Gunsmithing Wood Rifle Stock Work

[army_eod]

I am looking for recommendations on who might be good at taking a ratty Zastava Bolt Action M70 walnut stock and refurbishing it. I have a new recoil pad for it. It needs some work.
I would like to ship to somebody to do the work.

 

[FisherT&C]

I would check with one of the gunsmithing schools, I don't know if a working tradesman would take it in. Honestly it doesn't sound like something a guy could make a buck on. I wouldn't touch it unfortunately, sounds fun, but I've learned to best stick with what is profitable.

 

[loveha]

I don't know what kind of work and how many hours it would take to do the work, but it may not be worth it in the end to refinish it. May be better of just calling and ordering a new stock.

Personally. Some 180/220/400 grit sandpaper. Foam block to wrap it in to keep it smooth and uniform. Restain it if you like, then pick something to finish it in that can withstand the elements like Minwax Helmsman (Helmsman is for outdoor use). Any major dents I would just view as character. The urethane should help take care of how that looks and feels depending on how many coats you give it. I never liked working with wood putty and matching colors. If you don't like the shiny look and feel of a urethane finished stock, then maybe just an oil based wax for wood.

Unless it needs a lot more work than that? To me it just sounds like a weekend or two worth of work. But I like to work on wood, I know some people are terrified they are going to screw something up. But you are only refinishing it, go slow and take your time. The hard part, would be the checkering on the stock. But I'm sure some paint thinner and a soft brush would work. You would probably need paint thinner or stain remover to remove all the stain from areas that sanding didn't remove anyways.
I know wood work is not for everybody. I just like the satisfaction that I did the work my self.

How is the recoil pad held on?

 

[Southern Custom]

A good stock guy is going to charge up to $75 an hour for labor. ($50-100 for the extreme spread) You can well imagine how many hours could go into refinishing that stock. I do this kind of stuff every now and then for fun. It could easily take 6-7 hours of labor or more. Once you do the math it becomes cost prohibitive.
Skilled labor comes at a hefty price and for some reason people just don't understand it. I remember quoting a guy for an engraving last year telling him what he wanted would take nearly 100 hours of labor. He responded with ”so that's got to be like a thousand dollars right?” Apparently he equated my 25 years of engraving experience to the cashier at Burger King.

 

[loveha]

So I was not wrong about going ahead and buying a new stock.
If it was me, I would be looking at the materials I was talking about with the idea that if I screwed up, I would just buy a new stock.

 

[Bigfatcock]

What do you mean by refurbish? Do you just need it refinished, or are there other issues to deal with? Dents, cracks, etc.

I refinish and repair rifle stocks, but more information is needed.

What kind of finish are you looking for? Rubbed oil? Satin or gloss? Any shaping needed? Any checkering needing recut?

 

[Sirshredalot]

Lots and lots of labor involved as others have said.

Ive redone two wood stocks for myself and had 20 hours in them.

The whole job can be done with sandpaper, chisels, and a spokeshave or palm plane(recontouring a cheekpiece)....unless you want pillars installed in which case you need a drill press and a forstner bit.

Chisels for removing wood in preparation for bedding.

Wrap sandpaper around increasing size sockets for barrel channel clearance.

Sand to bare wood with 120, 240, and 400 grit paper....chemical stripper can be used on checkering, but it usually needs to be recut or touched up if you want it sharp.

Steam out any dents with a wet rag and an iron.

Sand more and stain if desired...different wood take stain differently...alcohol based stains for leather work well, but you might have to mix and match the colors to get what you want.

Staining poplar to look like walnut is tough.

Then 5 to 8 coats of tru-oil...takes a loong time but worth it.

Easy to do, just takes a lot of saturdays and stop-n-checks.

No one would ever pay to for the labor required.

Shred

 

[Forward543]

I just built 2 stocks out of wood, and my theory now is:
Buy one from a custom guy.

 

[Bigfatcock]

Lots and lots of labor involved as others have said.

Ive redone two wood stocks for myself and had 20 hours in them.

The whole job can be done with sandpaper, chisels, and a spokeshave or palm plane(recontouring a cheekpiece)....unless you want pillars installed in which case you need a drill press and a forstner bit.

Chisels for removing wood in preparation for bedding.

Wrap sandpaper around increasing size sockets for barrel channel clearance.

Sand to bare wood with 120, 240, and 400 grit paper....chemical stripper can be used on checkering, but it usually needs to be recut or touched up if you want it sharp.

Steam out any dents with a wet rag and an iron.

Sand more and stain if desired...different wood take stain differently...alcohol based stains for leather work well, but you might have to mix and match the colors to get what you want.

Staining poplar to look like walnut is tough.

Then 5 to 8 coats of tru-oil...takes a loong time but worth it.

Easy to do, just takes a lot of saturdays and stop-n-checks.

No one would ever pay to for the labor required.

Shred

Mixing orange dye with dark walnut dye will give a nice, warm color close to air dried walnut. A7:10 Orange:dark walnut is what I use. I prefer oil based, but have alcohol based as well.

Quality walnut normally won’t need stain unless it has some odd light spots.

For finish I start out with tru-oil mixed 2:1 with mineral spirits. It’s thin, applies well, and dries pretty fast. If I need to fill the grain then I’ll wet sand the mix in. Normally 3 coats of the thinned mixture, followed by 1-6 coats of full strength true oil depending on the finish you want.

Use sanding blocks and tape off checking. If checkering needs to be recut, that is additional time and effort, but worthwhile and not that complicated.

Citrus trip gel is my favorite stripper next to my girl sherry from the strip joint.

Go slow and it’ll be a good project. Post some pictures of could.