I have a nice set of light color Herrett's. I like a darker more walnut than oak look.

Other than stripping and staining, any other tips would be helpful.

Is the wood oak or walnut?

Thanks,

C/R JPG

In order for a stain to "take" you need to remove any finish from the wood. Depending on what the original finish was, there may be different methods needed to remove it. Usually a soaking in acetone will do it, Then knowing what the original wood is will help you determine what kind of stain to use to get the desired color. After staining, a finish is needed to protect it, Tru-oil, or one of the many other gunstock finish's will work.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Thanks for the tips

I am in the middle of adding a little life to a set of junk stocks. I soaked them in acetone as already stated and it did indeed eat all the oil and gunk out and off the wood. I was worried about the medallions since they are riveted in but they were fine. Any polymer backed versions will likely die in the acetone soak though. I didn’t stain but I’m using Tru-Oil to refinish them. I will be posting before and after pics if you can wait a while.

Shoot they have been in my stash box for a while, a little longer is not much of a problem, thanks Bob

All Herrett's standard grips were American Walnut. The finish is a quick dry lacquer much like Deft. Any good paint stripper works great.

If they're oil soaked, use a paste made of acetone and 'whiting' or lime.
The acetone dissolves the oil and the lime catches so it can't go back into the wood.

jbelk, thanks I did get antsy and stripped the finish with acetone without a problem. I gave them a coat of dark walnut and they are drying tonight. I'll check them in the morning.

JPG/CR

...passed away....?

wandered off into the weeds..happens all the time ;-)

No pics handy, but I used Citristrip(sp) to strip new old stock Herretts I found at gunshow. I finished them with a few applications of True Oil and the turned out awsome. Darker then original finish, really brought out the walnut

I took a set of Herrett square butt checkered targets (K), and made smooth round butts out of them. Traced the frame on the backs of each stock side. Cut off the excess. Reshaped them. If I remember right, sanded down (finally) with 230 & 400 grit. No stain was used. Used Minwax spray lacquer on them. 4 coats or so. Nice hard finish. Bob

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