'm going to need luck...and skill.


Mydented70sstock.jpg
 
one of my customers is by trade

a pro furniture refinisher and builder. he buys industrial solvent in 55 gal drums in a large tank/shower gizmo that removes just about anything, even very hard finishes. i soak the furniture a while, brush down with stiff brush in the checkered areas. then i start sanding lightly with 100 grit up to 2000 grit (somtimes), maybe more than once. to get a tru lay.

you might be able to make a deal with a re-finisher in your area. otherwise the products mentioned will do a good job.

i agree wih jackie et al about birchwood casey kits. work great. kits about $16.00 or so, or buy seperate components.

regards, tbob
 
Finish....

The stuff I've found that lasts better than Rem's (which won't stand up to a beard or even a 5 o'clock shadow on a hot day), which only lasted 2-3 yrs. for me, was 4-6 coats of SPAR polyurethane, apply it by your method of choice, use gloss, or(I prefer) satin. It really withstands the harshness of weather(as in SPARS for ship's rigging), sweat, scratching from needing a shave at the end of a hot day, etc; its good about dings, but it won't repel the dings as well as you'd like, you need harder wood for that! Ditto on take the time, & no, it doesn't yellow. Have a good time.
 
don't get the stripper on the black tip...sand this by hand and repaint it black with duracoat over the white piece too ....remove grip cap and butt plate..discard the white piece...sand out knicks coarse to fine paper then steel wo and hand rub tru oil.
 
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