Re-Finishing Gunstock Rem. 700 BDL

Late-Bloomer

I'm contemplating re-finishing this stock & have a few questions. How do I remove the cheap black plastic forend and grip cap pieces? I would like to add some other type of hardwood for contrast. Also, would it be o.k. to mate these new pieces with only a good epoxy? What is the best method for removing Remington's urethane finish in your experience? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you! [8D]

asphalt cowboy

Brownells carries Certistrip which will remove most any epoxy or urethane finnish. Plastic finnishes are slow to strip so be patient with it.

Since I've never removed a tip and bonded cap, maybe someone else will chime in on that.

gotstolefrom

As far as the end caps, I can't help .
Regarding removal of 'hard' finishes like Remington's, I've done a few.

Stripping with Toluene or commercial strippers, has generally given me good results, but more on oil finishes. Mostly because sanding an oil finish can be an exercize in filling up sandpaper with soft material, that seems endless. Chemical stripping will get a 'hard gloss finish' off. The wood will be 'raw', and harder woods tolerate this better than softer woods do. If there are stain lines where the stripper dried or was not fully removed, those have to be removed with another 'final wash' of whatever solvent you used. The best thing here is that you remove minimal amounts of wood with fine sanding before the re-finish. You can send the stock to a furniture re-finishing shop that uses stripping vats. The cost isn't bad, and my luck here has been good.

Sanding does work well for the 'hard' finishes. The finish comes off quick and the wood is dry. If you go to finer grit when you see that most of the old finish is almost gone, you can save some wood and time when smooth sanding before the new finish.
Be very carefull when you sand the furniture separate from the reciever. You may sand below the 'mating' thickness where the wood meets steel, leaving the joint very noticable. It is hard to sand with the furniture and metal together unless you will be bluing too.
I 'tape over' the metal and stay away from it until final sanding with the furniture removed.

Either way, you need a big jug of patience.

MIKE WISKEY

the plastice end cap and grip cap are glued on and will have to be cut or broken off. good luck.

mrbruce

If your going to replace the cheap looking end pieces with a nice contrasting hardwood it will help a lot if you dowel them on. Drill a few small holes into both pieces your going to glue on
and use a small dowel rod or chopstick to take up some of the strain if it ever happens to fall.
Use a BIG rubber band to hold it all together while it's drying...........

Old Fool

Sanding the finish off will very likely mess up the wood to metal fir, and you cannot sand the finish off of checkering. Use the Certistrip.

Good luck

modoc

I advise keeping the original stock as is and saving it for future sale..Custom stocks are available and over all make a nicer,personal statement..modoc

nards444

use a stripper than sand it. Or might be easier to just find a new stock entirely

wanted man

Your best bet (easiest fix) is 'prolly to buy a new (or different)stock. They are available in nearly every stage of completeness. Save the take-off for future sale or use. Likely the most "efficient" way of getting what you want.

Late-Bloomer

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will try Brownell's Certistrip or some other type of commercial stripper, i.e., Citristrip which I heard I should be able to pick up at Home Depot.
you guys are the best. [8D] [8D] [8D]