Franchi 48 AL Refinishing Project

[crock239]

No big game tags for me this fall...planning a new adventure to load up the pup and hunt grouse in the UP. Then potentially take the family to SD for pheasants.

I acquired this Franchi 48 AL from a hunting mentor a while back and decided now would be a good time to give it a facelift.

Its my first time refinishing a gunstock, so this could go any direction...

The "before" pics...the old finish was wearing off anyway so i figure this is a low-risk project.

 

[El Jason]

You going to clean up the checkering?

Citristrip should take that old finish right off.

 

[crock239]

You going to clean up the checkering?

Citristrip should take that old finish right off.

Original plan was just spruce it up a bit... hopefully harvest a grouse or pheasant with it and share a pic with the gent I got it from. He's in his 80s now and his hunting days are behind him--I think he'd be pleased to see it still getting field work. So, not going into this w plans to fix or cut checkering...

I did go with Citristrip for removal of the old finish.


Followed a tip from @p_ham to tape off the checkering and cut it out w exacto blade. That helped keep most of the citristrip gunk out of the checkering.

The first 2 or 3 coats I was impatient and started scraping after 5-6 hrs. Hot tips...citristrip needs to stay wet to be effective and more time is better than less.

New process...apply citristrip liberally and immediately wrap the stock with saran wrap. Wait 24hrs before wiping and scraping clean. If you're still scraping at hardened, stubborn finish then you're going to need to apply another coat.

After 6 coats of citristrip all the old finish is off.

I hit the checkering with a stiff nylon brush where the tape peeled and some citristrip gunk filled the checkering...along with some scraping with a small nail etc. Also bathed it all in mineral spirits to help remove citristrip residues and brushed some more.

This is where things stand now...




@El Jason and @Ben Lamb what are your current preferences / recommendations for a finish that a novice might have some decent results with? Tung oil? Tru oil? Others?

I'd like to maybe darken it up just a bit, but I'll also say that when the wood was wet with mineral spirits it actually looked pretty impressive. Anything that comes close will be a win.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I used Tru Oil on a similar project last year and was pleased with the results.

7600 Makeover

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...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[crock239]

I used Tru Oil on a similar project last year and was pleased with the results.

7600 Makeover

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...

www.hunttalk.com

Wow, yeah that looks great so that could be a contender.

 

[El Jason]

I used teak oil on my Sauer 16 gauge.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Finish depends on the amount of labor you want to put into it.

Tru oil will get you a serviceable finish with some hardeners & varnishes. Pretty easy to use.

I'm partial to boiled linseed oil myself, but that's an investment of time. Usually try for 15-25 hand rubbed coats. Takes a little over 6-8 weeks.

If you want to get an English finish, soak alkanet root in linseed oil for a few years then apply. Lovely reddish hue.

 

[howl]

The stocks I have done, I used rubbing alcohol to raise the hairs on the wood before sanding. No one mentions it when I read these posts on gun forums. Beats me.

Why are people using Citristrip when it takes so long to work? You can get the coating off a Browning Medallion grade in a couple hours with other products.

I'm overdue to strip the awful finish Yildiz is using nowadays off one. I'll try the Citristrip if there's a benefit. Inquiring mind, want to know.

 

[El Jason]

I use it because it is not as caustic as other products. If you like something different, drive on. I like the water cleanup, etc.

Rubbing alcohol, denatured alcohol can be used to wipe down after stripping to get all residual stripping product off. Yes, this will raise the grain. I usually do denatured alcohol first, sand, then wipe with a wet rag and sand again if I’m doing varnish. If I’m doing an oil finish it’s a moot point because I am wet sanding a bunch of times.

 

[crock239]

Thanks gents.

Given that I'm a newbie and I'd like to have the shotty ready for the UP the first of October, I'm going with the "easy to use" tru oil route on this project.

 

[crock239]

I went the Tru Oil route...

2x coats of 50/50 Tru Oil / Mineral Spirits with 320grit wet sanding

2x coats 50/50 Tru Oil / Mineral Spirits w 400 grit wet sanding

5x coats of full-strength Tru Oil

24hrs to dry and buffed with 0000 steel wool between each coat

After a week of cure I applied a coat of Renaissance Wax

Overall, happy with the results. I'm sure with additional finish coats and buffing it could be better but my goal was improvement not perfection.







I could tell after the first coat of tru oil that the fore-end would be more blonde vs brunette of the buttstock (pics don't fully show the disparity)...considered stripping the fore-end and staining it to match better, but ultimately decided to drive on.

Fun little project, looking forward to shooting it this fall.

 

[howl]

Nicely done.

One of the reasons gun stocks aren't finished as well as they could is matching butt-stocks and fore-ends. Stain and varnish darker than the darker piece is SOP as far as I can see.