I bought a 1885 low wall .223 from an estate sale.
The gun said to be a safe queen for 25 or so years. Any way bought it along with a 1987 Ruger No.1 .243 red pad, both rifles look brand new. Of course the unfired thing came up. The Browning has some scuffs from safe duty all that time. What could be done to remove the scuffs on a Browning high gloss finish? Or better to live with it like it is.
Thanks

quote:

Or better to live with it like it is

I would leave it alone. A mar comes with age. A repair is a REPAIR

Depending on just how deep the "scuffs" are....

Browning finishes are fairly thick. Using very fine wet/dry(600 or finer) and some rubbing compound followed by polishing compound you can make a Browning "new" again. IF you are not in a hurry and are patient. Oh, VERY light pressure is used with the sand paper.

If the scuffs are white and down to the wood in appearance....leave them alone!

As I recall early Browning finishes like early Wby finishes were dipped in whatever, probably some kind of poly urathane so they are real thick..It will take quit a number of coats and wet sanding to level the finish out, and the last coats will need to be polished with rotten stone several times..I have done one such as you have and it turned out nice, but if I had to do it over I would strip the finish and go for a satin oil or modified oil urathane type finish, unless your a collector and want to return it to original..The original finish isn't much of a finish IMO, but it sure has to be waterproof!

I used Brownells high gloss Gun-Sav-R on the Wby I did, and it worked extremely well..

However if you are a collector you might want to have a professional stock maker do your stock or perhaps leave it as is, as sometimes a collector gun is worth more with some scratches than a beautifully refinished or repaired gun. Its a crap shoot.

In the old days Browning always put a pink dye in the finish which was pretty much impossible to match.So it was all refinihed or nothing.
Then they started using various finishes .I haven't screwed up my 1885 yet so I can't tell you more .They are a very fine gun for sure!