Winchester 94 1966 Centennial Stock Help

[rixhobbies]

I have a 1966 Winchester 94 Centennial in 30-30. The box and documentation were lost by the original owner and it's got a few cosmetic flaws, so it's not a collectible. I'd like to improve it a bit and use it as a fun (and pretty) shooter.

Here are the issues: The receiver has a very light scratch (see pic) in the gold plating on the receiver, as well as one very small spot that's flaked. It was displayed by the original owner and I believe there is some lightening of the walnut on one side (see pictures). Also, the stock has very slight crazing in the finish (you need a magnifying glass to see it). Lastly, the stock has a slight ding. Otherwise, the blueing is flawless, bore is bright, action is smooth.

Here is what I'd like to do.

First, the stock: I'd like to strip it and apply a hand rubbed Tru-Oil finish to it. Looking at the pictures, you can see the difference in the darkness of the grain on each side. Since it's the same effect on both the forearm and the stock, I have to assume it's due to light fade since that's what walnut does under UV (the previous owner displayed the rifle on a wall). My hope is that after stripping the finish, some light sanding will remove the bleached surface wood and restore the grain. Has anyone ever dealt with this before? I'd love to hear some experience and suggestions before I start the refinish process.

Secondly, as pretty as gold is, it's soft. I suppose I could have it re-gold plated, but I'm also thinking about possibly a more durable plating material like nickel or chrome (it doesn't have to necessarily be gold). I'd love CCH, but I'm afraid the steel will warp from the process. For this rifle, I actually like the shiny metal as it lends it character.

So, the idea is to keep the general theme of the rifle and toss in some personal customizations into it as a project gun. I love the crescent butt plate and octagon barrel, so the rest of what I want to do is just dressing to make for a fun to shoot, attractive, conversation piece. I'll take something less flashy hunting

Thanks in advance!

Rick

[TheWoodCrafter]

Nice gun.
I have been looking for an affordable collector model for a while.

The wood is fairly easy to repair.
Not sure what you should do with the metal.

Strip it with chemical stripper.
Evenly sand it with 150grit paper.
Then you may have to apply some stain to get the color even.
Don't use anything like Minwax. That type of liquid stain will be hard to control.
Buy a gel stain in a light brown color. Don't get water based, it dries too fast.
Gel stain is easier to control the amount of color you add.
You can add a little coat in some places and a heavier coat in others.
The time between wiping on and wiping off will effect the color also.
Your finish will make it darker so shoot for a lighter color than you want.
When dry, usually over night, apply your favorite finish.
Add multiple coats of finish lightly sanding with 4/0 steel wool between coats.
Be VERY careful not to cut through the finish and start sanding the colored wood.
It will change the color of the wood and ruin the project.
You only want to smooth the raised wood fibers not remove anything.
Could take 5 coats of an oil finish to build a nice finish.
I would use semi-gloss.
Don't rush it, take your time.
This could take over a week to complete with proper drying times.
Good luck.

[Pete44ru]

.

Welcome to our corner of the www, Rick !

The wood's easy enough to strip (I wouldn't touch it w/sandpaper), stain & finish w/Tru-Oil.

I use Formby's Furniture Refinisher (HomeCheapo), following the can directions, to wipe the wood down to bare, then stain with a mixture of black walnut (60%-75%) and red mahogany (25%-40%) to mimic the finish on older Winchester's, before applying a Tru-Oil final finish.

I would advise against touching the receiver finish.

That "gold" is only one of several different coloration process', Winchester used on those 1964-1970 sintered metal (not forged steel) receivers - like "Gold", "Silver", "Pewter", black chrome, and a faux CCH, depending on the model.

The sintered receivers were iron-plated, then either colorized or plated with whatever final look/finish was desired - so a refinish is a very specialized process.



.

[Sixgun]

Only the owner of a rifle picks out little indescrepencies such as yours. Leave it alone and use it and with time, handling, and shooting it, it will all blend in and add character. If you don't know exactly what you are doing, the flawed workmanship will stand out like a sore thumb and everyone will notice that.-------------------Sixgun

[pwl44m]

Welcome Rick
Frankly I see nothing wrong with it the way it is other than the wood and that should be an easy fix. No close up on the scratch so caint comment on that.
Perry

[rixhobbies]

All,

Thanks for the feedback thus far! I agree with the comments about the receiver's finish as right now, it's quite pretty and the small flaws don't matter. My thinking there was more "forward", should the gold not hold up over time (flake off, etc) as I'm unsure how durable the gold will be in normal use (though I baby my things so as long as it doesn't flake off, it'll probably be there forever). For now, there is no reason to re-do it and I plan to leave it be (it's purty!) I did add a picture of the scratch... I thought I had done that.

However, the stock needs some attention. I'm definitely familiar with the refinish process that's been shared here as I've done the work before with good results (being a bit of a perfectionist, each stock was a month long process of careful work).

The big question on my mind is the fading of the walnut on the one side. I thought about the fact that staining might be required, and I've looked into various types of stain that I might need to use, including oil, water, alcohol based liquid and gel stains and dyes). Blending things, though, is one area where I would welcome some tips from those more experienced than I as I've only applied stains uniformly over wood.

I'd likely approach it thusly:
1) Strip to bare wood
2) Raise the grain and sand with 150 grit WITH the grain to remove the lightened surface wood (I stress LIGHTLY sanding as I don't want to remove too much)
3) Mineral spirits check to see if the color is coming through on the light side (decide to continue blending with sanding or to use stain/dye)
4) Fine sanding (and/or dye/stain blending if needed)
5) Tru-Oil filling, coating, etc daily until done

My hope is that the UV bleaching is very thin and that light sanding might uncover the grain so that I can leave the wood natural. I just have no experience with this sort of bleaching and don't know how deep it goes. If I can uncover it with light sanding, I'll have to look at dye/stains to blend things.

Has anyone else around dealt with restoring UV bleaching on walnut before?

Thanks in advance!

Rick

[rixhobbies]

Nice gun.
I have been looking for an affordable collector model for a while.

The wood is fairly easy to repair.
Not sure what you should do with the metal.

Strip it with chemical stripper.
Evenly sand it with 150grit paper.
Then you may have to apply some stain to get the color even.
Don't use anything like Minwax. That type of liquid stain will be hard to control.
Buy a gel stain in a light brown color. Don't get water based, it dries too fast.
Gel stain is easier to control the amount of color you add.
You can add a little coat in some places and a heavier coat in others.
The time between wiping on and wiping off will effect the color also.
Your finish will make it darker so shoot for a lighter color than you want.
When dry, usually over night, apply your favorite finish.
Add multiple coats of finish lightly sanding with 4/0 steel wool between coats.
Be VERY careful not to cut through the finish and start sanding the colored wood.
It will change the color of the wood and ruin the project.
You only want to smooth the raised wood fibers not remove anything.
Could take 5 coats of an oil finish to build a nice finish.
I would use semi-gloss.
Don't rush it, take your time.
This could take over a week to complete with proper drying times.
Good luck.

Good advice on the gel stain. I've never used gel before, so I'll poke around and see what I find. Has this worked for you with UV lightened wood? I admit I was hoping that simple sanding would remove it, but I may need to plan for at least some blending I suppose. I have no clue how deep into the wood the bleaching would be, but I suppose I'll find out once I get started!

[Griff]

and Welcome to THE Forum.

The '66 Centennial receivers were plated with a brass derivative, not gold. Is that the 20" version? They were made with both 20" & 26" octagon barrels.

[TheWoodCrafter]

Gel stain is the only stain that I know of that you can actually control how much color you add.
But you have to have the shade correct as peter44ru has pointed out.
I have not used it on sun bleached wood but I have used it on sap wood (wood closest to the bark).
Walnut along with cherry has a significant color difference from heard wood to sap wood.
Sap wood looks similar to bleached out heart wood.

I would not attempt to sand out the bleached area.
You may have to remove too much wood.

[7.62 Precision]

I would use an alcohol-based stain - you will get really good results. Tapadera's is easy and gives good results http://www.tapaderaswinchesters.com/stain.html.
Use a traditional oil like Linseed or Tung - it will also give you better results. Alternately, you could do a lacquer finish, which is very much like the older standard Winchester finishes, and is a very easy finish to do. If you want some tips on what to use or techniques, send me an email.

I would strip, prep, and refinish without trying sand out the bleached wood. It might be that it is the original stain that lost its pigment. Once you stain it, it will likely be just fine.

If you want to CCH the receiver, go for it. There are several smiths that do really good CCH jobs and have blocks that insert into the receiver to prevent warping.

[Pete44ru]

All,

Thanks for the feedback thus far! I agree with the comments about the receiver's finish as right now, it's quite pretty and the small flaws don't matter. My thinking there was more "forward", should the gold not hold up over time (flake off, etc) as I'm unsure how durable the gold will be in normal use.

Rick

Regarding the various post-64 receiver colorations/platings flaking - they will readily flake, if care isn't taken with the use of metal tools (screwdriver, cleaning rod, etc) anywhere near the receiver's various sharp edges ( loading & EJ ports, screw holes, tangs, etc) -

AND

To not use a gun cleaner that reacts with copper (like Hoppe's #9), which is a base coat to the plating.
(Break-Free CLP is safer to use.)


.

[rixhobbies]

Gel stain is the only stain that I know of that you can actually control how much color you add.
But you have to have the shade correct as peter44ru has pointed out.
I have not used it on sun bleached wood but I have used it on sap wood (wood closest to the bark).
Walnut along with cherry has a significant color difference from heard wood to sap wood.
Sap wood looks similar to bleached out heart wood.

I would not attempt to sand out the bleached area.
You may have to remove too much wood.

Gotcha. Once I raise the grain and perform the typical light sanding, I'll see what color I get with a splash of mineral spirits. If things look better, I'll just apply the Tru-Oil. If not, then I'll look into the techniques for dealing with heartwood as that will probably be about the same sort of "problem". In any case, I won't be aggressive with the sanding.

Thanks!

Rick

[rixhobbies]

I would use an alcohol-based stain - you will get really good results. Tapadera's is easy and gives good results http://www.tapaderaswinchesters.com/stain.html.
Use a traditional oil like Linseed or Tung - it will also give you better results. Alternately, you could do a lacquer finish, which is very much like the older standard Winchester finishes, and is a very easy finish to do. If you want some tips on what to use or techniques, send me an email.

I would strip, prep, and refinish without trying sand out the bleached wood. It might be that it is the original stain that lost its pigment. Once you stain it, it will likely be just fine.

If you want to CCH the receiver, go for it. There are several smiths that do really good CCH jobs and have blocks that insert into the receiver to prevent warping.

That's a good point about the stain possibly being what's lightened. I just assumed it was a clear coat that was used with no stain since it doesn't have the classic "Winchester red" walnut color.

As far as sanding goes, I'll need to perform at least a little bit after stripping and raising the grain, but I'll keep it minimal so as just to prep the surface for filling and oiling.

Thanks!

Rick

[rixhobbies]

All,

Thanks for the feedback thus far! I agree with the comments about the receiver's finish as right now, it's quite pretty and the small flaws don't matter. My thinking there was more "forward", should the gold not hold up over time (flake off, etc) as I'm unsure how durable the gold will be in normal use.

Rick

Regarding the various post-64 receiver colorations/platings flaking - they will readily flake, if care isn't taken with the use of metal tools (screwdriver, cleaning rod, etc) anywhere near the receiver's various sharp edges ( loading & EJ ports, screw holes, tangs, etc) -

AND

To not use a gun cleaner that reacts with copper (like Hoppe's #9), which is a base coat to the plating.
(Break-Free CLP is safer to use.)


.

I'll have to keep that in mind about the flaking. Hopefully I'll avoid that pitfall so I can leave things as they are on the receiver.

I need to look into Break Free. I've never used it before and typically use Remington products. Thanks for the tip on Hoppes #9 because I literally just bought a bottle because my local shop was out of Remington Bore Bright!

Thanks!

Rick