Can anyone tell me what they have used to strip the hard finish from stocks like the new Winchester, Weatherby and Ruger.

Oven cleaner spray works really well for stripping wood stocks...Take the actions off first though!!

Any commercial stripper available at most any good paint store does the job better than anything I've used. Many are compatible with mineral spirts for washing it off and don't have to be washed off with water thereby eliminating raising the wood grain. A brand I've used is Jayco. They make a couple of varieties.

HEllo,

Pete E, mentioned the oven cleaner method. I have used this also, however I place the stock in the oven and set the thermostat on the lowest setting. It works very well and if your stock is soaked with oil it will draw that out also. I check the stock every 10 minutes or so.

Hopefully you have an understanding spouse! I need to do mine when she is not around.

Good SHOOTin,

Jim

I am going to give the oven cleaner method a try...sounds interesting if anything.

Thanks for the input.

I understand that oven cleaner is a good way to ruin a stock. Some stocks turn green after awhile because of it. Go to your hardware store and get what's good, not what's cheap. Any hireling at a hardware store can tell you what works on your finish. Please don't ruin nice wood!

Tom,

I have used oven cleaner several times and never had a stock go green, although the stocks were all rinsed well in running water afterwards. Still, I can't argue with going by the book and using a commercial stripper; that should be the safest method to avoid tears!

regards,

Pete

Will oven cleaner work on the newer "poly" finishes? I thought it was for oil-based finishes.

Don

I decided against the oven cleaner method. I used some Bix commercial stripper...seemed to work pretty well. These poly type finishes are really difficult to penetrate with stripper but after about 45 minutes it started to do its job.

The next question is which type of oil finish to apply?

hi mick i use a furniture stripper on moldings all the time use on gun stocks also the prouduct is called sado stripper jake good luck

Mick,
On another gunsmithing thread I went into more detail, but within the chemical polymer bond, tung oil is far more water resistant than boild linseed oil.
I use tung oil cut 50:50 with paint thinner for the first soaking two coats and eight or more coats of pure oil to fill and finish, buffing matt with 0000 wool and cotton, cleaning lint with compressed air. Allow several days between coats to cure the polymer bond, which is far more than drying. Curing is forming a double oxygen bond. Allow a month for the project.