7600 Makeover

Dougfirtree

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Jul 27, 2016
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Adirondacks
I thought I'd post up a picture, or two of a winter project, which I've just finished. The stock on my Rem 7600 (early 80's vintage) was looking a little rough and I wasn't satisfied with the recoil pad I had on it, or with the LOP. I use this rifle for tracking and still hunting when I know I'll be in very thick cover, or when the weather is such that a scope becomes a liability. It's a really fun rifle to carry and shoulders beautifully.

First, I wasn't happy with any of the recoil pad options for the curved butt of older Remington stocks, so I removed the old pad and carefully cut the end of the stock flat.

Then I stripped the stock, which was harder than I expected. I used citristrip, which was a bit anemic and it took a lot of elbow grease to get the finish off. In the process, it was impossible not to get schmutz into the "checkering" so that required a bunch of careful cleanup after.

I then re-sanded the stock, tried to touch up the walnut stain to get everything matching and finished with Tru Oil. I did the first two coats with Tru Oil cut with mineral spirits, then sanded it with fine paper, while the finish was still wet. That really helped the end product, I think. The rest of the coats were full strength Tru Oil, rubbed by hand and lightly wet sanded between coats. I used some of the Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen Conditioner at the end, to get more of a satin finish.

For the new pad, I added a big spacer, then a Pachmayr Deccelerator. The LOP is still not quite what it would be on a shotgun, but it's closer and I'm happy with it.

Overall, I'm happy with the results. There are one or two spots where I can see a slight run in the finish, despite trying to be really careful to apply thin coats and rub them in thoroughly. In the photographs, I can also see places where the walnut stain did not fully match the rest of the wood, but those spots are less obvious just looking at the stock. For now, I'm going to live with those imperfections and I feel like this old rifle is looking pretty good! I think one of these days, when I've got $100 to burn, I'll replace the Williams peep with a Skinner. And, I'd love to re-barrel this rifle and get it shooting better at longer ranges, but it's crazy expensive to re-barrel a 7600 these days..

Pics below..

IMG_8511.jpg
IMG_8513.jpgIMG_8514.jpg
 
Looks real good! I’ve always thought the 760/7600 would be one of the classic deer rifles I’d like to own and use. Along with a Savage 99.
 
We have one of those; my elk hunting buddy gave it to my wife upon his passing. Could send it to @p_ham, but then what? He used it in eastern Washington. Can't imagine a use for it here.
 
I thought I'd post up a picture, or two of a winter project, which I've just finished. The stock on my Rem 7600 (early 80's vintage) was looking a little rough and I wasn't satisfied with the recoil pad I had on it, or with the LOP. I use this rifle for tracking and still hunting when I know I'll be in very thick cover, or when the weather is such that a scope becomes a liability. It's a really fun rifle to carry and shoulders beautifully.

First, I wasn't happy with any of the recoil pad options for the curved butt of older Remington stocks, so I removed the old pad and carefully cut the end of the stock flat.

Then I stripped the stock, which was harder than I expected. I used citristrip, which was a bit anemic and it took a lot of elbow grease to get the finish off. In the process, it was impossible not to get schmutz into the "checkering" so that required a bunch of careful cleanup after.

I then re-sanded the stock, tried to touch up the walnut stain to get everything matching and finished with Tru Oil. I did the first two coats with Tru Oil cut with mineral spirits, then sanded it with fine paper, while the finish was still wet. That really helped the end product, I think. The rest of the coats were full strength Tru Oil, rubbed by hand and lightly wet sanded between coats. I used some of the Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen Conditioner at the end, to get more of a satin finish.

For the new pad, I added a big spacer, then a Pachmayr Deccelerator. The LOP is still not quite what it would be on a shotgun, but it's closer and I'm happy with it.

Overall, I'm happy with the results. There are one or two spots where I can see a slight run in the finish, despite trying to be really careful to apply thin coats and rub them in thoroughly. In the photographs, I can also see places where the walnut stain did not fully match the rest of the wood, but those spots are less obvious just looking at the stock. For now, I'm going to live with those imperfections and I feel like this old rifle is looking pretty good! I think one of these days, when I've got $100 to burn, I'll replace the Williams peep with a Skinner. And, I'd love to re-barrel this rifle and get it shooting better at longer ranges, but it's crazy expensive to re-barrel a 7600 these days..

Pics below..

View attachment 326039
View attachment 326040View attachment 326042
Did the citristrip hurt the black plastic end cap and the white spacer at all?
 
Looks great. If you don't want to rebarrel it, you might want to have it bored out by JES??? Just tossing out ideas for you.
I looked into that. Was thinking that maybe turning it into a .338-06 was the solution, but my smith told me that the pitting in the barrel that is likely affecting accuracy, is in the chamber as well. So, it seems like a new barrel is the only solution.
 
I hope that they make a run of these in the future. If they do, I'm going to for sure buy another. These truly are some of the best hunting rifles ever made.
 
Nice job! I picked up a 742 carbine a couple weeks ago, I was pretty content with it but the way this one turned out makes me wonder what could be…
 
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