Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Rossi's short stocked carbine for the working ranch hand!
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by Model 52 »

Pretty much anything is better than the Rossi finish.

I used Tru-Oil as well as I like the flexibility it gives and I like the ability to come back and revisit the finish later with more coats, high gloss versus satin versus flat, etc. Given how porous the finish was on my Model 92 carbine, rather than stripping it and re-staining, I decided to just try Tru-Oil on top of the existing finish. It took 3-4 coats with about 3 hours between coats to stop soaking it up, but the results were very normal, so IMHO stripping is not required on the Rossi stocks.

After the first four coats I knocked it back down to almost the original finish with wet steel wool and the result was a very pleasing non-glossy finish - dark walnut in color, with nice depth and nicely displaying very good straight grained wood. Of course, since I was bored, I opted for about six more coats to fill the grain a bit better. I'm letting the last one dry a few days before rubbing it down with stock sheen and conditioner for a semi-gloss finish. If it's still too shiny for my tastes, I'll rub it down lightly with wet steel wool again to get a non-glossy finish.
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by dos0711 »

Here it is...I'm pleased with the results!
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by Ranch Dog »

Absolutely outstanding and very similar to my R92 454 Casull that I finished today. I'm going to apply the complete Tru-Oil finish to all my Rossi's
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by dos0711 »

Thanks! I had my doubts about the kit but I'm a believer now!
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by pricedo »

+1
If yah can't beat em........join em. :mrgreen:
Ordered 4 bottles Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil from Cabelas.
I bit on the hula hoop, the slinky toy, later Rossi rifles & Remlins......might as well add Tru-Oil to the list.......probably just linseed oil in a different bottle & the price doubled. :lol:
Have to admit the tru-oiled rifles in the pics are very nice looking.
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by pricedo »

dos0711 wrote:Here it is...I'm pleased with the results!
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That gun furniture is some nice work.!
Now that I'm a member of the Tru-Oil Generation my stocks will look like that without removal & a bunch of sanding ..........stuff that is way too much like work. :mrgreen:
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by Ranch Dog »

The stuff I have is 15 years old. I did an early Marlin 336 and now the Rossi R92. The product was still good so it is going to be around for a while so the cost can be spread to a number of rifles. Here are a couple of tips I have to offer:
  • Read the BC "Warm Wood - Cool Steel" refinishing guide and stick to the steps.
  • Use sanding blocks. At Home Depot I was able to find sanding pads, in the proper grit selections, that are both sanding grit and a block rolled into one. I bought a bunch of each grit not having used them before and not knowing how they would perform and last. They are washable and each pad would serve to work over my entire Rossi lineup. I do see that the kit contains the paper needed with the block so this is just something to consider if you are going to give your brace of guns a make over
  • Follow the tip to place a pin hole in the foil seal of the Tru-Oil and store the bottle upside down. I did this 15 years ago and the oil was like the day I opened it.
  • I "washed' the stock with mineral spirits, a really wet rag, and let it dry 24 hours. This really bleached out the Rossi finish and allowed me work on refinishing rather than removing what was there. The Rossi finish is very thin.
  • The Rossi stock responds well to the BC Walnut Stain. The instructions say to cut it 50/50 with water. I found that I needed to apply it full strength. I used two coats to arrive at what you see. The Brazilian hardwood is quite thirsty.
  • Tru-Oil is applied directly to all the portions of the stock that are not seen. This will seal it properly against moisture. No prep is needed and one coat will do. I used a very small foam brush to get into the forearm. All my forearms have the center portion removed but the brush was small enough that it could have been forced through or trimmed to fit the portion of the stock that houses the magazine tube. This is the only area that I used a brush, Tru-Oil should be applied sparingly with your finger tips so you can feel it as you work it.
  • Not part of the kit, I used the Gun Stock Sealer & Filler first. This is a worthy addition as the Rossi wood is so porous.
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Here is bare wood. The dark areas simply have absorbed the moisture from wet sanding. The wood will bleach out a uniform color, the lightest shade seen in the photo.

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Sealer & Filler, two coats of Walnut Stain, three coats of Tru-Oil. The Stock Sheen and Conditioner is next followed by the Stock Wax. The color will not change with these next two steps, only the depth of the finish.

The Rossi wood could have still been soaking up six or more coats of Tru-Oil but this is a "living" finish that can be applied in coats to recondition the wood during maintenance so I elected to end the work and get back to shooting. I only worked one step a day. Each step in the process including any sanding taking 30 to 45 minutes and the wood "settled" for 24 hours between each step. I did this as I wasn't in a hurry and had a lot of other things to do inbetween.
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by pricedo »

WOW !
That not only sounds like work........it is work !...........I wasn't planning on watching the seasons change through the shop window fancying up substandard wood..........too much like using silver polish on a rusty tin can. :shock:
Some say they got good results just slopping it on over the Rossi varnish.
If I wanted a really fancy stock I'd get the real walnut butt stock & forearm from Precision... and expend the effort on wood worthy of the time, elbow grease & sweat.
I'll slop some on & rub it in and do a coupla "Hail Marys" and hope for the best.
That TO should work on my Marlins as a wood preserving treatment/dressing........I kinda like the way the wood looks now on my GGs.
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by Ranch Dog »

pricedo wrote:WOW !
That not only sounds like work........it is work !...........I wasn't planning on watching the seasons change through the shop window fancying up substandard wood..........too much like using silver polish on a rusty tin can. :shock:
Absolutely no work to it. It took a little attention each day while I was running back and forth with ranch chores. Absolutely nothing to it. If your just want to "slop" something on, why bother, as that is what you have right now on behalf of Rossi. I would just leave it alone.

Try it and you will see how little time and effort it takes. There is no finish to remove, the Rossi stocks are not finished at all. They put a protective coating of something that is the equivalent of reddish brown shoe polish and call it a day. Mineral spirits will totally dissolve the Rossi finish.
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Re: Stock finish? Dissatisfied

Post by dos0711 »

The reward at the end is worth the little bit of effort required
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