Recondition a wood stock

[MtnMike2]

I have a pre-WWII Win Mod 70 in .30-06 that has a worn stock. Otherwise it's in great shape. I'd like to recondition, not refinish the stock as refinishing would affect its value even though I don't plan on ever selling it. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do to improve the stock without devaluing the rifle?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[buckhunter]

Does it have a oil based finshed or is it Polyed or Varnished?

[MtnMike2]

Don't know, but it's the original finish, so I'm pretty sure it's not poly'd. It would be oil based or varnish. It's not a gloss finish...
I'll try to find some info on it.

Mike

[buckhunter]

Linseed oil or Tung Oil have worked pretty good as a fix for old beat up stocks.

[GoodOlBoy]

You can wipe it down with 9aught steel wool (nothing larger and only if it is extremely dirty with caked on crud otherwise use paper towels) and linseed or Tung oil to recondition it as advised, however make sure that the lineseed or tung oil you buy doesn't have varnish added to it some of them do, and I advise against that.

GoodOlBoy

[Dan Morris]

Mike, try Brownells for original Winnie stock oil.Any other will leave a varnish
like gloss. Improper oil will deminish the value about 50%.....pre 64's had a kinda dull satin finish.
JMHO
Dan

[MtnMike2]

Thanks everybody. I'll check out Brownells, Dan.

Mike

[Brithunter]

I don't know about in the US but here we can get a finish cleaner. It's meant to clean the sweat and associated grime off oiled finishes. I have soem that came in a stock finish kit which has stuff to maintain as well as completly re-finish a stock. I used the cleaned on an old rifle ans the difference in the finish afterwards was quite outstanding as was the amount of crud that came off on the cloth used :eek:.

I then rubbed on a tiny amount of stock conditioning oil and it looks miles better.

Which reminds me I need to do teh same to my P-H 1100 De Luxe as it seems to have some sort of wax on it that a previous owner had used.

[Larryjk]

MtnMike2, I would refinish---by this method.
1) Strip off all metal.
2) Use Certi-strip or Zip-Strip and take off all old finish, using nothing coarser that "0" steel wool.
3) Steam up all dents using throw away steam iron and wash cloth over wood area to be steamed.
4) Very lightly sand entire stock using silicon carbide waterproof sandpaper. Use an artgum eraser for a backer or a hard rubber block.(Never sand without a backer) Mask off checkering to keep from knocking off the tops of the diamonds unless you plan on having it "pointed up". Be very careful next to metal fitting areas so as not to remove wood which will leave the metal "proud" when you reassemble the gun.
5) If you have done it before----stain the bare wood to get the Winchester color. Pilkington Pre-64 stain is the best to use from Brownells.
6) Start rubbing on coats of boiled linseed oil. Rub it on and then rub with the palm of your hand until it seems to be on fire. Then hang the stock in a warm area to dry a few days. About 4 or 5 coats whould have most of the pores filled. The more you rub it, the better it will look.
7) Carefully scrape any oil buildup from the bottom of the swivel base recesses, bottom metal recesses, etc. before reinstalling the metal parts.
8) Most of the professional stock makers use this method, and the directions will usually come with a bottle of most professional oil finishes. It is not easy, but it looks very good.