Building a Rifle on a Tight Budget

[fourfive8]

Both of those CRF Win 70 actions are from the New Haven era between the CRF reintroduction in 1992 and the FN takeover in 2006. Easy to tell because the triggers are old style M 70 triggers. FN Win 70, post New Haven triggers are a boxed style trigger. Those two actions are absolutely excellent for building custom rifles and have IMO the best hunting rifle trigger ever designed,

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Typically you will need to repaint wet stripper coats several times before removing. Use warm water and a small brass brush to scrub off stripper laden with stock finish. It will be gassy so do it in a well ventilated area. May take several attempts to get all the finish off.

 

[WI-2021]

Typically you will need to repaint wet stripper coats several times before removing. Use warm water and a small brass brush to scrub off stripper laden with stock finish. It will be gassy so do it in a well ventilated area. May take several attempts to get all the finish off.

Thank you. That will be my next attempt. Last time I only applied a single coat and it appeared to remove a very thin skin of finish. Next time I'll coat it multiple times and let it work longer. I'm really hoping to avoid doing much sanding since the stock is in great condition and doesn't need it if I can get the finish off by chemical means. Ventilation isn't a problem as long as the weather is half decent; I have overhead doors on both ends of my shop and plenty of fans. This is some rather nasty stuff.

 

[WI-2021]

Both of those CRF Win 70 actions are from the New Haven era between the CRF reintroduction in 1992 and the FN takeover in 2006. Easy to tell because the triggers are old style M 70 triggers. FN Win 70, post New Haven triggers are a boxed style trigger. Those two actions are absolutely excellent for building custom rifles and have IMO the best hunting rifle trigger ever designed,

Thank you. I am rather curious exactly when they were made, but it's not particularly important as long as I know the general time frame for parts compatibility. I am rather curious what Winchester would have to say about them, but they'd probably be none too happy about them being in the wild due to the lack of heat treat. FWIW, I plan to use the factory triggers on these. A bit of stoning may happen, depending on how they feel once they're built. A lot of this build will be new to me, but I'm confident in my ability to stone a trigger.

My initial goal for the first build will be a slightly improved Safari Express. "Improvements" (quotes because they're all subjective) will be the stock finish and bluing, assuming I don't screw them up, a better recoil pad, and I'll use NECG express sights and barrel band. As much as I like quarter ribs, I'll probably skip it on this one since it will be scoped. Really a pretty basic build. Any engraving or custom walnut would only happen later, if ever. Just to introduce a bit of sacrilege, I'll also thread it for a suppressor. Whether one is ever installed remains to be seen, but the threads will be there and the front sight will be set back accordingly. I'll do a thread protector that matches the barrel profile to pretty it up a bit.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Thank you. That will be my next attempt. Last time I only applied a single coat and it appeared to remove a very thin skin of finish. Next time I'll coat it multiple times and let it work longer. I'm really hoping to avoid doing much sanding since the stock is in great condition and doesn't need it if I can get the finish off by chemical means. Ventilation isn't a problem as long as the weather is half decent; I have overhead doors on both ends of my shop and plenty of fans. This is some rather nasty stuff.

Rinsing with water will raise the grain and you'll have to take the "fuzz" off. You'll have to rinse with water or the residue of stripper will erode new finish. You can use steel wool to take off the fuzz. Better than sandpaper.

 

[WI-2021]

Rinsing with water will raise the grain and you'll have to take the "fuzz" off. You'll have to rinse with water or the residue of stripper will erode new finish. You can use steel wool to take off the fuzz. Better than sandpaper.

Thanks again for the tip. I've done a fair bit of woodworking, to include building an electric guitar, but this is my first experience with stripping and refinishing a rifle stock. I presume 0000 steel wool would be preferred to knock off the fuzz? Degreased, of course.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Thanks again for the tip. I've done a fair bit of woodworking, to include building an electric guitar, but this is my first experience with stripping and refinishing a rifle stock. I presume 0000 steel wool would be preferred to knock off the fuzz? Degreased, of course.

000 will work. Only lightly touch checkering. You can use a hot clothes iron tip against a wet rag to steam up dents.

 

[WI-2021]

Yesterday morning I went out to the garage, put "Pour Some Sugar On Me" on repeat, and practiced my stripping. No, not like that....

It's working, but slowly. I tried heat as well, which didn't do much. Patience will be required. The finish on these M70 stocks is definitely catalyzed and I can only imagine it would have been pretty bomb-proof if I'd have left it alone. For better or for worse, I can't leave anything alone though if I think it can be improved. The factory finish definitely hid the grain quite a bit. I'm now contemplating trying to recut the checkering. What's there is grippy, but not pretty. I'd keep the same pattern, or at least try to, but this would introduce another element of risk since I've never attempted it before.

The suspicion is creeping up on me that I may have jumped into a deeper rabbit-hole than I anticipated but I'll proceed slowly. No homemade custom stocks or self-taught engraving.... yet.