Gun Refurbishing

[Doug Pinnegar]

I purchased a lovely little AYA No 4 12G Ejector as a project gun. I want to learn about the workings of the gun and some more in depth maintainence skills.

My first project is to refinish the stock. Not because it is that bad, but because a nice oiled stock finish can look really great. It gives me a chance to get some of the gouges and scratches out as well. 

I have bought the Tru Oil kit so once I have got some nitromoors I believe I am good to go. 

I do have a couple questions though. 

1- What precautions do I take on the chequered areas? I don't want to risk getting a damp/mushy finish.

2- Are the silver circles for adding your initials removeable? If so, how?

The next stage will be to reblue the barrels. I assume it would be ok to leave the barrels hung up to dry in a locked garage over night? Or would they need to be housed in the gun cabinet?

 

[AW13]

hope the re-furb goes well and I would be very interested to see how the stock looks now, during and after the oiling.

 

[Doug Pinnegar]

I'm planning on taking photos so can do a little write up.

Just want to clear up the points above so I know what I am getting in to before starting.

 

[PhilS]

Your barrels need to be in your cabinet! 

 

[Deershooter]

Barrels that are reblued don't need to hang up to dry it's not paint ,I would not refinish any thing with tru-oil it looks like cheap varnish buy some good books on refinishing before you start tru oil is not an oil finish . 

 

[Jonny English]

CCL or trade secrets oils are some of the better ones on the market, I've used the CCL stuff and it is very good, a lot of people on here swear by the trade secrets oils.

 

[Doug Pinnegar]

Thank you for the feedback. I will look into the CCL range!

I will make sure that the barrels get locked away as well. The rule of thumb should be that if it's metal it should be locked away? 

Many advice for dealing with the grip areas?

 

[Iggy]

I've done one stock refinish and did a lot of googling first to pick up as many tips as possible.

Ref the chequering, once I'd stripped the wood using nitromors and it was fully dry I covered all the chequered areas with masking tape while I applied the oil to the main areas of the wood.  The oil was built up in several layers with drying time in between and applied by hand.

Once I'd achieved the required finish on the main wooden areas I removed the masking tape from the chequering and applied a thinned down oil to them using an old toothbrush. I applied a few separate coats to bring the colour to the same level as the surrounding areas but doing it this way (repeated thin coats applied with a brush) ensured the chequering didn't get 'filled' and mushy. 

It all takes a bit of trial and error but provided you're patient and you take your time you should be fine. 

Good luck with it. 

 

[Skeet UK]

From what I know about blueing, the barrels need to be polished...the shinier they are, the glossier the end result.  And they need to be CLEAN...no fingerprints

 

[Les53]

CCL is, in my opinion the best stock oil and the grain sealer works very fast ineed. I've been using CCL stuff for over 25 years. As for the oval in the stock, leave it alone or you will just end up with a hole which will look awful, if you must get rid of it leave it to a pro! When it comes to barrels, don't even think about it!!! Give them to a pro, barrel blacking/blueing is an art, you can't just use paint on a barrel. As for anything else on the gun such as anything made of metal, including the trigger mechanism, once again give it to a pro, this is for safety reasons as much as anything else! Unless you have the required skills, do not attempt anything other than stock oiling.

 

[CharlesP]

Les53 +1

A poorly restored gun plummets in value. 

 

[Les53]

Les53 +1

A poorly restored gun plummets in value. 

​And can also be pretty dangerous too Charles!

 

[Deershooter]

Regarding blueing every thing has to be super clean polish it with various grades of wet and dry .clean with something like panel wipe then isoprolal alcohol ,don't use the same bit of cloth twice you will transfer muck about .never touch cleaned parts with hands suspend on wire or use wood plug in the barrel to hold . Never use a mechanical polisher or cutting compound / polish you will never get rid of it and the blue won't take 

Richard H on pigeon watch will reblued your barrels much better than you can do at home at reasonable cost too 

deershooter

 

[Doug Pinnegar]

Thanks Deershooter, I have dropped him a PM.

Iggy, that sounds like a good plan. Did you just cut the oil with a bit of water or something else?

I will grab the CCL stuff, I assume this kit (50ml) would do one gun easily?

http://www.uttings.co.uk/p103829-ccl-oil-finishing-kit/#.VXnTKVlVhHw

Thanks for the advice gents, any other tips or suggested readings?

 

[Iggy]

I thinned the oil with white spirit, but it will depend on the type of oil you decide to use and wether it's water or oil based.

I used was Birchwood Casey which is oil based, hence I used white spirit. 

 

[Simonix]

That's what tru oil is. Linseed oil with spirits mixed in to aid drying. 

I have used tru oil to refinish several stocks now and you can easily make them look fantastic and not like cheap lacquer at all! You buff them with fine grade wire wool between coats and you get a great Matt or satin finish. 

 

[cockney21]

With oil finishes it's horses for courses. Truoil is used by the likes of Beretta to give a durable finish which can be applied at the factory in a few coats. It will not mark easy and will stand up to getting wet better than an oil only finish, when I say stand up better I mean it will just need a wipe down when it gets wet. Where it loses out is in that it won't 'mellow' with age like a true oil finish...think antique table, varnish if the kids are going to spill their drinks on it...or years of beeswax for that traditional patina.