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Removing Varnish

8uck5nort
Picked up a turkish mauser. Had bore and action checked by local gunsmith and it does shoot ok. Stock is in decent shape for what it is, but the prior owner who found it and cleaned it up and then used a varnish on the stock, and actually got it on the metal too. What is the best way to remove it from the metal without damaging. I am going to dis-assemble and do a cold re-blue, or try anyway, first time. I assumed a commercially available chemical remover would do the trick, but not sure if it would be safe on metal. How about the stock? Leave it or strip and refinish it some other way? I am just looking to clean the gun up and protect it from the elements. Not interested in any kind of re-sell value. Kinda of my/our first project gun I am doing with my son.
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Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • Dave45-70
    I would just use a commerical stripper like biz or Fornbys and some steel wool,if the stock is hardwood you can stain it and apply a boiled linseed oil finish,also the stripper won't harm the metal.
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  • swampthing36
    quote:Originally posted by 8uck5nort
    Picked up a turkish mauser. Had bore and action checked by local gunsmith and it does shoot ok. Stock is in decent shape for what it is, but the prior owner who found it and cleaned it up and then used a varnish on the stock, and actually got it on the metal too. What is the best way to remove it from the metal without damaging. I am going to dis-assemble and do a cold re-blue, or try anyway, first time. I assumed a commercially available chemical remover would do the trick, but not sure if it would be safe on metal. How about the stock? Leave it or strip and refinish it some other way? I am just looking to clean the gun up and protect it from the elements. Not interested in any kind of re-sell value. Kinda of my/our first project gun I am doing with my son.
    I picked up a gun in similar condition. I bought a can of citri-strip from either Lowes or Home Depot. Anyways I wanted to use a stripper that wouldn't stink up my 'man cave'. Stuff worked real good. Didnt' harm the metal. Idiot that owned the gun before me had a lot of old finish and varnish on the stock. I spent two weeks cleaning up the stock; stripping it; getting out the dents; sanding it smooth; reshaping the cheek piece, then refinishing the stock with a hand rubbed urethane. She's a beauty now!
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  • Emmett Dunham
    I use acitone to strip the finish on old stocks that I want to restore, it will take it down to the wood and leave the wood dry to soak up the new finish.


    Emmett
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  • nononsense
    8uck5nort,

    Welcome to the Gunbroker Forums!

    I like the Citristrip as opposed to other chemicals. Combined with the Citristrip Wash, it's a good, safe method of getting the varnish off of both the metal and the wood.

    I can't recommend any cold blue products for doing large areas of firearms no matter what the claims are for specific products. Cold blue is for touch ups on small areas and even then it's not as permanent or wear resistant as real hot bluing. If you insist on a low quality cold blue finish, good luck. I know that some members suggest Van's but again, I recommend a complete hot blue for both protection and quality.

    Enjoy your project!

    Best.
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  • CHEVELLE427
    i cheated

    i found a local guy that does gun stocks, gets most all the dents out looks like a lot of work for $35,

    This is a Swiss k31 it had the usual bad dents and cuts on the but end, I think it came out nice.
    again alot of work for $35


    DSCF3264.jpg
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