Gentlemen

I got my double today it is better then I expected - WOW is all I can say.
One thing amazes me though why on earth does so many double rifles come without oil worked stocks? Not even the grain has been sealed? I have seen this on Doubles from Heym, Krieghoff and now this Sodia? The wood is great and the engraving very nice. Why not finish the product by giving the stock some grain sealer and a cote or two at least? this could be done in two days while other work was being done.
The only fair prices double I have seen that came with a good finished stock is the Searcy.
I have no problem with finishing the stock myself as I know the tricks and have done many fine stocks, but I now that there are many people out there that does not know how to do it.
A good sealed and oil polished stock becomes much harder and is NOT scared as easy as the unfinished ones.

PS here are some pictures of the double, will post pictures after I finish it, this will take about 30 days or so

Cheers,

André

Andre,
Congratulations, what caliber is it?

.458 Winchester Magnum

Cheers,

André

Very nice Andre! I understand completely what you mean about the wood....an otherwise very fine rifle with a "cheap" finish on the stock. I am going to follow your lead on my 404 and refinish using the CL oil.
I'll be very interested in the outcome of your refinish work on this rifle.

Best of luck.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

Beautiful rifle. Nice chopper lump barrels

Congratulations from here Andre`.
Glad you have bought a "membershipcard" to the DRSS

Why no oil?. Well...its your job now..

Looking foreward to emty the magazine on this one..

Wonderful rifle!

Andre,

Its all about saving money. It amazes me how much Heym gets for their guns and their stocks are poorly finished. They also use very plain wood for such an expensive gun. They often look like they have had one coat of finish applied and then ship the gun out the door. As the saying goes better wrong than take too long.

Bike Rider

Andre

Very nice looking double.

Shoot it before you refinish the stock.

Do not make us wait 30 days to see how she shoots.

Looks like the engraving is right up there with the stock finish!! both are less than even fair.. Sorry but thats the way I see it..mass production at its best, but it does keep the price down or at least it should.

I recently looked over a very high grade and high dollar double rifle made by Heym and it was basically junk IMO...

Gentlemen,

I re-finished the stock on my double.

Cheers,

André

WOW-

that is so nice I am short of words.


Thanks for sharing.

Best regards Chris

really good job andre, it does the wood justice.

what are the bullets in the second photo ?

cheers

peter

Thanks for the kind words.
The bullets are 500 grn GS Custom FN (Flat Nose) solids in pure cobber with moly coating.

Cheers,

André

That is an amazing improvement! Great job, André!

Would you mind describing for us exactly what you did?

Nice stuff, Andre!!...reminds me of a Heym 500 Jeff I saw somewhere.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
That is an amazing improvement! Great job, André!

Would you mind describing for us exactly what you did?

Sure NO problem, while we are at it do you want my secret BBQ sauce recepie

Cheers,

André

quote:

Originally posted by GarBy:
Nice stuff, Andre!!...reminds me of a Heym 500 Jeff I saw somewhere.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
SCI
DSC

YES, but that rifle is Down under NOW LW is playing with it these days.

LLLLLLLWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU where are you?

Cheers,

André

quote:

Originally posted by JefferyDenmark:

Sure NO problem, while we are at it do you want my secret BBQ sauce recepie

Cheers,

André

I'd love the BBQ recipe too, but I'm afraid I might get it mixed up with the one for the stock refinisher!

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
That is an amazing improvement! Great job, André!

Would you mind describing for us exactly what you did?

Sure why not.

First you sand down the stock with about 600 grit, this is to get old oil and dirt of, and get rid of dents and other scars.
Then you seal the stock with a grain sealer - I use CCL products. I work with sandpaper also grit 600 and the grain sealer, this part is NOT easy! The grain sealer hardens up FAST while you work the sand paper, but this way you really get the grain sealer worked into the stock. This way also mixes the grain sealer and the wood dust from the sanding process. There are other ways to use grain sealer then this one. After this your stock looks like hell and is covered in sticky grain sealer. The grain sealer must now harden up, leave the stock for 2-3 days.
Then you start to polish/sand/rub the hardened grain sealer of with conditioning oil, leaving only the sealer in the holes in the wood. start this process with about grit 800 once and go to grit 1000 or so.
The first days you can polish two times, but there are no shorts cuts here, the stock must rest between each coat to soke up the oil.
After polishing the stock with conditioning oil you leave it with the oil on for about 40 minutes, the stock will then absorbed some of the oil. The oil will also harden up and you must wipe it of completely. If you forget this!!! You will have a lacier like layer on the stock and this is NOT desirable.
work with grit 1000 for 2-3 days and to to grit 1200 Working only one session a day. if you can not get sanding paper finer then 1200 you can wipe it clean after using it, it will work itself finer from the use.
repeat this process for about 20-30 days and watch the stock become more shiny. At some point you will move on to a polishing cloth of some sort with the oil, this must not be a fussy one, I use a eyewear cleaning cloth - they are very soft. polish with oil one time a day and leave the stock with oil on for about 40-50 minutes and wipe then ALL the oil off with a clean cloth, do not leave anything on.
Repeat this until satisfied.

Cheers,

André

Thanks, André. Extremely labor intensive process, but clearly worth the trouble!

Excellent finish.

Hand rubbed oil is the traditional stock finish of top quality guns, be they shotguns or rifles. It's also the most easiest to touch up, even after having steamed out the inevitable dents a working gun inevitably collects. Here's my double FN-Browning, in use since 1982 and steamed/retouched several times.


When applied and sealed right from the beginnning, a traditional oil finish remains presentable with a minimum of maintenance and, for my taste, I would expect no other on best guns.