Refinishing a 1903a4 reproduction C stock

[mac1911]

This will be my next project. I have a Rock Ridge Machine 1903a4 clone with new production C stock and true to most of these stocks has the shit brown paint/stain on it. I will remove it and pray I have some wood grain under there.....but first as I wait for the weather to warm up a bit a marlin model 60....doubt theres much of any grain as its beach and generally very plain.

Model 60: BEFORE

If you look inside your barrel channel or even under the recoil pad you will get a good idea of what the grain if any would be like. this one is not to pretty.

I use what ever finish remover I may have around , the older guns use some pretty tough stuff sometimes. Today im using
readiStrip, it smells like vomit : Well the finish on the marlin laughed at ReadiStrip, next

1903A4: little peak its very plain and has the same shit brown paint/stain on it as just about anything you get out there today pre finished. Its going to be a little challenging matching the upper guard with the lower but we will see. this stuff strips off easy and actually light sanding takes it right off. Also gives me a chance to smooth up the trigger. The freash park is still gritty and the contacts need polishing

FINISHED REMOVED AND STARTED SANDING MODEL 60



1/2/18 model 60 update: well the grain is not great and I attempted to bring out some grain with black dye. It helped some what but not enough to matter. My experiment with the amber dye did not produce the color I was going for but that happens. I need to take a picture out side. I'm still deciding on the final finish, tung oil, shellac, poly or tru oil. If it does not look good enough I'm going to paint it.

 

[Parker Duofold]

It obviously needs to be "beechwood aged."

 

[76Too]

Any idea who made the stock?

a tree?

 

[mac1911]

This will be my next project. I have a Rock Ridge Machine 1903a4 clone with new production C stock and true to most of these stocks has the shit brown paint/stain on it. I will remove it and pray I have some wood grain under there.....but first as I wait for the weather to warm up a bit a marlin model 60....doubt theres much of any grain as its beach and generally very plain.

Any idea who made the stock?

I'm going to guess Boyds, I will look for any markings and compare to my Boyds/cmp a3 C stock on my other rifle.

 

[Mountain]

What scope is that?

 

[mac1911]

What scope is that?

Malcolm 2.5X M73G4 | Hi-Lux Optics

 

[mac1911]

well not what I hoped for

once I stsrt layering the finish it will brighten up some but the wood grain just does not provide a decent contrast so no real tones of the amber show through.

once im done with the finish I will start the 03a3

 

[Mountain]

I like the look of the rifle butt, especially the pic of the right hand side. Whatever wood that is, the end grain mops up stain while the side grain resists stain. That's what has the grip and other end grain areas much darker. Fore end looks a little patchey like my Win beech or birch stock, whatever it is.

I bet your 03A4 turns out nice. I'm not going to attempt anything on my old Model 25, probably won't help at all to improve the look over stock.

 

[mac1911]

I like the look of the rifle butt, especially the pic of the right hand side. Whatever wood that is, the end grain mops up stain while the side grain resists stain. That's what has the grip and other end grain areas much darker. Fore end looks a little patchey like my Win beech or birch stock, whatever it is.

I bet your 03A4 turns out nice. I'm not going to attempt anything on my old Model 25, probably won't help at all to improve the look over stock.

Yeah the blotchiness has a lot to do with the wood plus trying to pull the finish out of the wood was not easy. I applied the black dye to the sides and avoided the grip area and top of comb. Still undecided on the final finish coat.

The 03A3 is just going to get a good sanding and oil finish. I might try to match the lower wood with the upper ?

I came across another unfinished project I have to finish

 

[mac1911]

after sanding and quick coat of stain, it will get Truoil

 

[mac1911]

After

of course I got impatient and wacked the marlin 60 stock while the finish was still a bit soft and sratched it...owell still doing another coat or 2 of acrylic the red ryder is 3 coats of TruOil

 

[mac1911]

top is minwax polycrylic over amber dye with the last 2 coats of poly with some dye added. Bottom is 100% tung oil over a red dye both model 60 stocks

 

[mac1911]

 

[mac1911]

View: https://i.imgur.com/tKSPifV.jpg

Finally finished it up. I will most likely get a more period correct scope 3/4-7/8 inch tube.

Now I can move onto the 1903a4

 

[Mountain]

Looks nice!

 

[Randy A]

Here it what worked on mine, after inletting and then taking a lot of wood off the exterior, (oversized wartime production) matching the pre-war scant contour, I cut the A4 the bolt relief. No I didn't cut the relief in the action, bubba did that. This was an AB&B stock, they had the sharp tapered right side in the bolt area, unlike the thick top edge like some did.

I wiped it down with Minwax Dark Walnut stain, leave it set for a few minutes and wipe off, repeat to desired color. Don't let the color of the stain spook you, it lightens up a lot. Allow to dry over night then wipe down with boiled linseed oil as many times as you can. In this pic it looks dark (white LED lights) and had not been dried or coated with BLO. The color will match your handguard, I have handguards from almost every manufacturer and don't have any problem matching them.
Before dring and BLO:

Finished product:

 

[mac1911]

Nice, a little home remodeling and a few thou in dental in the past few months really halted my projects....plus the M14/1a build side tracked me a bit

 

[dw617]

Some of you guys have seen the C stock I did a few years ago on my 03a3.

Raw Linseed Oil only.

After 2+ years it keeps getting better.

 

[smokey-seven]

dw617, is there a link to that or pics?

I have used Fairtrimmers for years and am very pleased.

Fairtrimmer's Military oX

 

[mac1911]

Just rotated the 1903a4 clone to the front of the armory. Getting closer

 

[dw617]

@smokey-seven , below is a link to an album titled "RLO at 13 months"


View: https://imgur.com/a/2oX27


The stock was was an Italian made "Minelli" brand and the walnut was extremely light relative to American Walnut. The RLO initially brought out the dark grain lines and slightly darkened the stock. Overtime it turned into the brownish color above.

Since then I have done a boyds M14 stock with just RLO. That was last year with similar results. More recenly, a USGI birch M14 stock. The USGI birch stock hasn't had time to mellow out yet, it's only been a few months.

 

[Randy A]

Prior to WW1 Springfield used a Logwood staining process that produced some of the most beautiful deep reddish stocks, unfortunately that process went by the wayside during wartime and thereafter the ingredients became obsolete, (not sure but I think some now illegal) anyhow, by later 1918 Springfield noted that they were dipping loads of the stocks in heated tanks of Boiled Linseed Oil. If I remember correctly I think it was for 20 minutes or something like that, would have to go dig it out and read again. Reapplication was common during unit maintenance but I see some rifles get the really dark coloration and some not? I wonder if yours darkening is from the RLO and if the BLO darkens or not? I just used BLO because they did, but I do know on occasion some used RLO and on a lot of 1917s for sure.
BTW if you want to recreate the pre-war dark red finish I found the same brand (minwax) Red Sedona with the Dark Walnut will do the job. Don't let the color scare you when you open the can

 

[dw617]

I've heard of the Logwood stain before.

It's widely accepted that the BLO (or at least, the BLO of today) will not cause a change in color. From what I understand, the process in which BLO is made strips out the natural chemicals that oxidize to create the color change over time.

I once stripped down a stock and applied several coats of BLO. That stock was untouched for 3-4 years before I sold it. Color never changed. I hoped it did, because the stock was a very light walnut. I bet it still is!

 

[Matt-CZ]

Some of you guys have seen the C stock I did a few years ago on my 03a3.

Raw Linseed Oil only.

After 2+ years it keeps getting better.

Where did you get your RLO? Chatter on other forums is that it sometimes matters on the source, and that some "raw linseed oils" are more processed than others, which make them less inclined to oxidize in the desired way. Garand Gear has a kit, but it seems a bit pricey for such a small amount of oil and a couple pads.

Any luck using ordinary health food store flaxseed oil?

 

[dw617]

From a health food store

 

[mac1911]

Just be warned Raw Linseed oil never really “dries” and does not cure Hard like BLO. Dont rush your application. Smother it run it in really well then wipe dry. Let it sit and remove any excess that bleeds out. Then just apply every year for a while

 

[jpm]

Noted 03 expert John Beard states: "Unless chemically-treated, BLO is photochemically-reactive. It will turn quite black with exposure to light, especially sunlight. I speak from experience. If using BLO, be sure to purchase some that clearly states on the label non-photochemically-reactive." He also states "I certainly would not use raw linseed oil. It will blacken much faster."

 

[mac1911]

Noted 03 expert John Beard states: "Unless chemically-treated, BLO is photochemically-reactive. It will turn quite black with exposure to light, especially sunlight. I speak from experience. If using BLO, be sure to purchase some that clearly states on the label non-photochemically-reactive." He also states "I certainly would not use raw linseed oil. It will blacken much faster."

It can get moldy slso

 

[mac1911]

OK so I have fallen behind on my projects but I had to snag this reproduction C stock ....its nice and heavy straight grain and no manufactures marks that I can find. Looks like it was never used. The barrel channel is very straight vs a lot of the new boyds stocks I have seen. For $25 how can you go wrong.