stock finish question

[mescalero1]

Guys,
The buttstock on my Mossberg 472 lever action .30-.30 is a decent piece of walnut.
Over the years the ( for lack of a better explanation ) clearcoat that the factory? applied has chipped off, in places.
What is a good method to get it all off?

[marlinman93]

Chemical stripper.

[Sixgun]

I like "Zip-Strip".-----Brush it on and a half hour later just wipe it off-------available at any hardware store------------Sixgun

[mescalero1]

Thank you, Gentlemen

[C. Cash]

Formby's Furniture refinisher should take the clear coat off without touching the stain, if that is a route you wanted to go. It's at your major home stores, and just use 0000 steel wool as an applicator...forget what the can says. It has worked well for me with the chipping off finish on my Winchester and various old shotguns and it literally melts off the nasty old varnish in seconds. I finish up with a few coats of Tru-Oil to bring back the luster. No sanding involved.

[Old Time Hunter]

After much experimentation and to the chargine of my collector buddies(sic), I have come to the conclusion that a good scubbing of the stock (of course without the iron) with hot water and Murphy's Oil Soap, followed (after drying) with using a stain/varnish biodegradeable gel (wipe on-wipe off, 0000 steel wool optional), washing off remaining residue with MS (mineral spirits), let it dry, steel wool it smooth, stain to taste or like I do...use BLO (boiled linseed oil) steel wooling between the four to five coats, then finish up with a good coat of gun wax (carnuba with bee wax).

Hopefully it turns out like this:



and the '73 Win here;

[mescalero1]

That does look nice

[O.S.O.K.]

Nice looking Mosin!

I like spirit stain and BLO - the last time I used it, I mixed with some denatured alcohol which really sped-up the drying time between applications.

Citrus strip works good too BTW.

[mescalero1]

OK group,
I got it chemiclly stripped and boy is it a good looking piece of wood under that whatever it was.
Remember I said the clearcoat had chipped, well under each of those chips is a witness mark from whatever caused the chip.
Question is , how to proceed to get those marks out, they are not really into the wood, just witness marks.

[mescalero1]

I am just bumping this to the top to get it some coverage.

[Old Time Hunter]

Try using a iron on steam to get out the witness marks.

[mescalero1]

Old Time Hunter,
Thank you very much for responding!