Lightening the stock on a GPR

[adirondack46r]

I have seen a couple of tips for doing this, but I am ready to tackle the project so I wanted to get a few more thoughts. My Lyman 54 cal GPR showed up with a VERY dark stock, and I want to lighten it up to see the grain better.

What would be the best method for getting that done? Do I need to strip it and start from bare wood?

Thanks!

 

[ebiggs1]

Yes! :grin:
The finish on the factory guns is horrific. It can be made better, much better.
Any commercial stripper will remove the factory finish. :thumbsup:

 

[Vaino]

There's probably excess wood that could be removed, so I'd just use a rasp or the Nicholson #50 rasp to reshape the stock.....Fred

 

[adirondack46r]

So, remove the factory finish either by stripping or reshaping the stock. And then since it is walnut would you recommend simply going straight to a finish oil rather than staining it? My guess is that it is a fairly dark wood to begin with.

Thanks!

 

[adirondack46r]

OK, so I just read a bunch of threads on finishing/refinishing stocks. Here's what I think I gathered.

1. Strip the entire stock with either a commercial stripper or acetone, etc.
2. Lightly sand
3. Carefully following directions, use Tru-Oil in very light applications letting it dry completely and rubbing with 0000 steel wool in between.
4. Stop when the wood takes no more stain
5. Lightly wipe down with steel wool on more time and apply a finish wax.

Sound right?

 

[BrownBear]

There's stain right in the factory finish on a GPR. My 54 was uniformly dark till I stripped it using common paint stripper from the hardware store. Once stripped it was a lot lighter in color. But to demonstrate how much stain is in their finish, once the finish was gone it revealed that about the front third of my forend was yellow sapwood! You couldn't tell that at all with the original finish. Mebbe that's why they do it.

Without going into the calisthenics I had to go through to match the sapwood to the rest, I think you'll be pleased with what you get using simple stripper.

Rasping or sanding is a separate topic. I'd only do that if you intend to thin and lighten (weight) the stock too. In fact I wouldn't do it till after you use the stripper.

I didn't particularly like the weight and balance of my 50 cal GPR compared to the 54, so with that one I proceeded to remove wood, and lots of it. It's slimmer and more appealing to the eye, while now weighing almost 8 ounces less. The places I removed the most wood were the cheekpiece, wrist, perchbelly on the buttstock and forend. While I was at it I removed a whole lot of excess wood from the sides of the forend and trimmed the lock plates and side plates some too. I like the results so much I'm tempted to do the same to my 54, but darned, I sure like the balance just like it is.

 

[bubba.50]

sounds about right to me. one other thing : the great plains stock is made from european walnut which can be anywhere from light tan to almost as dark as black walnut. you'll hafta wait til ya get it stripped to see if ya need to stain or not to get the color ya want. luck and have a good'en friend, bubba.

 

[ryzman]

Funny you post this today... last night i finally had enough of the ebony on my gpr and began sanding the stain and tru oil away. As the stain came off I started to see the grain of the wood again and remembered why i went so dark in the first place... there is nothing exceptional about the stock i got and there is even a dark spot behind the lock. I dont want to go so dark again as it showed too many imperfections and dings.

Ive got the gun assembled again with nude wood and will think on how to finish the wood. Im going to be blueing everything to make it look a bit more utilitarian and not so... well... shiny : )

This is a before shot after i completed the rifle the first time... you can get an idea of what ebony and tru oil looks like. I thought it turned out beautifully but after looking at a shiny black gun for the last year i wanted it more traditional

I might try the ebony again after blueing everything including lock but will go for a matte finish... I will need to find some of zonies posts that mentioned how to do this.

I recommend taking sand paper to the finish and just start scrubbing it away. I would bet that there is plenty of wood on the stock that you can take off the finish and still have everything still fit perfectly. I have taken off all the wood i dare so the next finish i apply will be the last.

 

[buford87]

Once you get all the finish stripped you will need to wet the stock with water in order to see how dark the wood will look with a finish on it. Dry wood is always lighter in color than wood with an oil finish applied.................watch yer top knot...............

 

[reddog]

Funny you post this today... last night i finally had enough of the ebony on my gpr and began sanding the stain and tru oil away. As the stain came off I started to see the grain of the wood again and remembered why i went so dark in the first place... there is nothing exceptional about the stock i got and there is even a dark spot behind the lock. I dont want to go so dark again as it showed too many imperfections and dings.
Looks great to me!
Ive got the gun assembled again with nude wood and will think on how to finish the wood. Im going to be blueing everything to make it look a bit more utilitarian and not so... well... shiny : )

This is a before shot after i completed the rifle the first time... you can get an idea of what ebony and tru oil looks like. I thought it turned out beautifully but after looking at a shiny black gun for the last year i wanted it more traditional

I might try the ebony again after blueing everything including lock but will go for a matte finish... I will need to find some of zonies posts that mentioned how to do this.

I recommend taking sand paper to the finish and just start scrubbing it away. I would bet that there is plenty of wood on the stock that you can take off the finish and still have everything still fit perfectly. I have taken off all the wood i dare so the next finish i apply will be the last.