Kudos to Lyman

What grit sand paper would you recommend starting with? I am not a wood worker of any sort so, would be leery to start something like that and end up taking off to much wood!

Your stock is already "finished" so you are not trying to remove tool marks etc, just have to get rid of the current finish (which I don't remember being too deep).

I would start with 100/120 grit - won't load up as fast as a finer grit.

When I'm building a rifle that's about what I start with after I'm done with the files/scrapers.

Then clean up the lines/marks from the 100, with 220 - then 320 (which is pretty smooth, depending on the finish you are looking for).

When you stain, I then sand the "whiskers" (stain raises up little bits of wood which if not "knocked down" will leave a grainy look) between coats with 400-600 grit (again, depending on how smooth I'm looking for).

Most original rifles were not "sanded" (sandpaper was not readily available), they were often finished with scrapers (which can leave a pretty smooth finish, but certainly nowhere near what you get if you keep working up to grits above 1000).

If you are looking for more like an original "might look", I certainly wouldn't go above 320 grit - between coats of stain, when dry, you can rub down the stock with a rough material (denim works well) and it will smooth any whiskers.

You aren't thinking about going at your pretty new rifle with sandpaper just yet are you?

If you are, plan out all your changes/modifications first. As was suggested here, if you plan on adding a patchbox it's best to do that first and then refinish and if you are not familiar with inletting metal into wood, not something you want to try on your new gun before alot of practice - it's easy to make a mess that can't be easily fixed..

You aren't thinking about going at your pretty new rifle with sandpaper just yet are you?

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No, not quite yet. Gonna dirty it up first as you suggested. :thumbsup: Was just thinking of down the road when it's lightly used and abused. :grin:

Paint stripper first, then sandpaper. That way you are not gouging into the wood to get off the factory finish. That is how I did my CVA mountain rifle which came up pretty good with some tru oil.

I think you are making the right decision.

By next year you could end up in a number of situations -

1 - you don't like the rifle so you can sell it and get most of your money back out of it

2 - you love the rifle and have decided how you want to "swag it up"

3 - you love it but want to upgrade to a semi-custom/custom rifle and selling this one "unmodified" will give you a good down payment..

Enjoy it. Burn some charcoal..

Sound advice! Thank you and that's what I came to this sight for. :thumbsup:

Your Trade Rifle should give you years of great shooting, it is still the best bang for your buck out there IMHO. After cleaning out all that packing grease they put on it (including in the bore) start with a powder charge of 50 grains and work up from there.

Will do. My powder measure starts at 50gr and goes to 110gr. I will be shooting Goex 2f with .490 RB and .010 lubed patches. I'll play with it 'til I find the combo.

You weren't joking about the inside of the bore! I went through a whole lot of patches 'til I got it clean. Then coated it down with some Outers gun oil. Also wiped down the outside real well.

The same stuff is in the flash channel.
I like to use Brake cleaner and use the little straw they have taped to the side of the can,, :wink:

Thank you for the reminder as I did forget the flash channel. Went through it this morning and got it cleaned out.

Kapow said:

As they say, "beware the man with one gun - he usually knows how to use it!"

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:thumbsup: Very true .

nice!

go out there and make good smoke!

I bought a .54 cal percussion Trade Rifle about a year ago and absolutely love this rifle. It shoots like a champ and is a "hoot" to shoot.

I'ma bettin' you're gonna enjoy yours. :wink:

Have fun and be safe!

Thanks! I was hoping to get out and do some shooting over the holidays but, life keeps interfering and have yet to see the woods. I can't afford the shooting range so, I just head up in the hills and do my shooting. :wink: