Modified JC Higgins stock

[CJW]

Well I loathed the original stock on my JC Higgins model 50 in 30-06 so I decided to do something about it. I cut off about 4" or so of the forend to give it a more classic sporting rifle look, reshaped it and sanded off the original 50 gallon drum finish. I've always wanted a red rifle stock and happened to have some red aniline dye I had purchased a few years ago. I went pretty heavy on the powder for a very dark tone. For a finish I used Tru-Oil rubbed on by hand. The stock is quarter sawn which is the main reason for it's unattractiveness. The only nice grain visible is on the underside of the forend and butt stock. This lead to a problem applying the finish because of all the open pores running the length of the stock. I had to apply finish and sand to flatten several times so it didn't look so cratered but it turned out pretty good. I'm sure there are better ways but it's what I went with.

I wasn't super happy with the glossy finish so I very lightly rubbed it with 0000 steel wool. Overall I'm happy with it and can't wait to shoot it in it's new form. It shoots factory and hand loads, even 200 gr partitions, under 1" at 100 yds so it's a keeper.

Before

During

After

 

[Alaska Luke]

Looks very nice. How do you like the handling with the shorter stock? I'll bet you lost 3 or 4 oz of weight to.

 

[Tucketed]

Nice, I am in the midst of refinishing a beater Winchester Pre64 magnum stock for a 300HH hunting purposes rifle. I used some of Art’s French red filler stain and now applying Minwax Antique Oil. I bought some TruOil but wanted a luster and not a heavy shine. My last coat I am supposed to buff heavily with burlap. So far so good. Fitted a proper red pad which looks great.

 

[CJW]

Looks very nice. How do you like the handling with the shorter stock? I'll bet you lost 3 or 4 oz of weight to.

Thanks

Handling is great. My index finger just wraps around the end.

 

[CJW]

Nice, I am in the midst of refinishing a beater Winchester Pre64 magnum stock for a 300HH hunting purposes rifle. I used some of Art’s French red filler stain and now applying Minwax Antique Oil. I bought some TruOil but wanted a luster and not a heavy shine. My last coat I am supposed to buff heavily with burlap. So far so good. Fitted a proper red pad which looks great.

Thanks. Be sure to post some pics when you're done.

I'll look into the supplies you're using for future projects. I'm not 100% pleased with the Truoil but it's okay. You have to be careful not to get it too thick though or it looks plasticy. The burlap is a good idea and I may have to try it out on mine.

I thought I had decided on a red pad as well but I may stick with a black as contrast against the red stock. I have even debated doing a leather wrapped pad. I watched a good tutorial David Potterfield did and it looks very nice.

 

[Tucketed]

@CJW here is the Minwax Antique Oil. Not as shine as true oil but I didn’t steel wool or rough final coat. I like how it turned out considering I am not a pro

 

[sierraone]

That is a great finish on that .300.

 

[Tucketed]

I used directions from a @dferriswheel on another forum using Minwax Antique Oil. It’s actually a fairly easy finish. As i was putting coats on it that TruOil shine which I didn’t want but as the process went on it got much closer to a satin which i was looking for. The only difference was i used Art’s French Red stain filler to try to get the original Winchester red. The recoil pad was my first and though a little frustrating using my belt sander looked good at the end point.

 

[CJW]

@CJW here is the Minwax Antique Oil. Not as shine as true oil but I didn’t steel wool or rough final coat. I like how it turned out considering I am not a proView attachment 387187

That looks really good. Nice job.

 

[CJW]

I used directions from a @dferriswheel on another forum using Minwax Antique Oil. It’s actually a fairly easy finish. As i was putting coats on it that TruOil shine which I didn’t want but as the process went on it got much closer to a satin which i was looking for. The only difference was i used Art’s French Red stain filler to try to get the original Winchester red. The recoil pad was my first and though a little frustrating using my belt sander looked good at the end point.

I have two more stocks I now plan on refinishing and would like to try the Minwax on at least one of them. Can you share the process you used on the 300?

Thanks

 

[Tucketed]

If you Google “How to do the World's best oil finish” you should find it. It’s on The Highroad forum and a couple other ones
Ed

 

[CJW]

Found it. Thanks.