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XT Trap Stock Refinish

3K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Dave P 
#1 ·
I am thinking about having my Browning XT Trap refinished. The gloss finish has some nicks and scratches that cannot be touched-up. I contacted both Rods Custom Stocks and Doug Braker and they only do a gloss finish. I think I would prefer something a little easier to repair if necessary - is an oil finish a bad idea for this gun? Or should I go with a two part satin finish?
 
#2 ·
The factory finish on the XT's is horrible, you can scratch it with your fingernail. I refinished my girlfriends Golden Clays XT, this past winter. After I got the factory finish off of it, there was all sorts of beautiful grain hidden underneath, we put a little color on it(Minwax Sedona Red) and covered it with 4 good coats of Minwax satin poly in a spray can. The results were fabulous and it only cost a few dollars and a couple of days.
 
#7 ·
Oil finish is repairable (Tru-Oil). Two part finishes, not so much. Oil also makes the grain deeper in appearance. When done adding the final coat of oil (20) let it dry for a week and rub with some heavy duty rubbing compound or some 1200 grit wet sandpaper. That will dull the finish and get rid of the dust.
 
#8 ·
I did an adjustable comb on one a few months back. I cover parts of the stock with masking tape to protect the finish and to lay out my cut lines. After the cut I pulled off the tape and most of the finish came off with the tape. Not my fault, but happened in my care. Refinished the gun for free and made the customer happy. Brownings tend to scare me a little after that. It seems Browning has more type of finishes than any other company. Some good, others terrible. Larry
 
#9 ·
You may find (as I did on my XT) after you have removed the finish there will be some small craters in the wood. I think Browning uses that gloss finish to cover up the crappy sanding job they did. I used Arts Stock Filler to repair the craters, them rubed 5 coats of lemon oil into the wood. I let it dry for a day between coats then finished it with 4 coats of Johnson's Paste Wax.
It came out a really nice dull, smooth finish. You will have to rewax it every now and then.

Cheers,

George
 
#10 ·
I've seen one done with Tru Oil, looked great. It was a job to get all that old Browning bowling ball finish off first, they used some kind of chemical stripper then sanded down pretty fine. The clear coat poly finishes do make the grain show better but like you said one good scratch and your stuck with it. If I was going back with a poly type I'd have a good body shop shoot it with automotive clear coat and then buff it to a deep shine. It's pretty tough stuff.
 
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