Hack-job Savage 110 stock refinish and camo

[DRM]

A few weeks back, I picked up a used Savage .243 whose wooden stock was pretty crappy looking. OE finish was beat up pretty bad, especially down by the butt plate.

Let me say up front - this was a hack job. I was bored last night in the shop, and didn't have any stripper, so the OE finish came off from a combination of a sanding disc on the air grinder and a torch

Lots of sanding later, some green stain, more sanding, some mahogany stain, some black stain for the limb/leaves and some dark splotches... and here is how it looked before I started adding a few layers of satin urethane.

Anyway - this is my first shot at doing anything to a stock, and although I'm not 100% happy, it looks a bazillion times better than when I started (sadly, I forgot to take pics )

IMAG0837 by the.drm, on Flickr

IMAG0838 by the.drm, on Flickr

IMAG0839 by the.drm, on Flickr

IMAG0840 by the.drm, on Flickr

[Garufa]

The only thing that matters is if you are happy with it.

[Guest nosnos]

I think it looks really cool! Nice job...

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[Good_Steward]

If you ever get bored with this, make sure to pick up plenty of green / red scotch brite, 00 and 000 steel wool, and plenty of true oil, tongue oil, or boiled linseed oil, and an extra large can of elbow grease. Makes for a beautiful stock refinish. The painting like you have done on this guy, I have never been able to pick up a knack for. I always screw it up.

[DRM]

The only thing that matters is if you are happy with it.

That bad, huh?

[DRM]

I'll get some pics in better light in a few days.

The camo actually does it's job - in lower light it looks darker (like in the pics) and in brighter settings it really lightens up. Unfortunately, that makes for difficult pictures.

[DRM]

Only 2 coats of urethane, but assembled it to see how it looks completed:

IMAG0842 by the.drm, on Flickr

A little more detail:

IMAG0844 by the.drm, on Flickr

I still think my limbs/leaves are :so-so:, but I really like how the stains turned out. YOU can also see where I made the rookie mistake of sanding without the butt plate in place.

IMAG0846 by the.drm, on Flickr

[mousegunner]

Well, I like it! Nice job!

[I_Like_Pie]

Not a hack job at all....it looks really nice. It is funny how some people approach the camo of wood with paint. They lipstick them up like a shirtpainter in Pigeon Forge.

I think that the way you did it looks MUCH better. The green stain as a base keeps the grain of the wood and makes it look nice as well as serve a purpose. I have done several in a similar fashion and they came out really well. I used rit dye powder crystals diluted in alcohol for the stain.

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

I think it looks just fine and for a first attempt Most Excellent.

You may have had an ugly old rifle but now you have a mighty sharp looking one IMO.

[DRM]

So I'm 3 coats into the urethane, and it's smooth as melted butter with sanding after each coat, but I can still see ridges from when it was applied. At this rate - the urethane is just not building up as thick as I would like for good protection in the woods.

Anyone got any suggestions? Looking for anything BUT high gloss.

[Randy L]

Birchwood Casey Tru Oil is the best stuff to use on gun stocks easy to work with and you can make it as shiny as you want or as dull wipe it on with a rag then

oooo steel wool do this at least 3 times then if you don like the shine just buff with steel wool to get desired finish. Oh DRM your stock looks fine you are the only person you have to make happy and you learn in the process

[I_Like_Pie]

So I'm 3 coats into the urethane, and it's smooth as melted butter with sanding after each coat, but I can still see ridges from when it was applied. At this rate - the urethane is just not building up as thick as I would like for good protection in the woods.

Anyone got any suggestions? Looking for anything BUT high gloss.

Are you taking spar varnish/urethane or the spray poly? I use spray high gloss poly because it coats well and then wet sand very carefully to level it out....2 or 3 coats is all you need. If it looks too shiny after that you can hit it with 0000 steel wool to dull it to the level of matte you prefer.

Make sure you allow poly or regular urethane to dry for 24 hours before you wet sand it or dull it with wool. It may be dry to the touch in 15 minutes, but it is still rather soft.

[DRM]

I was using a wipe-on urethane at first, then yesterday I did 2 coats of a strap on polyurethane I found in the shop. Thicker, but I ended up with some runs - ugggggh.

Sanded those down, and did another coat of wipe-on again to get back my satin finish. I think I'll do 2 more coats of wipe-on per day till Sunday then call it good for now.

Pics of the completed rifle will be posted then.

[DRM]

Got tired of layering on the urethane, so I'm calling it done.

IMAG0859 by the.drm, on Flickr

IMAG0860 by the.drm, on Flickr

I think I'm happy with how it turned out, and I may have to practice some more on some of the single shot shotguns in the safe I really don't care about

[mikegideon]

I like it.

[DRM]

Thanks!

[Guest adamoxtwo]

I think you have inspired me to check out local pawn shops in hopes for some projects!!

[DRM]

I think you have inspired me to check out local pawn shops in hopes for some projects!!

That sounds like an excellent plan

[Sidinman]

Don't lean it up next to a pine tree, lol.

Looks good.

[East_TN_Patriot]

Looks like a winner to me. Not bad at all for using what you had on hand. I think the wood grain showing through is pretty sweet looking and adds to the overall effect.

[Guest Lordelin]

Nice job. I think it looks great. much better than my first attempt.