Refinishing checkered wooden grips

[Guest Rugerman]

Soooo, I bought some checkered wood grips for my micro eagle .380 and HATE the color. But, I love the feel of them much better than the factory stock grips. Anyway to remove the color and refinish them a different color? I want something darker. My apologies for the bad crackberry pictures.

[56FordGuy]

I'm no stock finishing expert, but I can tell you what I did on my old Mauser.

I used a stripper called Klean- Strip. It comes in a red can, and I got mine at Home Depot. Followed the directions and it removed everything. Years of cosmoline, the original finish, left the stock almost white. Great stripper.

For refinishing them, you might look into pure tung oil or boiled linseed oil. I used the pure tung oil on my stock because I was trying to achieve a lighter, almost blonde look. I understand that the boiled linseed oil is a bit darker.

[Guest TurboniumOxide]

Might try the desired color on the back of the grip (where it won't show) until you get the tone you want. I would go with the boiled linseed oil.

[JeffsSig]

Thanks TDR........... I guess I overlooked those last time I went there.

Set on order.

[Guest Rugerman]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. By the way, this is my favorite pocket gun. My wife agrees! The only gun I can get her to carry!

[Guest Marshal Too Sweet]

Klean-Strip is good and I have used it but it is rough on the hands. Wal-Mart sales a non-toxic stripper which I have been using recently. Can't place the name right now but it is sold in the paint supplies. No harsh smell and works in about 15 minutes. Soak them, use an toothbrush to get in the checkering and buff with 0000 steel wool. As said before try the finish on the back first, if you use stain you can darken the stain but adding a little paint as you go. Make sure the paint is compatible with the stain, ie: oil base for oil base. Very little paint will change the color a lot. I do this when trying to match stocks and forearms.

[TGO David]

You might be able to have them media blasted on an extremely low pressure setting; just enough to remove the finish. If you do this, make sure whomever does the work uses an extremely gentle approach. Too much and you're looking at a ruined set of grips. I have done this for myself in the past but there's no way I'd do it for anyone else unless they understood full well ahead of time that there was a good chance that even on low pressure you might scar the wood.

I would be wary of chemical strippers as they will almost invariably discolor the wood and raise the grain. Maybe check with Brownell's and see if they sell a gentle chemical stripping agent designed for this exact purpose.

Edited August 11, 2009 by TGO David