New Project #2

This will be my most ambitious project yet. This gun is a great little shooter. 26” barrel choked Improved Cylinder I can see it being my dove gun next year. I’ve decided to give it a face lift. It is WELL used.






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Took the wood off today and started stripping. I’ve got a billion dents to iron out and some gouges that will need to be filled. I’ll be learning along the way. I filled a gouge in a Remington 1100 front end last year, the first project I took on before I started working on my Brownings, and it came out shaped perfectly but not colored quite right. I’m gonna be looking for the best way to fill the voids in while also having them look good color-wise. So far what I’ve read says to stain it and fill it with clear epoxy over that. I’m open, actually asking for, comments and suggestions.







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And a few more..





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I’ve got the rest of the gun boxed up and ready to ship. Gonna send it to Fords in Florida for their Deluxe blue. I think it’ll closely match the original color. If the wood wasn’t so beat up I’d send it to Glenrock.






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Wow you’ve got your work cut out for you. With that said I can’t wait to see the finished product

I have seen worse turn out looking much better........ MOST of the issues with your wood can be solved. Not all, but the majority. The bluing is obviously needing a complete redo. If that was an older one, I would reblue it myself. I have figured out (dare I say perfected) a method using Birchwood-Casey cold bluing. I have redone a handful that a guy couldn't tell wasn't original. The newer hot-blue----nope, ain't even gonna try to replicate that.

And, far from me being overly critical, but in the bottom picture, is that a dent in the top of the receiver about 1 1/2" from the rear? Maybe an optical befuddlement? It sure looks like the radius of hte top has an indentation in it. If so, that might be a little tricky removing.

I would love to reblue it myself. I just don’t have the confidence. Maybe I’ll unbox it give it a whirl? I’ll think on that one.

That picture does look like a dent but I’ve never noticed it looking dented in person. I’d be surprised if I missed that.


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Nice old gun for your project. Bet it could tell a few stories. Be good to see how it all comes up.

Always thought a chunk of scar tissue added a degree of character.
Maybe leave a little proof of age on the wood?
YMMV.
Cheers B.

Work has gotten in the way but it’s turned out to be a good thing. I stripped, sanded, and stained the wood only to be dissatisfied. There was far too much staining still present so since I’ve been traveling and had no time I’ve let acetone work for me in the meantime. I scrubbed the butt stock with purple power and then back into a couple rounds of acetone soaking. Maybe 4-5 days total time. Much more satisfied with it now and will perhaps soak the neck a bit more where my acetone level got low and allowed oil floating on the top re-enter the stock. It’s quite clean now and almost ready to be stained again.

I’m all for some look of aging but now with the metal all in Florida at Fords I expect it’s going to come back in half a year looking pretty good. I want the wood to match it.



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Here’s an example of the staining I wrote about. I never should have masked it off and stained it with it being still so dirty. I’ve learned now that more soaking does a whole lotta good. It’s just about gone now and I’ll be able to turn efforts to filling in gouges.




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Hey rcatastrophe That’s looking real good so far. Been waiting to see how it’s progressing along. Been quiet on here lately.
So when you say it was dirty I take it you mean there was some existing old stain deep down in timber pores after it was sanded? Looks like the acetone drew it all out this time round. Also what stripper do you use? I saw an older post series Win7 used citrus strip.

Auzzie here’s my theory, it should be at least partially accurate. This stock had a lot of wear and tear. Lots of spots where oil and dirt could get in. I used Citri Strip for the stripping and my practice has been to wrap it in foil for that. What I saw after that was done was a lot of really sharp angles of staining. The picture I’m attaching is not great but shows a little of what was left behind.

I’m a little ashamed to admit I thought I could hide all that with stain looking back at it now. It was awful. You can’t see them all (I didn’t take enough pictures) but I can’t explain the perfectly straight lines of the areas of discoloration other than thinking the folds and creases that are unavoidable with aluminum foil created them. After soaking once in the acetone it was better but the additional soaks after trying to stain it made a big difference. I kept remembering Justin writing about it sometimes taking a month of soaking to remove all the oil so I just followed his writing and the wood is much cleaner now. It’ll be going back again for another dunk before I’m done.

I’ve put the front end back to soak now in an effort to get it looking a bit better. The gun itself is at Ford’s right now getting blued and that’s gonna take 5-6 months so I have a huge amount of time to just keep on working on this wood.

My preferred method now, after several goes, is to use a Food Saver bag. I cut a narrow bag about 7-8 inches longer than the stock and seal one end. After sliding the stock in I fold the bag around it and use tape to help restrict the volume. Doing this it only takes ~2 to 2 1/2 cups of acetone to completely submerge an Auto 5 butt stock and get the solvent an inch or two above it. I fold the top a few times to keep evaporation at bay and clip it to a rack I have outside where the sun can heat it up and speed things along.




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Thanks for sharing experience. About to embark on same journey this weekend. Managed to get hands on some citrus strip same as your using, but it cost my first born child. That was why I was quizzing if you thought it was possibly stripper stains. Regardless looking good. It will be my first go on auto 5 wood to attempt re finish. Metal is more my scene and experience skill set.
If I end up with something half as good as your or Justin’s efforts be happy. Bought a train wreck for parts that ended up having pre war wood shoehorned on . As result have crack to glue and pin in stock but forend is good . Similar to yours plenty of dents and divits. Believe they are called character marks.
Keep posting and I will follow your lead.

I have a tip that will make your citri strip go farther. I place the stock in a black garbage and lightly coat the stock with stripper. Then I wrap the back up and tie it off. Then set it out in the sun. After a few hours flip the stock in the bag and you can rub the stripper into the stock through the bag. I’ve let them soak in a garbage bag for days. As long as it doesn’t get exposed to air it won’t dry on you

Good tip. I will do that and give it a go. The sun and evaporation is pretty intense here so will keep a close check. Acetone and any paint thinners etc disappear right before your eyes. I am going to give tolulene a go for soaking as I can get for free.

It’s been a bit but I’m back on track. Showing a couple pictures of the same side a couple pictures back. The ones below is after staining and then with the first coat of oil. I think I’ll see this through because I want to be done but I can see myself back at it next winter because the dark stains in the wood are bugging me. Two pictures up you can see the dark patches that are also in these two new pics. Next year or next week, if I was to start over, what will get ride of all that? All I can think is it’s old oil whatever else that seeped in through the damaged old finish. I would love to get this wood clean and stain free. Is more soaking in acetone the answer?





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Well thanks for making me feel better. I guess I’ll just go with it then with that strong stamp of approval. Those dark shadows in the wood were bugging me but I think I’ll stop worrying about it. Thanks!


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Don’t worry lookes fine to me too. I will be happy if mine comes out half as good