I picked up a pair of Remington, Wingmasters, police trade in's.

Both have had more than a lap or two around a long track. Stocks have only minor dents and dings, but the protective finish is pealing on both. I would like to gently sand down the top finish and apply a new top coat. So I would like any GENERAL assistance any of for kind gentlemen could offer.

Thanks,

old bear

Are you refinishing the bluing also? If you are it is easier to sand the wood while it is on the receiver and butt plate. If not you need to be careful not to sand too much near the receiver and butt plate. If the wood is proud you can put masking tape on the metal and sand until you barely touch it.
Start with 220 sandpaper of your choice. I always sand with the grain. Sand with a block on the flatter areas. I also use the sanding type sponges. Use the 220 until the old finish is gone. Now you can use an old iron to remove the dents. Wet a rag until it is damp. Put the damp rag on the dents and iron until they steam. Continue until they raise. It will take a few tries. Let the stock dry.
Now use 320 grit sandpaper until you remove the 220 scratches. Now use 400 to remove the 320 scratches. I sand to 600 grit.
Remove the stock from the receiver and remove the butt plate. Dampen a cloth and wipe it down. It is time to add the stain or protection. I don't stain any wood unless it is 2 by 4s. The oil will darken it. I like Tru-oil.
Use your finger on all coats. The first coat will be put on really heavy. After you do the entire stock wipe off any excess. Let dry for 24 hours. Add Tru-oil in 4inch sections and sand the Tru-oil cross-grain on the entire stock with 220 grain sandpaper. You are trying to work up a slurry to fill the pores. Wipe off excess. Let dry 24 hours. When dry lightly sand with 0000 steel wool.
Now you can start the finishing coats. Use a small amount and do not let it run. Try to run your strokes the entire length of the stock. Let dry 24 hours. Continue for at least 3 coats with 0000 steel wool between coats. The last coat will be very little Tru-oil. Let dry 72 hours. I use a good wax like Renaissance wax now.

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Tom
NRA Pistol Inst

Not rocket science - just lots of tedious work. Go progressively to finer and finer grit sandpapers and when you achieve the final finish, use some tack cloth to make sure you get off ALL the dust prior to re-finishing. Your finish will only look as good as the prep work, so don't rush that part.

Now the can of worms.......

A finish is a personal thing. I for one like the satin finish of a 100% Tung Oil. (You also might want to stain the wood what ever color you want prior to finishing - your choice.) Steel wool prior to applying finish. I apply at least 8 - 10 coats with a very slight & quick 0000 steel wooling between coats. I do not rub the final coat at all. If 5 years down the road it needs a touch up, just lightly steel wool with 0000 and apply a few more coats. Tung Oil never peels and dries 100% unlike Linseed Oil. Some like True-Oil, some a high gloss poly urethane finish and some like a lacquer. Do your homework on that part and you will have a gun that looks very good.

I have tried numerous times to "steam out" minor dents and dings and have never been successful at it. I do not like using Plastic-wood filler because it looks terrible when stained. Some say the steaming works but after a few failed attempts I don't bother anymore.

The best advise I can give you is don't rush the job. Re-finishing isn't hard, it just takes lots of patients. Don't forget to post before & after shots!

Have fun!

Gentlemen thank you for the solid advise. So far I've cleaned the stock with Naptha, taped off the rubber butt plate and the areas of the receiver where it joins the stock.
Plan on a lite sanding, followed by 0000 steel wool. Then I think I'm going to use the Tung Oil finish, and apply multi coats, with a lite 0000 buffing between each coat.

I'll keep you posted.

Added: After a small test area, I decided to skip sanding, and went right to the 0000 steel wool. Then a final cleaning with Naptha, and wipe down. I've applied three coats of the Tung Oil, polishing with bronze wool between each coat, followed by a good wipe down. It's starting to show some promise. I thinking another 2 - 3 coats should do it.

Do I need to paste wax after finish it TOTALLY dry?

Sounds like a plan old bear. I'm not an expert but as for steaming, I've had mediocre luck raising dents. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I do realize there are limitations to steaming. If the wood fibers are crushed/broken very bad, steaming can only do so much IMO.
I've tried different techniques, methods and materials for filling. They too have limitations but more likely it's me.
I recently (within the past year) bought some hot shellac sticks:
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-to...prod12618.aspx
I've not used them much yet but a buddy borrowed them and did an amazing repair on some Colt wood grips on a Woodsman Match Target. If you're familiar with the finish on those, you'd appreciate the outcome considering the damage he repaired.
I've got some little jobs to try them on as soon as the weather here cools below the hubs-o-hell temps its been lately. I hope to have as good of luck.

Fred, tung oil is a great choice. I've never done gun stocks, but I have refinished a dump truck load of solid body guitars in my lifetime.

The reward for your labor is a beautiful finish that requires minimal upkeep.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Personally, I care neither for refinishing wood while still attached to the action nor trying to remove the old finish via sanding. I would use a chemical stripper which cleans up with mineral spirits, not water. Dents in the wood can be steamed up but only if the wood fibers are not cut or badly crushed. After stripping and any dent repair, sand with progressively finer grades of abrasive paper as noted above. Whether you use Tru-Oil or Pure Tung Oil cut 50/50 with mineral spirits, you always want to apply very thin coats and allow it to dry completely before applying the next. Remove any dust or raised grain with 0000 steel or bronze wool between coats. I would think twice about using any stain if the furniture is walnut. If you go ahead with the Tung Oil, be sure you purchase pure Tung Oil and not one of the Tung Oil finishes which contain dryers and/or varnishes. With the pure Tung Oil you can create a finish anywhere from oiled to a hand rubbed satin gloss depending on the number of coats applied. The pure Tung Oil can even be cut 2/1 mineral spirits to Tung Oil if you wish which will allow it to dry quicker but require more coats. Remember when doing this work that patience is your friend. See also:

Do's and Don'ts on Grip Finish oils

Bruce

Let it cure for a few weeks before you wax it.I like a tung oil finish too,not the toughest,but it's easy to repair and it looks good.

Just a note on your sanding techniques. As you progress to finer and finer grits from the 220 starting point, be sure to wipe the stock down with a water wetted cloth so that you raise the grain of the wood and when it dries and you start the next finer grit, go lightly so you cut the raised fibers instead of flattening them out. This will give you a stock that feels like a piece of glass when you are done.

A contrarian view here.
If I were refinishing a combat shotgun stock, I wouldn't want a fine, high gloss finish, but a matte, tactical one.
Think M1 Garand.
This is easy and quick with great results.
Instructions
When its dry, apply Tom's Stock Wax.
My Garand came out perfect using the above process.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

The old Remingtons had a ultra-high gloss finish and I think you should go that route in order to maintain original appearance. The satin/dull finishes on more recent Wingmasters signify "Express" which was the cheap knock-around guns for hunters.

Please do not try to "blend" sand from finish to bare wood. The finish will be harder than the walnut and you will end up dishing the bare wood just below the finish. As Bruce stated, use a good chemical stripper, but be prepared to repeat a few times before all the finish is gone. Remington used varnish in the early years of production, but went through a period when they used Polyurethane finish. It is tough as nails and works very slowly with most paint strippers. It may be what you have, since when moisture gets behind PU, it will dislodge the finish, but the PU will still have the strength to come loose in a sheet, rather than flake off like varnish.

As for sanding, do as little as possible. I normally chemically strip, wipe down, let set for a couple days and apply my first coat of finish without sanding anything. Fine sand after that first coat and you will be much happier with the results.

Lastly, do not soak the stock in water and do not rinse off the stripper in water. The checkering is pressed into the stocks of all but the very early Wingmasters and water left to soak into the wood will raise the pressed checkering and often ruin that area of the stock.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Unless you are merely going to do a touch-up job to the existing finish, I would recommend removing the existing finish with Homer Formby's (now Minwax) furniture refinisher. It is a gentle chemical with regard to the wood. Place the stock in something like an aluminum turkey basting pan, brush the chemical on, and rub gently with steel wool. Rub with the grain. After the finish is gone, rinse the stock lightly with clean chemical and let it dry. I usually go over it again with normal rubbing alcohol on a clean rag, then let dry. You can get a nice, non-directional finish by rubbing with the grain with a fine grain of steel wood. This technique is especially effective in the pistol grip area, where the grain changes direction with the curvature. You can use circular motion in that area and the fine steel wool will still bring up the grain and leave no rub marks. Then apply the finish of your choice.

I agree with TAROMAN. I've refinished several M1s and 1917 Enfields. also a couple shotguns, a Marlin 1894 and a Remington 721. None of them collectors, just decent shooters. I used Formsby furniture stripper with some steel wool and then applied boiled linseed oil ... and applied ... and applied. Six or seven coats and touchup once a year. Gave a matte finish and showed the character of the wood. This is for working guns. I figure what was good enough for Uncle Sam was good enough for me. A couple of the rifles I had parkerized and that went well with the BLO.

I have had great success steaming out dings and small dents.
I've used soldering irons, clothes irons, and carpet heat sealers, to do so.

It works best if all finish is removed from the wood.
It also seems to work best on stocks with varnish type finishes, as opposed to a penetrating finish like oil.

I would use a chemical stripper to remove the factory stock finish.
I prefer not to sand unless I have to.
It's far too easy to alter the dimensions of the stock.
Unless I have to smooth out some really rough wood, I prefer 0000 steel wool when refinishing.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

I would take the stocks off so you don't damage the metal part of the gun. You don't want to be aggressive and remove too much or you'll end up having the wood below the level of the surrounding metal. My suggestion would be if the finish is just peeling, use a gel finish remover, following instruction and wipe the old finish off. Clean any residue off with mineral spirits and allow the stock to dry. Clean the checkering, if any, with a soft toothbrush and mineral spirits. When the stock is completely clean and dry, use fine grit paper, working VERY carefully to remove any fine scratches. Anything that's deep will be a problem. You just can't fix that. The last one I did, I put 3 or 4 coats of Birchwood casey Gun Finish on using a finger, very sparingly per coat. The finish came out looking like new.

Looking at some of the other posts I have t agree that Tung Oil would be a good alternative. I've used oil on furniture that I've made and it works well and may be easier than some of the other finishes.

Tung oil won't sweat out of the wood with heat.
It's also highly resistant to moisture, fungus, and acids.
It's my favorite stock finish.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?

I refinished a Chinese SKS stock with tung oil.
It had that awful orange varnish.
Stripped that off. Steamed out the dings.
Some of the dings I steamed out created some nice grain effects.
I spent a month applying the tung oil.
Nicest looking SKS stock I've ever seen.
But, that doesn't say much.

However, it came out a beautiful honey color.
I think it's beech wood.

Funny thing about beech, it can be plain as an old pail or a beautiful as nice walnut.
If you look at some of the beech used on Weihrauch air rifles, CZ bolt action rifles, and some Swede Mausers you'll see some beautiful grain.
Look at other beech stocks, and it's as plain as a cheap, birch stock.

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What would Jim Cirillo do?