Remington Epoxy Finish

[Roundup]

I have a 30 year old Remington BDL.  Over the years the stock has seen some rough use.  There are scratches, scrapes, dents and one fairly deep gouge on it.  I explored the possiblity of removing the epoxy finish and giving an oil finish.  Several friends of mine who have done or attempted to do this advised me against it.  What I would like to do is to remove the finish in the affected areas and repaior them and then refinish those areas with a compatible epoxy finish.  I do not wish to replace the stock with a synthetic as I have this stock bedded the way I want it as it is a very accurate shooter.  What would you recommend for the epoxy finish?  On removing the finish in the affected areas, what would you recommend? Any other recommendations or other tips?

Thanks in advance.

Happy Trails!

[gunnut69]

It's fairly easy to remove the plastic finish used by Remington. But it can be difficult to spot it in,(i.e. make it match). To remove the entire finish and just refinish with an oil finiish just use a propane torch to curdle the finish. Work on a small area first, about the size of a playing card. Don't burn the finish just heat it until it curdles a bit. The finish is then quite easy to scrape off the wood. The dings and dents can be steamed from the wood after removal and the stock lightly sanded. Checkering can't be cleaned this way. If cut I usually cover with masking tape and recut lightly after the stock is finished. If pressed checkering it can usually be cleaned out by softening the embedded finish with solvent of stripper.. This is an excellant time to convert the prssed checkering to cut..

[black-tail]

I used Hellsman Minwax Spar urathane on my 350 Classic and liked the wassy it turned out.  This is a finish for doors and outside furnature, supose to be real good I just did mine this spring.
Here is a before

and after

[CelticCross]

As a furniture and cabinetmaker I have occasion to finish wood. I agree with Gunnut. It will be very difficult to "touch up" any problem spots and get the new finish to blend. However I think that a heat gun with a scraper attached to it would be easier to use than a torch but might take a little bit longer. To raise dents out of wood after the finish is removed; lay a damp cloth over dent a place a hot household iron on the spot the water and steam will raise the grain "proud" of the unsteamed wood and allow you to sand it flush once again. Hopw this helps.

Ryan

[Roundup]

Thanks for the suggestions.  This will be a winter project along with replacement of the floorplate ,etc.

[gunnut69]

You might do a bit of inquirey locally about powder coating. It really works well on aluminum parts. Remove the pins and springs and mask off where the powder is not wanted. A very good friend of mine owns a shop and it really works nice. I prep the pieces and they wash and mask before applying the powder. they have to be cleared of excess before reassembly but it's an easy proposition.. The material if properly applied is very wear resistant and there are more colors and textures and combinations of colors than you shake a stick at. Doug even told me there several hundred varieties of 'black'!!  Another possibility is baking lacquer from Brownells. If properly applied it's easy and fairly tough although nothing like powder coat!! New trigger guards and floorplates are horribly expensive.

[Nobade]

Gunnut has some good suggestions here. For my own 2 cents, one thing that works well on those epoxy finished stocks is to level out the scratches with sandpaper, then use fine glass beads over the whole thing at pretty low pressure, maybe 35 pounds or so. It leaves a nice satin finish that is quite pleasing and not as gaudy. For the metal, I have been playing with KG Industries Gun Kote recently. It comes in lots of colors, goes on with an airbrush, and after you bake it at 350 deg. F for an hour it's some kind of tough. Brownells sells it too, repackaged in their own cans but it's cheaper if you go to the source, and you can get some pretty wild colors if you want.

[bluebayou]

I used "Dad's paint stripper" or something like that from Wal-Mart.  Blue and white gallon can with small hand spray bottle attached.  Nasty, nasty stuff, but it bubbled the Remington finish right off. 

[gunnut69]

I have seen the results of corrosive material soaked into wood.. The browning 'salt wood' stocls come flashing to mind.  I hesitate to put anything onto wood that I would not want in contact with blued steel.. The heat process is so easy and quick it just seems a natural thing. I did the refinishing for a gunsmithing shop for many years and found that under an hour was all the time needed to ready a stock for the normal refinish. No damage re[pair or anything just rmove the existing finish and sand.. checkering adds a little time and dings that have to be steamed also take a bit of time. Still it really is so fast and easy that once you've tried and mastered it, you'll never go back..