After a fair amount of reading and searching on ASSRA...

I have a Uberti HiWall with checkering. The 'Hard Shell' SHINY 
look is not for me. I'd like to refinish using a oil based product for a deep hand rubbed look but don't know how to treat the checkering....

First thought was to tape off the checkering to protect it from  damage
while sanding / stripping / scraping 

Any thoughts..?

Thanks in advance

Bob

PS my only experience in this area so far is finishing the naked stock on a CPA 44 1/2 and a unfinished hi wall stock for a different Uberti.

Mine is similarly stained / conditioned.
I was hoping someone who provide me with a bit of knowledge 
where I could chemically strip the finish off the checkered area
without damaging someone's fine effort.

Thanks Hawkeye


1Hawkeye wrote on Apr 6^th, 2025 at 5:40pm:

I chemically strip the whole stock finish, and try not to sand anything more than is necessary for prepping the new finish. Some Jasco stripper and a brass bristle brush will get the finish out off the checkering, and then you can avoid it when doing a little sanding.
Once you've stripped the whole stock finish wash it with hot soapy water and rinse. Then let it dry in a warm place for 5 days before beginning any application of finish. 
When applying finish I always avoid the checkering throughout applications of finish so it wont build up in the checkering. Once you're near the end of applying finish you can put a coat or two on the checkering to seal it, and it wont be built up in the checkering. Any light sanding you do just needs to avoid sanding the checkering. I never found a need to mask it off myself, but you can if it works for you.
I use rottenstone powder as a final step on all new finishes I've done, but also have used it on older finishes that needed a facelift. I use a damp rag dipped in the rottenstone powder, but I recently was told about using mineral oil and rottenstone powder and tried it recently. I like mineral oil on a rag with rottenstone even better, so I'll go that route in the future stock work.

I've used hardware store steel wool for 10 years without worry since a guy told me all it needed was a bath in acetone. He was correct, as I have had no issues with it since. Speaking of acetone, the same guy used it as a go to solvent to remove bad finish on old guns. Not sure if it works on new products, but a pan of it with 3-0 or 4-0 steel wool will remove nearly all of the old varnishes without removing the patina. I've used it on at least a dozen stock sets. It also dries almost instantly. 
PS- use it only with with good ventilation.

Using steel wool on a stock is asking for problems, Rust! I have found "brass wool" is a safer alternative. In my past experience at least.

rkba2nd wrote on Apr 7^th, 2025 at 7:27pm:


Sanding with the receiver or steel buttplate attached, particularly in the finer grits presents the same problem.  If you fine sand the wood and metal at the same time, the steel sanding dust fills the pores of the wood.  When you wet the wood to lift the grain, the sanding dust instantly rusts and stains the wood.  You end up with a black shadow band about 4 inches wide that gets lighter as you get away from the mating edge of the stock.  It looks a lot like the black staining that occurs on old stocks from either rust or gun oil infiltration.

I prefer to do the last couple of sanding stages with the metal detached, and I blow out the pores severely with high pressure air before I wet the stock to lift the grain.

Val,

Isn't Poly (urethane) always a hard shell like shiny product..?

Bob

marlinguy wrote on Apr 8^th, 2025 at 12:41pm:

RJ-35-40 wrote on Apr 8^th, 2025 at 12:45pm:


Not at all Bob. WOP is nothing like the usual factory polyurethane glossy hard finishes. Not only that, but end results are more like a hand rubbed oil finish. And WOP is easily repaired or touched up like an oil finish should you scratch or ding it.
Steve Durren suggested using Permayln Sealer by Laurel Mountain, as he uses on all stocks, and it's the same thing. I switched to WOP decades ago because it is available locally and cheaper. It also comes in gloss or satin, but I always use gloss as it's easy to knock down, where satin wont buff up.

All of these rifles are WOP finishes:
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