Gun stock refinished

Nice refinish. How did you do it?

@Andy123: Thanks! I removed all of the metal pieces first. Then I used a piece of wire to suspend the stock in the air. I used a gel stripper to remove the old finish. I used steel wool and mineral spirits to fully clean the wood. I ended up with a very, very light stain (I don't remember what color it was). The final coat was Helmsman Spar Urethane. Now if it would only shoot as nicely as it looks (it doesn't)

Nice job. Some of the crap they put on those rifles was terrible. It was like peeling off cracked glass. It came out great. Was the original fore tip painted? I noticed it is gone. I've never seen one that wasn't a different kind of wood.

@Don: Thanks. Yes, the original tip was painted. And that was the hardest part to get off. The entire stock is one kind of wood…not sure what it is, though.

Nice work, that is some pretty grain that was hiding under there all these years.

Wow… that's it as soon as I get back from this business trip I'm stripping & refinishing my 70 year old .22

Turned out nice!

Good save!

Glass bedding may help with the accuracy. Was the fore end painted or was it an ebony cap?

@MedicKen: The cap was painted black-it's all one piece of wood.

Try free floating the barrel. Loosen the retaining screws, slide a strip of sand paper down the channel, paper side against the barrel. Then pull the sandpaper like your buffing your boot. Do that till you can slide a piece of paper folded twice all the back to the action. Tighten the retaining screws till the action is properly seated. Check often with the folded paper.