Need some stock refurbishment help

[limaxray]

Just got one of the rack-grade Winchesters. Stock is a nice DAS-stamped arsenal replacement with just enough dings and scratches to give it character. I took low-powered steam (actually used a wallpaper steamer without any attachments on it) to it to get the cosmoline and grime off.

Some areas seemed to lighten up a bit after the steam was done. If I do a couple of coats of BLO, will that darken it up some, or do I need to restain it? If so, what kind/shade of stain do I need, and do I need to strip it ALL the way down to bare wood?

So, what's the next step?

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[U.S.G.I.]

liimaxray,

Myself I never use stain. To me stain should only be used if your needing to match the entire stock pieces. Now for the BLO it will darken it up a little. In time (years) it will even darken up some more.

Jeff

[mark1]

Before you use BLO clean the stock with denatured alcohol. I use a green scotch bright pad. This will pull out the remaining dirt and oil. After each application of BLO after it dries rub it well with a 100% cotton cloth and repeat the process.
Mark1

[limaxray]

Before you use BLO clean the stock with denatured alcohol. I use a green scotch bright pad. This will pull out the remaining dirt and oil. After each application of BLO after it dries rub it well with a 100% cotton cloth and repeat the process.
Mark1

Will this thin the stain further? It's already looking a little whitish in some areas.

[Faulkner]

I've refinished dozens of USGI stocks. I try not to stain if I can keep from it, but when I do I use only Chestnut Ridge Military Stock Stain (with a hint of red). Great stuff!

Here's one that just would not match up that I stripped then stained the entire stock before I added 6 or 7 hand rubbed coats of BLO cut 50/50 with mineral spirits.

[TSimonetti]

Limaxray,

Steaming the dents caused that part of the wood to lighten. Trying to carefully refinish those light areas to once again match the rest of the stock will likely be an exercise in futility.

Strip the stock bare using "Simple Green" and a scotch brite pad, rinse with hot water and let dry for a day. If you want to go nuclear, go to an auto parts store and buy something called "Purple Power".

After you strip it, the wood will look almost white but will darken up once you apply the BLO. Once it's stripped totally, you'll almost never get the walnut as dark as it was again without using some stain(and sometimes you'll find that under the grime and aged finish, you have yellow sapwood which is REALLY light).... so it will be at that point that you'll have to decide whether to use stain to darken it further.

I also recommend Chestnut Ridge military stock stain but find that sometimes it helps to mix it with straight dark walnut to cut down on the red tint, especially on lighter walnut, and most especially when trying to stain birch.

Hope this helps
Tony Simonetti

[Devil Dog]

If your DAS stock is Walnut, it probally has never been stained. Only Birch stocks were stained. Almost everything you do to the stock eg. steam, scrub, sand, scrape will lighten it. When you put BLO or tung oil on, it will darken again. The only reason I stain is to "match" the woods.

[JimL]

Lots of guys including myself use Fiebings leather dye to stain stocks. I find Chestnut Ridge too orange.

Medium Brown Fiebings is a popular color along with Cordovan, or a mixture of the two depending upon the particular piece of wood you have. This is an alcohol based stain, as is Chestnut Ridge.

Below are Boyds stocks stained with Fiebings and finished with Tung Oil and then BLO.
JimL

[beachbumbob]

Lima Xray,

Go ahead and strip the rest of the stock as indicated above. You should come out with a more or less consistent light wood. Add BLO and it will darken. Since your stock is a lot older it will darken much quicker than the new stock on my Remington M1903.

This was a new BOYD's stock and has been treated with BLO as I was taught years ago. For new wood - Once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year and once a year forever. It now sports roughly 23 coats of BLO over a 2 year period.

Bob