Hi Guys. I have an old Remington 14 made in 1914 that someone refinished the stock but not the forearm on. The metal goes an original 96-97% but I will need to refinish the stock. My question is, does anyone know what type of finish would have been original back then? I would like to keep it as original as possible. I imagine it is a varnish of some type(spar varnish?).THANKS!

I am not sure what they used. I think sprayed on spar varnish may be close. Maybe even laquer. Laquer was used a lot because it dried super fast and made a decent looking finish. In either case I would bet some kind of dye or tint was added to the finish. My Rem 14 1/2 seems to have some orange in the finish. In the paces where it has flaked, and this suggests laquir to me, the underlying wood is a different color than the area that still has finish.

It is not difficult to spray a tinted laquir finish. The K-31 Swiss rifles seemed to have used it. I refinished one with tinted laquir. It is a real close copy to the original finish. Someday I will test some of the original Swiss finish to determine what exactly it is. I have accesss to the insturmentation needed to do so.

I believe the finish was a built-up varnish, as a lot of these guns have chips of finish missing. Any modern oil base varnish should give an origional look. The reddish coloring can be duplicated by nearly any of the dyes in the Brownell catalog that say they are for duplicating the color on older Winchester and Remington stocks. When staining, keep in mind the present color of your stock is partly from stain and partly from 90 years of the finish yellowing and having oil and dirt rubbed into it thru use. To have an accurate reproduction of a new factory finish, don't make it as dark as it is now.

McCloskeys makes a product called Heirloom Varnish- basically an all alkyd varnish meant to reproduce the old look on period furniture. It's amber colored. I was thinking of trying it on a Pre 64 Winchester but haven't had the guts yet.

You might want to experiment with it on something else first...

Thanks for the reply's guys. I was thinking about the McCloskey's varnish and was wondering about how it would handle wet weather? Do you guys think a Spar varnish would be better?

McCloskey's is one of the longest wearing, abrasion resistant and non-yellowing products that has been tested in the chemists lab in its category. It is commonly used on flat wood decks by top quality construction companies if that gives you an idea of its moisture repelling properties. It is far superior to spar varnish.

Just to be clear here, I am refering to McCloskeys Heirloom varnish to get the LOOK and somewhat close chemistry of the original varnish... It sound from your descriptions above that it may be orange shellac however- not the best stock finish...



I use McCloskeys Man O'War Marine Spar Varnish (7507 Semi-Gloss) over soaked in and sanded off Waterlox Marine- probably an overkill which is OK with me... I find the semigloss sheen to be close to a mint Pre 64 stock finish but if you put too much on, it gets too glossy... McCloskeys also makes a matte Marine Spar Varnish but I find it difficult to apply thinly without streaking due to the silica content... As the man said, tough stuff. Get the half pint cans BTW.



Personally, I'd go with the spar varnish. No one is going to chemically analyze your rifle for authenticity... Just do your best to match the color and sheen- no easy task...



McCloskeys Product Hotline: 1-800-345-4530

Thanks for the reply's guys. I really just want to approximate the factory finish and really don't plan on getting it wet but you never know. The wood itself isn't even really dirty or oil soaked, the rifle must have sat inside most of it's life. I just want to varnish it but I don't want something clear as the original is ambered, like most older varnishes did. Semi-gloss seems about right.Does their spar varnish amber a little or is it clear? Is spar varnish tougher to apply than regular varnish, I've never used it.THANKS!