I received this as a handed down rifle that my grand father purchased for my dad. The stock had quite a bit of history as you can see but i'm told it shoots awesome. I've never refinished a stock before, but attempted it anyways. Pretty happy with the results. I learned a few things a long the way for next time for sure.
Thanks to the couple of people who gave me some pointers along the way on the forums.
My Process:
1.) Taped off the checkering.
2.) Used a chemical stripper on the stock.
3.) Removed the tape and stripped the checkering by itself. I did this because I didn't want to leave the stripper on too long and risk damaging the checkering.
4.) washed the stock with water and let it dry.
5.) Steamed out the dents.
6.) Sanded the stock (Not the checkering).
7.) Taped off the checkering again with a few layers of tape, wanted it to stay on the whole time.
8.) Started applying coats of Birchwood Casey TruOil by fingertip. Definitely using thinner coats is better. I tried both by finger tip and by using a small piece of cloth from an old T-Shirt. In the end I think the finger leaves a better result, I experienced some small air bubbles with the T-Shirt. I'd prefer to use something else other than my finger to apply it, but I'll have to experiment.
After each coat, I normally allowed 1 day to dry. I did however try to do a coat in the morning and one at night on one occasion, and it was hot and dry enough out that I never experienced any adverse effects.
After each coat I used 0000 wood working grade steel wool to lightly knock down the last layer. You don't want to burn through layers. I also tried 1000 grit sandpaper, but I ended up preferring the steel wool. I did however end up with tiny wool filings on the stock after, so I used a compressor with air to blow it off and a final quick rub down with a dry rag, then proceeded to the next coat.
In total, I think I did 9 coats of TruOil on the stock (Minus the checkering).
9.) After it was dry, I did a very light rub down of the stock with the steel wool. Then I used water and pumice powder to buff it, then proceeded to use baby oil and Rotten-Stone for the final buff. After that was completed, I used a bit of dish soap and water to wash the oil off, then used MinWax finishing Paste to wax the stock.
10.) Finally I removed the tape, and applied two thing coats of TruOil with a soft tooth brush to the checkering. Right after I applied the oil, I used a rag to remove the excess oil, I didn't want a saturated look on the checkering.
11.) Lastly I did one more coat of MinWax on the stock, and lightly went over the checkering as well. Then a last buff with a dry cloth.
Overall I am happy with the results, I was thinking it would end up a bit more of a satin finish by using the rotten stone, but I think it still looks good.
Original Stock + taping off the checkering:
Stripped Stock:
Finished:
Mossberg 800a .308 Stock Refinish Project
Linear Mode
