Author Topic: Heres a stupid question for ya' (Read 2188 times)

S.S. · « **on:** January 22, 2007, 11:40:39 AM »

I have a model 70 in .270 WSM..., Question has nothing to do with most of the gun.
It is the rubberized buttpad that concerns me. Is this thing gonna dry-rot? I do not have anything like this on any other rifles so I am not sure how to care for it.... What do you folks do to help preserve them. I thought maybe armor-all but it will "Stink up" the gun...

TrenchMud · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2007, 08:00:27 AM »

Well, looks like lots of folks have read your post, and no answers? Maybe it isn't a stupid question after all

I have wondered about this myself. Have you contacted Winchester ?

Countryboy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2007, 01:38:06 AM »

I wouldnt worry about it. Most never recoil pads are going to a softer rubber feel. If it dry rots it will probably take a long time and if it does there are tons of aftermarket bolt on replacements for little$

qajaq59 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2007, 01:47:03 AM »

I wouldn't worry much about it. Short of leaving it lying on a heating radiator, I think it will last long enough that you wont care if you do end up replacing it.

dubber123 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 04, 2007, 08:01:41 AM »

My only suggestion is if is a really soft recoil pad, don't store it on the butt, ( like leaning it in a corner), as it WILL eventually deform and stay in the shape it takes while setting. Pads are easily replaced in most cases, but you can ugly one up in a hurry if you try. I see lots of otherwise perfect guns in the shops with lopsided, ugly pads from the corner treatment. A 20$ cheapie plastic case beats nothing at all for protection.

flintlock · « **Reply #5 on:** February 04, 2007, 08:15:38 AM »

Well...My rubber butt plate on my 1980 Model Ruger M-77 still appears to be OK, so it should last you 25 years or so...

dubber123 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2007, 09:48:27 AM »

This last fall I bought a # 1 Ruger .375 that has sat on it's buttpad for the last 15 yrs., and it too isn't deformed. I think it has something to do with being hard as a rock from the factory. I won't store a Pachmayer decelerator on it's end though.

Dee · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2007, 03:05:34 PM »

Well, I store my 1957 Winchester 94 in a corner and the steel but plate has not deformed either. I don't think it's gonna.

Keith L · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2007, 03:43:54 PM »

If it does then we need to look into gravity at your place...

Quote from: Dee on February 05, 2007, 03:05:34 PM

Well, I store my 1957 Winchester 94 in a corner and the steel but plate has not deformed either. I don't think it's gonna.

dubber123 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2007, 04:13:17 PM »

I'd love to have a nice checkered steel buttplate on my .416 Rigby CZ, right up to the point I have to pull the trigger!

Dee · « **Reply #10 on:** February 06, 2007, 02:23:20 AM »

Quote from: dubber123 on February 05, 2007, 04:13:17 PM

I'd love to have a nice checkered steel buttplate on my .416 Rigby CZ, right up to the point I have to pull the trigger!

Ain't that the truth! I have a model 92 Winchester clone with a full cressent buttplate. How would you like to have that on your Rigby?

dubber123 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 06, 2007, 11:50:06 AM »

I think I'd just rather throw myself out of my car on the highway. Probably would hurt less. I do love the looks of crescent buttplates though!

Dee · « **Reply #12 on:** February 06, 2007, 12:31:41 PM »

Did you ever shoulder a full cresent stock? The old guys knew how to make things fit. Nothing shoulders more consistantly right, than a full cresent butt stock. It's like the plow handle on a Colt single action. They just feel right. People talk all day long about how a Winchester or the old Marlins are fast handlin levers, but never give a thought to why. The guys the built them knew what felt right. I guess they do now, but the feeling is different. Less of a natural fit and more of a conditioned one.JMO

dubber123 · « **Reply #13 on:** February 06, 2007, 01:28:21 PM »

I appreciate how they managed to make things work so well, and look so good at the same time. It seems a lot of new guns are one or the other. Maybe they just had more time to think things out years ago. Ii'm gearing up to get an old (late 1800's-early 1900's) lever to hunt with. A good one ain't cheap, but you can't get that old-time feel and nostalgia any more. I've got alot of new guns I like, but I like my older stuff the best. They didn't seem to make as many lemons years ago either.

Dee · « **Reply #14 on:** February 06, 2007, 01:40:43 PM »

I have never picked up an old Winchester leveraction that didn't fit. Gun people and just people in general were practical people. They blended what worked with grace, if you know what I mean. Hand tools were the order of the day back then, and they made them functional and comfortable at the same time. Now it seems, especially in guns, you have to train yourself to make the gun shoulder the same every time. Way back when they just did. My Model 92 Winchester clone get in the pickup with me every day. After I refinished the walnut with hand rubbed True oil, it looks like my 50 year old Model 94, but with a little less wear.

dubber123 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 06, 2007, 02:14:08 PM »

I'm doing the oil finish thing on a rifle right now. I think the True-oil is quicker, but I didn't have any. I think about 3-5 more coats should do it. I can only do one a day. I assume you like the satin finish of the old guns to some of the super glossy plastic finishes. Just getting that stuff off so you can oil the wood is a real job in itself.

Dee · « **Reply #16 on:** February 07, 2007, 12:47:52 AM »

Yea, sometimes a plain ole bath in wal mart laquer thinner will do the trick. My model 92 Winchester clone I ordered from Navy Arms, was ordered with walnut. It's 24" octogon barrel in 357mag, was a great looking rifle but the finish on the wood was not all that great. I took em off and bathed them in plain ole laquer thinner which will take the cape off of superman. I then let them set and air dry on the porch all day, and started hand rubbing true oil, which you can also get at walmart sporting goods. I did this 4 or 5 times letting it dry several days in between. The first coat brought the wood grain out and I was surprised at what nice grain the walnut had. When finished, it matched the 1957 (my Dad bought it new that year, later giving it to me) Model 94 Winchester 3030. I stress when I walk out the door for the woods on which to take. My modern rifles sit in the safe A LOT.

dubber123 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 07, 2007, 11:50:19 AM »

My mother won a 94 in 30-30 in 1953 at the state fair, for the princely sum of 50 cents! (raffle ticket). I was kinda hoping to get it, but my nephew got it instead. Any idea about some of the new synthetic stock finishes react to the thinner? I know the local furniture restoration shop tried to strip a newer Marlin, and their stripping tanks wouldn't even touch it. I have a couple new guns I would like to oil finish, but I think I may have to sand off the checkering along with the finish.

Dee · « **Reply #18 on:** February 07, 2007, 01:26:43 PM »

Man don't start me ta lyin. I have no idea. Sanding may be the only way, or call the factory about the finish.

Keith L · « **Reply #19 on:** February 07, 2007, 02:03:38 PM »

You can strip some of them with heat. A heat gun or a tourch softens the plastic, and it can then be scraped off. Light sanding takes the last of the finish off, then you can put on what you want. Just be careful to keep the heat moving, and don't try to do to much with each pass. You can easily burn the wood and ruin the looks of the stock.

dubber123 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 07, 2007, 02:38:16 PM »

Keith and Dee, I have done the heat trick, (torch) but only on handgun grips. I haven't worked up the courage to try it on stocks. The grips were 5-10$ Ebay specials, so not a lot lost if I messed up. The 2 rifles I want to do are 600+$. I guess bite the bullet and give it a whirl.

Dee · « **Reply #21 on:** February 07, 2007, 03:35:37 PM »

I don't know anything about the procedure Keith L is talking about. I don't own but one firearm that has a synthetic stock, and a 700BDL that has possibly an epoxy type of finish on the wood. Are you taking about an epoxy finish of some sort?

dubber123 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 07, 2007, 08:44:05 PM »

Dee, yes, thats what I mean, sorry for the confusion. I suspect alot of the new guns have this epoxy finish as you call it. I am hesitant to try any chemicals, I'm afraid I'll just end up with a gooey mess to work with. On the other hand, chemicals are the only way I can think of to get the finish out of the checkering without buggering it up.

Keith L · « **Reply #23 on:** February 07, 2007, 11:08:01 PM »

Just so we are clear, I am talking about one of the glassy finishes on wood stocks. I never tried heat on a synthetic stock. I would sand that down I guess, and try another coat of paint. But the finish on wood stocks has responded to heat and stripped like old paint off the porch, but take your time, go slowly and don't burn the wood. I like the look of an oiled wood stock much better than the shiny stuff on some guns.

dubber123 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 08, 2007, 12:01:33 AM »

Keith, yes, it's the wood stocks with the shiny stuff, ( actually the newer Marlins with the satin finish stuff too I think), I have 1 lever, and a bolt I'd like to do, both only about a year old. The sanding it off isn't what bothers me, it is getting this stufff out of the checkering. I don't want a nice oil finish on the stock, with the checkering shiny, and probably a different color, due to the remaining epoxy finish.

Keith L · « **Reply #25 on:** February 08, 2007, 03:04:38 AM »

Ask this same question over on the gunsmithing forum. There was a discussion about this not long ago. If the search works then maybe you can find it. Otherwise the crew over there can help, both in removing the plastic stuff and how to protect the checkering from filling up with the new.

dubber123 · « **Reply #26 on:** February 08, 2007, 08:25:51 AM »

Thanks Keith, I'll do just that.

gunnut69 · « **Reply #27 on:** April 18, 2007, 01:44:53 PM »

High fellows, I've done wood work on gunstocks for a lotta years and a propane torch is the only way to go. The torch isn't trickly at all just watch around the sharp edges and corners. Do a small area at a time, maybe 4-5 inches on the butt stock. Heat the plastics until they curdle and scrape off with a knife blade or scraper. I use and old hickory butcheer blade. The finish that isn't removed will be severly damaged and will crumble off in the sanding process. A little acetone(outside only) will soften any finish which can be wire brushed from the checkering. If it's cut checkering I recut it after the finish has been replaced.

Dee · « **Reply #28 on:** April 18, 2007, 03:52:39 PM »

I wonder if lacquer thinner will work? It'll take the cape of superman.