Have an old Vanguard that I've had for about 40 plus years. Looks like crap and decided to do a refinish. What's the best stuff for removing the Plastic type finish. Stuff looks thick and nasty. PS. I'd like to replace it with Timberluxe. Would one of those little bottles do one stock or do I need the little 2 ounce jar?

PS. Bought this little gun for $243 brand spanking new. Retail cost was $270 and they gave 10% off for cash. Worked all summer on the farm to raise the money to buy it. Lots of farm sweat as I call it.

You are saying remove.
I believe Citrustrip will remove it.

It seems a go-to on hard poly finishes.

Ditzler Aircraft Stripper. Always try to maximize your carbon footprint in any endeavor.

Best,
Ted

You may want to try to just rub it down to a lower gloss finish.

But, I am sure that Urethane is not doing much for the grain of the wood. It will look better with an oil on it.

Unfortunately it has some spots where the finish was beaten off to the bare wood. I fell down mountains a lot when I was young. At least I was up in those mountains.

Timberluxe I've heard good things about.

Citrustrip will take forever on the hard synthetic bowling pin finishes used by Weatherby and Remington. I agree with Ted. Go with the good stripper that contains methylene chloride. Use it outdoors, wear safety glasses and rubber gloves, and don't breathe the fumes or get it on your skin. Let it work for awhile, and gently scrape off the wrinkled softened old finish. Then do yourself a favor and follow that up with Klean Strip Paint Stripper After Wash wiped across the grain. It does a great job of removing the residue left behind from the stripper and old finish, and will minimize sanding.

I hear good things about Timberluxe too. But I doubt if I will ever use it. I think there are wood finishes that are probably just as good for a fraction of the price. I'd bet the maker of Timberluxe is making a hefty profit.

Tom,
Pro custom oil is very good as well, especially for a gun that is going to see hunting use. You could use the standard stuff in a bottle to do your ground and wet sanding coats to fill with, then use the spray version to finish with. The spray is really good stuff. It dries quick and unless you hammer it on, it doesnt run. And it dries to a nice satin sheen. The bottled stuff is gloss.

I have used Citrus strip on Remington and Beretta high gloss hard finishes. It may take a couple of aplications but it is not as nasty as most of them. You have time to wash up before your skin disappears.

bill

Thanks all. I think years ago I used something on a Browning finish and it ate through the little doctor type examination gloves I had on. What happened when it got to the skin wasn't pleasant at all. Think I'll try the Citrus Strip first and see what happens.

I am not familiar with the Vanguard finish, but the Mk V W'by finish is not poly. It is a fullerplast two part epoxy finish. It is one tough muther. I did a stock for a guy with years of scratches and dents...and that is hard to do with that finish. I started with 150 grit which didn't even cut through the finish. I had to go to 60 grit on a power finish sander.

Good luck.

Exact same finish. I toured the factory in Japan in the 1980's. If was a spray on finish and then put into very large drying booth.

I think Browning used to advertise DuPont Imron as their finish a few decades ago. That stuff and Fullerplast are just about as resistant to strippers as I've stripped. I ended up using an aircraft stripper. Probably can't get the strong strippers anymore.

I scrape off any finish. It isn't as difficult as it may sound and is a lot less messy than liquid strip products. Doesn't cost anything other than the sharp edge of a couple of common blade knives.
Won't hurt you like the chemicals unless you get careless.

Just a nice sharp regular edge to the blade and use it as a scraper. No need to turn the edge over and form a cabinet makers type finishing scraper though they can be used too in the process.

The common blade used carefully will curl the old finish right off and down to the wood smoothly. Then you can go further if you want to and remove some scratches and marks too.
Work from any direction.
Careful how you 'enter' the work so the blade doesn't leave a mark on the surface. You want to gradualy come down onto the surface and begin scraping the surface.

Using your thumb to back up the blade works well one handed as a gauge of sorts. Your thumb feels the surface before the blade hits it and allows a soft landing onto the surface.
Two hands on the blade, one on the tip, will allow good control that way when scraping in heavier cuts into the thicker orig finish.

The work goes quickly. Ready for a some sanding afterwards but very little generally.
Some of the orig finish may still be in the pores of the wood depending on how deep into the surface you go. But that'll help fill the grain for the next finish and will disappear especially w/ wet sanding (if you use that method).

Clean up is a broom and dustpan.

Kutter, that's fine for those modified varnish/poly finishes from Browning, Beretta, and such, but that epoxy finish on a Weatherby Mk V is another thing.
JR

I've had success removing these finishes by heating them with a heat gun and then scraping them.

That will work, but you better be REAL careful...
JR

my go to solution for removing most finishes is MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), the solvent utilized in making fiberglass.

35 years ago had a browning rifle with the typical "alligator" cracking of the factory double-based urethane finish. lived next door to an engineer who worked for a large petrochem plant, and he brought me small samples of every solvent they used/produced - none of them would touch the stuff.

ultimately had someone tell me to try mek, and sourced some from a fiberglass boat repairman. it simply melted the finish away with little time or effort. it can be found at any paint company stores.

my method is a small disposable pan (tinfoil pie plate will do), and a cheap paintbrush, always work outside (this stuff is quite nasty) and wear chemical resistant gloves, eye protection, etc. I hold the stock upright in the pan and start at the highest point. simply continue to brush the solvent onto the finish until it is gone. as it runs down the lower areas it will start the process before you reach them.

in my experience, 15-20 minutes will take care of virtually any finish. the volatility of mek insures that it will not soak into the wood (it evaporates extremely quickly), so you are left with a bone-dry surface without any hazards related to chipping/sanding/etc.

happy labor day to all!
tom

That was an excellent first post Tom. Welcome on your first post.

You set the bar pretty high for yourself. I hope there is more where that came from.

Best I've found:
https://www.amazon.com/Klean-Strip-GKS3-Premium-Stripper-1-Gallon/dp/B001CEQDCC

I'm going to try this next stock I do, may be better:
https://www.amazon.com/Jasco-QJBP00202-P...EGZFSDF1WHTHX7G
JR

I thought MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) had been banned as being a cancer causer?

How do you deal with that in the checkering? Recut it? I'll bet it's tough on checkering cutters.

SRH

Recut ,,I always recut the checkering.

It doesn't take much to dull any of the checkering cutters unless they are carbide type.
Even those get dull after a time but they zip thru any of the stuff pretty well.

I'm usually not all that careful around the checkering when scraping and sanding. I go right over and onto the patterns knowing I'm going to recut them.
If you don't the finished wood can have a slightly different look right around the outside of the checkering border where you were 'xtra careful' when doing the prep.
If you have a tendency in backing off a bit & trying not to damage the checkering, you use lighter pressure in scraping and sanding. Just generally less of it too.
The wood color can end up being slightly different surrounding the checkering patterns.
Have at it, do the job, and recut the checkering to finish it off.

I don't know if it has been totally banned but it varies from state to state. The stuff legal in California is less effective.

Nope, it's still available in most states at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., and is still a component of PCV pipe cleaner, along with acetone and toluene. I wouldn't be surprised if it is somewhat carcinogenic, but I treat all organic solvents with respect by keeping them off my skin and not breathing the fumes. California may well be another story.

I know many strippers of the past contained methylene Chloride. Not much chance that stuff is still in strippers.

That is an incorrect assumption. And it is why Ted and I recommended such strippers for these tough as nails finishes. It is both effective and available. Stock up while you still can buy it.

https://cen.acs.org/safety/consumer-safety/Replacing-methylene-chloride-paint-strippers/96/i24

A ban was proposed by EPA in 2017, but it has not been implemented nationwide. Methylene chloride has also been widely used as a solvent and propellant in many spray paints. It was even used in many hair sprays and antiperspirants.

I never suggested it was the safest thing to use, but it is very effective. And it doesn't take a lot of effort to keep it out of your eyes, lungs, and skin. It will even get the old finish out of checkering. A lot of good products end up getting banned because people use them carelessly and incorrectly. About 20 years ago, when I was repairing high speed litho presses, I saw printers using a blend of MEK, acetone, and toluene to wash inks and basecoats off their skin virtually everyday. I warned them about it and told them the storeroom had rubber gloves to avoid exposure and potential cancers and liver damage, but most of them ignored my advice. I wonder how many of them won't get the chance to enjoy spending their 401-K and pensions.

I hate those two part epoxy type finishes. In my dream I use a belt sander to remove them. In the real world I use a chemical stripper, often trying more than one type to get good results. I know others have good luck scraping the old finish off but that takes a lot of time to do it well. I just apply a stripper and let it sit. Even if it takes multiple applications I’m happy to let chemistry to most of the work.