My Win. 1876 butt stock looks black. What is best to strip and what finish to reapply to give it the Win look?
Thanks!

After removing it from the rifle, start with a paint stripper; I use one of the citrus strippers from Home Depot. Follow the directions. Once that's done boil the stock in water with a little Arm & Hammer Washimg Soda---NOT baking soda. You should find it in the laundry detergent section of grocery stores. Boil for 15 minutes or so. Let dry for up to a week, then sand and finish using an oil finish dyed with Pilkington's per-64 red stain.

That being said, if it's an original Winchester 1876 leave it alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
if it's an original Winchester 1876 leave it alone.

Me too.
Regards, Joe

Gasp! Be careful about boiling out wood..Perhaps on real plain wood, but I was commissioned to make a new fore end for a Model 21 Win.

Owner tried out the boiling process and the wood warped in about 100 different directions.

Safer to "paint" on the solution, wipe off...repeat...let it dry a day or two, then do it again...the oils will migrate to the surface.

With patience, you'll get a clean piece of wood

Acetone mixed with whiting or talc into a thin paste works good to remove oils from stock wood. Paint it on the stock and as the acetone evaporates it draws out the oil and the whiting soaks it up. Do it in small areas and it may take more than one application, but it does a pretty good job of removing the oils.

Boiling has worked well for me on dozens of stocks, but I'm sure there may be one out there it may not work for. Works WAY better than acetone and whiting, which I used on many stocks before I changed to boiling them.

Both of these stocks were degreased using John's method. They were really nasty to begin with. The water bath looked like 90wt gear oil after the boil job.

Something I have used and had good luck with it bringing out the oil is Easy Off oven cleaner. But just the regular the lemon scented one did not work well at all when I got it by mistake.