Gunstock scratch repairs

12gaugedave

Lads i collected my Browning 525 sporter yesterday, went out today for a shot and while getting over a barbwire fence i slipped and tore the balls off myself but even worse i cought the stock in the wire and put 2 scratches in it:mad::mad::mad::mad:. The scratches are fairly deep, about 30mm long and are accross the grain, has any1 ever got something like this fixed?? tried to steam them out but its to bad for that to work. I no its only a vanity thing but i only got it yesterday and im raging.Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Dave

snipe02

did ya try putting a wet towel over it and iron it is it oil or lacquer finish

rowa

Steam will only work with dents not scratches, you'd have to sand the scratches out.

One shot on kill

Sounds like a sanding job to me steaming wont work. Sanding them you might run into trouble matching the colour doe

recipio

If its an oiled finish you can steam the scratches to raise the grain, then rub with linseed oil and fine wire wool followed by a little wax. (coloured furniture wax or brown shoe polish )
If its a lacquer finish you have to sand it out then spray a sealer and satin or gloss lacquer to match. Spray lacquers are hard to find in a can but WH Raitt in Stranolar tel 074 9131028 will mail order you cans of 'Chestnut' lacquers - about 9 euro a pop. If you know a local kitchen maker he may do it for you when spraying units.He won't want to set up the spray room for such a small job.

12gaugedave

snipe02 wrote: »

did ya try putting a wet towel over it and iron it is it oil or lacquer finish

Its a lacquer finish, i tryed to do this and bits of it raised up but the fiber of the wood is broken for the rest of it.

tac foley

12gaugedave wrote: »

Its a lacquer finish, i tryed to do this and bits of it raised up but the fiber of the wood is broken for the rest of it.

That's very sad for you. Since you've actually removed material, you'll have to sand the wood down until all traces of the scratch are eradicated and then go on from there.

As the finish was originally lacquered, then you have little choice but to refinish it the same way - not an easy job by any means, and one that is going to cost you unless you feel confident enough to have a go yourself. There is a LOT of information on Youtube about how to go about this - indeed, I've done it myself with three older guns with nothing to lose if I screwed it up. I totally removed ALL the original finish in each case, and used a combination of refinishing materials from Birchwood-Casey.

Again, great sympathy for you.

tac

12gaugedave

tac foley wrote: »

That's very sad for you. Since you've actually removed material, you'll have to sand the wood down until all traces of the scratch are eradicated and then go on from there.

As the finish was originally lacquered, then you have little choice but to refinish it the same way - not an easy job by any means, and one that is going to cost you unless you feel confident enough to have a go yourself. There is a LOT of information on Youtube about how to go about this - indeed, I've done it myself with three older guns with nothing to lose if I screwed it up. I totally removed ALL the original finish in each case, and used a combination of refinishing materials from Birchwood-Casey.

Again, great sympathy for you.

tac

Thanks tac, not goin to try this myself, im after saving for a long time for this gun and if i screwed it up id go crazy, ill make a few calls now on tuesday and see what its goin to cost me to get it sorted, i know its a little thing but i plan on keeping this gun for life so i want to get it sorted. Can anyone recomend any 1 to do it, i have numbers for a few different people but dont know who to give it to???

tac foley

Well, Sir - two folks come to mind - both of the very highest standards - Enda Walsh is one, and other has a name I can never remember but specialises in shotgun stocking - Mr Pat[?] Sludd?

I'm in Finland at the moment, as if that really matters, but as I don't live in RoI anyhow I don't have their addresses, - but I'm certain that many here do.

Their work has appeared on this site and I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anybody, even in UK where I live some of the time, and where the likes of Garry Kane operate.

I hope you get it sorted - few things in life are more sickening than looking at a beautiful gun stock that you've just ruined - I've been there.

tac

rowa

Myself and a friend from the gun club went down to pat sludds in wexford and i seen some of his work first hand , his work is excellent and he is remarkably reasonable with his prices. An adjustable comb fitted to a brand new browning sporter was €100.
If you were to remove the stock from your gun and send it to him he will sort it out for you , but he does have a backlog of work.

12gaugedave

rowa wrote: »

Myself and a friend from the gun club went down to pat sludds in wexford and i seen some of his work first hand , his work is excellent and he is remarkably reasonable with his prices. An adjustable comb fitted to a brand new browning sporter was €100.
If you were to remove the stock from your gun and send it to him he will sort it out for you , but he does have a backlog of work.

Yeah i got his number off his website, sent him an email as today is paddys day i didnt want to be ringin him, in fairness to him he did email me back, i explained what happened and he said he would have to see it to give me a price so ill give him a shout on tuesday. Id say the only option is to strip the stock, sand it all down and refinish it again.

recipio

12gaugedave wrote: »

Yeah i got his number off his website, sent him an email as today is paddys day i didnt want to be ringin him, in fairness to him he did email me back, i explained what happened and he said he would have to see it to give me a price so ill give him a shout on tuesday. Id say the only option is to strip the stock, sand it all down and refinish it again.

Seems a drastic move for a few scratches. I forgot to say if you sand down the scratches to bare wood you would have to stain the wood to match before spraying with lacquer.Wood dyes are available everywhere. Don't attempt to steam lacquer as it will probably turn white. Personally I don't like lacquer finishes as an oiled finish is so much easier to repair.

walsh.peter

+ 1 Pat Sludds, Gentleman to deal with and outstanding service at a fair price

demonloop

You'll have to get the fore-end done too, to be sure of a match.