Another one on the table

[roddy]

After a rub with some compound...

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It's hard to show the results in a picture...here is a better one of the bottom of the frame:

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[markiver54]

Very nice work roddy!!

[roddy]

I had some time to myself yesterday and managed to get the action/frame assembled...not overly difficult, but would have gone smoother if I had 3 hands and smaller fingers.

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I've done what I can for now, at least until the wood is ready. Speaking of wood, the color difference between the butt stock and the fore-end wood is very noticeable now that I am finished stripping...not sure what I'm going to do there, yet...

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[markiver54]

The butt stock looks like walnut and the fore-end like oak.
Some careful experimenting with the right stain colors might lead to a close match.
I really admire the work you've done so far roddy!

[roddy]

Thanks. The other side looks more like walnut, but is still very light in color, with none of the red tones of the butt stock...

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A bit of walnut stain with a touch of mahogany mixed in might just do the trick, but I don't typically use stains...I find they hide too much. Color variations and "flaws" are part of what makes wood beautiful. I'm at a bit of an impasse here though, as this one could really use it.

[roddy]

Well, I think this just took an abrupt turn...

While ogling the Henry all-weather series, I called Ang in, and asked how she thought it would look if I did a black finish on this one. My wife (who isn't a big fan of lever guns to begin with) says " I can only see one problem with that... " The pause had me genuinely curious, and the punchline caught me off guard: "...'cause then it would be MINE!"

She does have a birthday coming up soon...

[roddy]

I ironed some marks and dents out of the wood today, and got it ready for (sigh...) stain . The iron and wet rag trick worked really well at making the dents and dings in the furniture disappear.

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Not overly eager to get started with the stain, I turned my attention to another one on the table...

This is from a friend's Remington 1100 (Left-handed!) that he picked up at an auction last year. It was in pretty sad shape, and looked like it had been through a flood. We are slowly bringing it back to 'shooter' status. I've been at this piece for a while now, sanding out swells and rubbing in Linseed oil.

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This is about 8 coats rubbed in by hand over the past few weeks...I figure I'm at about the half-way point, or a bit better with the oil finish.

[roddy]

I made some progress this weekend...not sure if I'm 100% attached to the wood, but it's growing on me. It looks black until the light hits it the right way, then you can see the wood grain and color pop through. It is hard to photograph without glare getting in the way. Ang likes it, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Here's a few pics of Her birthday present...

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[markiver54]

FANTASTIC work roddy. You are a true craftsman. Looks brand new. True praise from me.! awesome!

[Lyman]

That looks great! I love how dark it came out. Nice job!

[roddy]

Thanks for the complements. One thing to note...in the last picture, it looks like the butt plate sticks up above the wood...that is not the case. I was in a hurry to get it together and get some pics before Ang got home, and I wasn't careful about alignment. I didn't notice this until I posted the pics. All I had to was loosen the screws, push the plate down, and tighten the screws. All is good.
When sanding a stock for re-finishing, always do so with the butt plate on so you don't end up with a butt plate that's bigger than your stock.

Next up on the table:
A PPK 'Brno' KMS 617...kind of a rare bird. When Brno went under, PPK and another company picked up the pieces and tried to continue production. This is one of the rifles they produced. The barrel and receiver can be seen in the above pictures. I will post a few more when I get it back together.

[Sir Henry]

Don’t be afraid to modify it especially if it’s not pristine.

[Ojaileveraction]

What did you use on the wood? Love the Black showing woodgrain in the right light.
That's what I'm looking to do with a couple of mine

[Rifletom]

Really nice results there roddy. Very nicely done. Ang ought to love that.

[roddy]

What did you use on the wood? Love the Black showing woodgrain in the right light.
That's what I'm looking to do with a couple of mine

Just plain 'ol Minwax oil-based Ebony penetrating stain. I applied 3 light coats with a full 24 hours between each. The third coat was only slightly heavier than the other 2. I let it hang for about a day and a half, then took it down, and buffed the heck out of it with a clean, dry piece of cheese cloth. This will remove the remaining stain from the surface, and take it from an almost flat black to something more like a smoked tint.

After that, I rubbed in/on 3 coats of a bee's wax based polish. This isn't the most durable finish, but it retains the look and feel of wood. If you plan to see any weather, tru-oil, or an oil based polyurethane would be a more suitable top-coat.

[Redthies]

That thing is beautiful Roddy! My wife is a bolt gun girl, but since we are at 62.5% lever guns in the safe, she is going to have to love them!

What did your Cerakote guy charge you? The local guy here wants $225 CDN to do the barrel, action and bolt on my new .22 bolt gun project. (That’s $170 USD for y’all that ain’t fluent in arctic peso.)

[roddy]

That thing is beautiful Roddy! My wife is a bolt gun girl, but since we are at 62.5% lever guns in the safe, she is going to have to love them!

What did your Cerakote guy charge you? The local guy here wants $225 CDN to do the barrel, action and bolt on my new .22 bolt gun project. (That’s $170 USD for y’all that ain’t fluent in arctic peso.)

Thanks. I just noticed your post now...the Cerakote was just under $200 CDN tax-in. They did the receiver/barrel, magazine tube, and lever. The colour used was Tungsten.

[roddy]

Picked up three more .22s to keep me occupied while the virus has me sitting at home. I'll get some pics up as I work my way through and take a closer look at each...

1. C.I.L. Model 470 (Canadian Industries Limited...essentially 'our' DuPont). A 1970s semi-auto .22LR 'takedown' built by Anschutz in Germany. Similar to their model 525. 21" barrel with 8-groove rifling. Needs some work...

2. Winchester Model 61. .22 S, L, LR pump-action. 1962 production, nice condition, but needs a good cleaning. Sadly, it's been drilled and tapped for scope mounts, but I have a vintage 3/4" B6 Weaver that should look right at home...

3. Beretta Super Sport. .22 LR semi-auto. This thing's built like a tank, and looks like a trainer of some sort...in a sporter stock.

[Travlin]

That Winchester 61` is basically a scaled down model 12 shotgun and yes it can be slam fired. Did you know that model 61 was the first rifle chambered for the .22 magnum.

[roddy]

I didn't know that...