Quote Originally Posted by ssgross View Post
Thanks Singer. I wish I had more time. It's going very slow. I was able to melt the solder to get the front sight blade out (I think I mentioned a large, long and tall front sight was installed...too thin for the notch in the base so it was soldered in place), but I still need to clean the remaining solder out and pin in my replacement.

Poyer and Riesch's .45-70 book, which I have, says nothing about the finish. I believe I read somewhere reliable (maybe the trapdoor collectors site?) that they originally stained earlier stocks with something - maybe logwood? before being oiled with raw linseed.

This stock had been refinished sometime before me with a hard lacquer of some sort that was coming up in places. I scrubbed it off with lacquer thinner and steel wool, which then proudly revealed the hidden but still well defined cartouche and proof stamp. I could tell that the stock was likely lightly sanded before me, as I did not see any real color in the wood under the hard outer shell. I used my home-made alkanet+raw linseed to bring the original color back. Worked marvelous. I can't tell the difference between this stock's finish and my 1873's original finish. I'll try to get some pictures this week.
Thank you sir!
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