[LetsSee1More]

I have an older Citori, circa 1976, with the high gloss stock. There are a few normal signs of wear - surface scratches, small minor dings, and some "road rash" as if the stock came in contact with some gravel. I'd like to do a fairly simple touch-up and found a spray can product put out by Minwax that combines stain and polyurethane in one step. My thought is to start with some 200 grit sandpaper to basically even out to dings and move to a finer grit, maybe 600 or even 1,000, and apply several coats of the spray stain/poly, sanding between each coat. The checkering is 100% great, so I would mask that off and only refinish the uncheckered areas. My question is if anyone has had experience with the Minwax spray product for this application and if you think this product would adhere to the original finish if sanded as described above? The spray product does recommend for interior use, so I thought of using an exterior poly for the final few coats.

Thanks in advance for your input -

 

[WarEagle2017]

I have refinished a few Browning stocks, ( They are NOT EASY )the finish is very hard, and i guarantee your approach will look like shit when you are done.
Remember you cant make chicken soup out of chicken shit.
The only way to refinish that stock is to remove all of the finish and start from scratch, finish removerd hardley do anything at all and you will find out that you will be sanding till the cows come home, but after a lot of work they come out fine.

 

[WesleyB]

Drhuner dont hold back, tell us what u really think!!

I totally agree with drhuner been there done that also. Good luck on your refinish project.

WesleyB

 

[luvtrapguns]

LetsSee1More, I had very good results finishing a Browning stock much as you describe. For a detailed report with pics do a search on my sign on name about 18 months ago. Later today I will try to find it and bring it up. Marc

 

[Sky Buster]

The only way to do it right is to sand the entire stock If you can
see a blemish after your thru sanding, It will look twice as bad
after you spray the finish. The best spray finish I have found is available
from Brownells. It's called "Gun Sav'r and is available in satin
or hi-gloss. I've done a dozen stock with this finish and it works great.

 

[Johnny]

The factory finish is a two part finish like an automotive clear coat. It's a nightmare to strip off. Browning is an expert in making a plain piece of wood look good. It is very hard to replicate what Browning can do. If you sand through the finish anywhere you are screwed. It will never look right. You can do what you suggest but the Miniwax will never be as durable as the original. Would be better to mask it off and have a body shop shoot a coat of cleat-coat on it.

 

[MDMike]

What Johnny said in that Browning is very good at making ordinary wood look great. I have also found that they seem to use some sort of automobile finish on their later stocks. On older Brownings as well as some Sakos I have found cleaning up the inperfections in the wood was a bit like auto body work. Lacquer thinned properly with a good camel hair brush is how I fixed one stock. After the lacquer was completely dry, wet sanding and buffing with polishing compound brought the stock back. (This was on a Sako deluxe). If you haven't broken through the "finish beneath the finish (the work that makes the wood look good)" your in luck with a "surface repair".

 

[StansCustoms]

I concur...There I snot an "easy" way on Brownings.

I had to strip one twice to get it to look right. Browning's finish is really tough. Even after you think you got it alllll off...The wood won't take stain. The grain is still sealed on most of them.

You can strip it all off...then sand ever bit of it "real" well...then about 50% of the time you can get a little stain to soak in.....nothing like virgin wood though...just enough to make the gun look nice after it's clear coated.

Have fun...Stan

 

[lbshootin]

A friend of mine sent his BT99 Golden Clays back to Browning, they repaired the forearm as it was breaking the screws. Then they completely refinished the stock and forearm to match. Looks like brand new, problem was it took them 10 weeks door to door. Call the guys at Midwest Gun Works, they do wonderful work.

 

[jbisinger]

I have done this. Strippers will not work. As others have said, the finish is extremely tough. I used a scraping approach which removed the finish and was very controlled(keeoing away from the checkering). Utility knife blades(hand held) or scraps of window glass cuttings(from local hardware store) make good scrapers. Follow scraping with 220-280 grit sandpaper. Re-stain (I used alcohol stain. Google Behlen's- for superior effect-no "muddy coloration". Decide on satin vs glass finish. If satin, spray w/Minwax brand satin polyurethane. If you desire high gloss, I had great success w/ Tru_oil spray. Fpor teally high gloss, follow Trtu-oil, when dry, by rubbing with Meguir's swirl remover polish. I did this. You can too. I don't see a need for a professional. Good luck,
Jack Bisinger
(retired woodwkg. teacher)

 

[high 2]

I was told by an insider that the finish you're talking about is a 2 part epoxy finish. The only finish that can be as tough to remove is the old red Krieghoff finish that was on the K 32's. The finish usually has a color added to it and is next to impossible to match. There is a way to remove it, but that's a trade secret that cost a lot to figure out. Larry

 

[Johnny]

MAH66 , automotive clear coat is not a soft finish, it's harder than nails. Ever try to rub one out? Factories are using a two-part clear coat. Dupont makes a half dozen different clear-coats. Some are supposed to be "repairable." Any one part finish will be relatively soft.

 

[ljutic73]

I've used Mar Hyde Tal Strip "Aircraft Coating Remover" available at body shop supply stores. It works pretty good on 2 part epoxies.

Ron Burr

 

[Bob Griffith]

I have a Citori made in the early 80s that I bought used. The guy that had it had a log chain piled on the stock when I bought it so you can imagine what it looked like. I have a friend, co-shooter, that is a master when it comes to wood working. He stripped it & gave it a rubbed oil finish & it was/is beautiful, even after 1000s of targets. I don't know how he got the original finish off it, but what a nice piece of wood he found underneath the gloss Browning finish.

 

[LetsSee1More]

Thanks to all for the responses and input - I certainly appreciate it! I'll try to post a couple before & after photos when we get our "real" computer back from the repair shop and have software to post pics. Just for a quick attempt to see how this simple refinish would work, I sanded a spot on the stock and sprayed with the stain/poly spray. It actually looks pretty good so I will most likely sand both forearm and stock and see how the spray treatment works. If it doesn't look as I would like when done, I might have to give the full treatment to remove all the factory finish and start from scratch. I don't have a lot of $$ in this gun, but do want it to look as good as it shoots.

I'd like to avoid chemical strippers - Jasco, Certistrip, etc - just because they tend to bleed under tape into checkering and I would like to leave the checkering as is. Also sending it out for refinishing by a pro is more than I want to spend right now (I've been quoted something north of $350) and taking 10 weeks or more would cut into shooting time.

Thanks again for all the help - great people on a great website!

 

[redudley]

I recently refinished my Browning XT (2009) that had the polyurethane factory high gloss finish and pleased with outcome.

First, I used K-3 Stripper from Home Depot to strip all wood. I removed all metal from the wood. It took several applications. I would wrap wood with gel stripper in tin foil for a few minutes and use a plastic scraper and tooth brush to remove finish. Once all finish was off, I steamed indentations in wood with damp cloth and iron to raise. First used 400 sand paper on all non-checkered areas. Do not sand checkering and then used 600.

Applied Birchwood Casey oil finish thinly and let dry for 12-24 hours. Lightly sand with 600 then applied additional coat. Repeated the oil finish application 6 times.

Good luck. Ralph

 

[BENCHREST]

I do a lot of stock re finishing, and Browning finish is very tough. The best way to start sanding is to get some 120 grit drywall screens. They work fast and when they load up you can tap out the residue and get back to work. Once you get down to the wood use 100 grit until you are satisfied, then wet the wood completely and dry with a heat gun. When dry sand with 200 grit, re wet the wood, dry and re sand. Now you are ready to use oil or hard coat.. Joe

 

[ysr_racer]

Is there any way to remove wood stain from a stock?

I have a 525 that was stripped, then stained, and it looks terrible.

Thanks

 

[Stl Flyn]

I have used BIX stripper before, and it removed the finish on a BT-100. It takes a while to work, and you have to keep it wet. The finish will scrape off eventually, but it is still kind of hard yet. This was the old BIX stripper though. The stuff that would burn your skin if you got some on your hands. The new stuff seems a little weak.

 

[gun fitter]

I would not recommend any stripper. ! They will ruin any prior repairs or fillers. Many factor stocks I come in contact have some glue bedding compound or filler which almost all of the commercial strippers will ruin.

I sand them.

If anyone wants a stock with a hard finish removed I can do it for between $50-$75.00 with sanding and cleaning of the checkering border complete stripping and repointing of checkering will run about $150. I will be closed for any new work until some time in February.

Joe goldberg