Rifle refinish suggestions wanted

[1 id dog]

Bought a Savage model 110 / 7mm mag. at a gun show. Cosmetically it is in terrible condition. It shoots well enough as it is. This will be my primary all round rifle that will see lots of use. I want to do a refinish job of some sort that is durable and long lasting and don’t look like crap. Considering all available options to refinish a rifle from rattle can camo to elaborate paints or even re-bluing and wood refinish. What is the smartest option(best bang for the buck) to get a refinish job that will look good and hold up well with lots of use and abuse and not cost a fortune? Open to all suggestions... Thank You for your interest and input 

[handirifle]

Some don't but I sand the stocks to bare wood and re-do the finish with 5 to 6 coats of Tru Oil.  It shows the grain nice, looks better than the factory Savage finish and holds up real well.  Buffing with 0000 steel wool gives it a nice matte finish.

[FourBee]

1 id dog 

I agree with handirifle.   A new stock may not need anything other than a little Birchwood/Casey Tru-Oil.   On the other hand, a stock that's seen some ruff times may need some preparation first.   It does a pretty good job of protecting the wood,  and it's easy to touch-up small scratches.

This is a new stock I  used 3 coats of Tru-Oil on top of the original.
 

[EVOC ONE]

Another vote for Tru-oil.  Arguably one of the best, most durable and easiest to work with re-finishing products you can put on a stock.  It contains polyurethane which will seal the wood from moisture.  Perfect for a field gun.  Leave as a high gloss finish or as handirifle suggested, burnish it down between coats using 0000 steel wool.  Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner will also take some shine off, as well.

 

[charles p]

Get some 0000 steel wood and Old English Scratch Remover.  Use the 0000 steel wool to rough up the stock and remove most of the unwanted finish. Now soak the steel wool in the Old English and buff the entire finish of the rifle stock.  Repeat this every day for a week.  Result will be a hand rubbed oil stain low luster finish that if very nice.

[skippermdj]

I've been using Lauer "DuraCoat" 2-part spray-on finishes on metal for a couple of years now.  No baking required and very easy to get a great looking finish.  So far I've been using the matte and gloss blacks on reworked Mausers.  You'll need to do a light sandblasting first to give the surface some "tooth".  KG has a spray-on parkerizing solution which should also make a great base for paint-type finish.
Good luck!

[gunnut69]

I've done some ruff use stocks with powder coat material.. It's very tough and lasts nearly forever. Tough to find someone who'll do it but worth the search.. I use TruOil a lot and with a coat of wax it's very water resistant.. and easier to fix than poly.. Also poly will pop off if penetrated.. The TruOil gets the nod if money is a concern.. The Powder paint for the metal.. If Powder won't work the DuraCoat paint seems to work well if directions are followed but I have very little experience with it..

[Siskiyou]

I refinished the stock on my Savage 110CL with TruOil and it came okay.  A lot of times before hunting I will coat my rifle stocks with Johnson Indian (Red) floor wax, and leave it un-buffed to reduce any reflection.  I refinished the stock of the pictured M760 in the late 1960's or early 70's with TruOil.  It has seen a lot of use since.




I also refinished the stock on this Remington 722 with TruOil about 20-years ago.  I point on the timing to show that TruOil does hold up.



These are the pictures I have at hand, but the sanding, and use of fine steelwool with a number of coats of TruOil shows off the wood grain.  I used a lot of care when working around the wood checking on the Savage 110.  I do not recall but I may have used paint remover to clean-out the factory finish in the pressed checkering.  I just checked and I do not have any pictures of the 110 stock after refinishing it.  The orginal finish on the old rifle was getting ugly from a lot of use, and the TruOil makes it better then factory new.

[Winter Hawk]

For the metal I would go with Gunkote as applied by George Roghaar (www.gunblue.homestead.com).  He does good work at a reasonable price.  He did my Marlin 336 and the only complaint I had is that he didn't do the bolt.  However, he offered to do that also if I sent it to him, explaining that most of his clients like the bolt left in the white.  My Winchester 88 wears a Black-T finish (the precursor to Gunkote) applied by W.F. Birdsong in 1993 and it has held up marvelously.  The rifle saw lots of hard field use in SE Alaska and still looks great.

I had my Ruger Blackhawk refinished in Fairbanks by Gary Junk (http://arcticgunworks.com/) with TR Gunkote.  It held up well, except for holster wear at the muzzle and on edge of the cylinder.  The great thing about this finish though, is that it sticks at the molecular level.  The color may get rubbed off but the water protection is still there.  Great stuff.

I used LinSpeed to refinish all my wood.  I first used that on a muzzleloader in 1969, and it still looked good when I sold it four years ago.  It also saw lots of use, both by me and by my sons.  I have Linspeed on the 88 which I applied in 1986 when I bought the rifle used, and it also looks good.  I recently refinished the Marlin with it.  Except for puppy teeth marks on the butt it has held up well thus far.

I also wax my guns, both the metal and the wood.  For years I used Turtle Wax since that was what I had on hand for the car.  A while back I picked up some regular Johnson's paste wax and that works well also.

Hope this helps!
-Winter Hawk-