# Advice for staining a birch gunstock?



## vcincent (Feb 25, 2010)

Hello everybody. I'm a bit new to this, so please bear with me. I am trying to reproduce a finish I saw on someone else's Ruger 10/22 gunstock. This rifle's owner says his stock is maplewood; see picture below. Mine is made from birch and is currently finished to dark brown color. If possible, I'd like to refinish to a lustrous, orange-brown hue without being overly glossy/plasticy. I've bumped into a few tutorials on refinishing, but most only went as far as sanding and rubbing in linseed oil. I also noticed several posts mentioning troubles in staining birch, especially with regards to bloching.





From what I collect, a more effective method involves treating the birch with Minwax prestain followed up with the Minwax stain. This seems convenient, but which stain is appropriate: oil-based or water-based? More importantly, which paint color will provide the hue I'm looking for? What kind of protective finish is most appropriate?

I have also seen different takes on removing the old finish. Some people say use acetone, although most point to sanding from coarse to fine with a sanding block. Will a new, chemically stripped stock require sanding? Anyone that has gone down this road want to provide tips for a beginner?

thanks so much, Vincent


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## Hendo446 (Nov 25, 2009)

I should start off by saying that I dont have much experience regarding your specific question so I'm sorry I dont have any advice on the "how to" part of your question. But I just got done re-finishing a gunstock so I know it can be kind of tricky. The gunstock I just re-finished was not birch and I didn't have to remove a dark stain so I can't help you there. But what I can advise is that since you know it is made out of birch, you can go get a few pieces of unfinished birch and test out a bunch of different methods before doing it on your stock. I.E. stain the birch and try to remove the stain, or try different stains on it to see how blotchy it is. as far as the top coat, I used tru oil on mine. It is pretty durable and and easy to use. It leaves a pretty shiny finish though and it loooks like you are looking for more of a matte finish so once again, test it out on a scrap before putting it on your stock. Good luck!


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