Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Improving and repairing firearms. Rifle bedding, barrel work, stock replacement and other ways to improve your firearms.

Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by dazey » 10 Nov 2015, 10:52 pm

Hello all,

I have been getting back into shooting this year, and have just joined the Forum. I was hoping to receive advice from members on refurbishing the timber stock of a Sportco 33S .222 Rem.

The rifle belonged to my late uncle, and the stock is a bit beaten up. I am unsure of the type of timber the stock is made of, and it appears to have a hard varnish/polyurethane coating that is failing (my father believes his brother acquired the rifle in the early/mid '70s). FWIW, I've attached a couple of images of the rifle.

I plan to strip the coating off the timber stock and finish with oil. I was thinking of using boiled linseed oil (many coats), pure tung oil or something like Tru-Oil. Does anyone have any experience with these? Also, it seems difficult to find "pure" boiled linseed oil that doesn't have thinners, heavy metals, hardening agents or other oils added to it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks,
Dazey
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CZ452 American .22LR
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Noisydad » 11 Nov 2015, 4:25 pm

Try oven cleaner to loosen the old coating and leach out oil and crud. Wash off under running warm water while scrubbing with steel wool. Re oil with Birchwood Casey's Tru Oil system. That stuff is GREAT!
There's still a few of Wile. E Coyote's ideas that I haven't tried yet.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Varmtr » 11 Nov 2015, 6:03 pm

Looks like a polyurethane coat. So just sand back and progress to a finer grit. Then a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil and using oooo steel wool between coats. Then follow up with tru-oil and again oooo steel wool between coats use a lint free cloth with tru-oil and take your time. Good thing with tru-oil it wont yellow over time and is easy to repair if dinged or scratched.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Baldrick314 » 11 Nov 2015, 6:06 pm

G'day Dazey. +1 for oven cleaner to remove the old finish. Another option for the new finish I recommend is staining the wood with walnut finish and sealing it with a bee's wax furniture polish. Comes up a treat.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Wm.Traynor » 11 Nov 2015, 7:24 pm

Coincidentaly, I am in the throes of re-finishing a stock too. I am using:-
Citristrip Stripping Gel to remove the old finish
CCL Gunstock Grain Sealer to fill the pores
Feast Watson Prooftint Walnut Stain in a 10% mix with Feast Watson Prooftint Colour Reducer. That stain is Very Strong.
CCL Conditioning Oil and a lambswool buffing pad on an electric drill clamped in a vice.

Only buffed in the first coat of oil so far and it is a bit patchy but there is plenty in the bottle. I followed CCL's instructions to the letter. You might want to lift the butt plate and seal the end grain before wet sanding the filler.
Never used oven cleaner but I would consider it for next time.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Oldbloke » 11 Nov 2015, 8:55 pm

Just some friendly advise. If a boiled liniseed oil soaked rag is left lying around it has a habit of combusting spontainiously. Be warned.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Die Judicii » 11 Nov 2015, 10:08 pm

Hi there Dazey, and welcome to the forum,
:welcome:
I have not long ago completely rejuvenated a 1960s .22 rifle, and used "Birchwood Casey Tru Oil" as the other members have also recommended.

If you want to see what sort of finish that can be achieved with Tru Oil, have a gander at the block of timber I am currently working on.
Pics are in the Off Topic section under my thread titled "Getting a bit more adventurous"

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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Die Judicii » 11 Nov 2015, 11:30 pm

While on the subject, I have a question that's related,
Can any-one tell me about "pure boiled linseed oil"

If I were to get "natural linseed oil" and boiled the bejeez out of it, then allow it to cool and syphon off,,,,,,, would that work ?

Or isn't it that simple ?

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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by 6mmdasher » 12 Nov 2015, 12:32 am

from what I remember about linseed oil is Pure linseed oil is just that pure oil, it will go black as it allows a fungus/mould to grow in it. Boiled linseed has dryers and turpentine in it to prevent this. My old man used to use pure linseed on his veranda and it is still as black as the ace of spades.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by COLLECTOR 1 » 12 Nov 2015, 8:37 am

Ok.........a bit about the rifle, the stock and what to do....

Sportco Mod 33, 222 rem, built in the 70's, front locking, box mag,,, they shoot well, what ever you do, don't loss the mag, ..lol... yours is the basic model, the "deluxe" had different timber, and chequering. Your timber will be probably be Australian coachwood, with a walnut type stain, and a varnish finish.

Best way to get it all clean is Selleys paint stripper, or the oven cleaner trick, WEAR GLOVES.....I normally take to the stock with fine steel wool at this stage to get rid of all the old finish whilst stripper applied... WEAR GLOVES... then wash it clean with warm soapy water. did I tell you to wear WEAR GLOVES,,,,,Leave it in a cool shady spot for a day or to, Not in the sun as you run the risk of stock warp. When dry dings can be steamed out quiet easily with a wet rag and hot iron, as the timber is not "hard wood" as such. Sand away any other imperfections, dents, scratches etc until everything looks nice and smooth.

You can put you a stain on it, like Cabot's or any of the other ones mentioned here, or products located at Bunning's., find the colour you like and follow the instructions. (I personally like Teak).....apply in sparingly amounts all over and leave it to soak in. I normally buff the timber after a day or so of the stain being applied with clean flannelette cloth. Repeat the process until desired depth of colour is reached. To easy......

Then Tru Oil, don't worry about any other sealant such as boiled linseed oil, very old school. This sounds silly but use your index finger to apply. If you use cloth it will leave lint fragments in the finish. Let it dry, lightly rub back with 0000 steel wool to fill the pours of the timber, and apply the Tru Oil again, I usually do 3 or 4 coats. If you want a "gloss finish" just leave it after the final coat and let it dry, If you want that "satin finish" rub ever so lightly with the steel wool on the final coat after the Tru Oil goes hard, Touch up using Tru Oil is so easy later on down the tracks if necessary.

Sit back and admire,,,, the old girl will look a million bucks.

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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Chronos » 12 Nov 2015, 9:08 am

You can also use products like Cabbotts deck clean on timber stocks. Give it a soak then scrub it with fine steel wool then a wash in hot, preferably boiling water and the timber comes up bright and clean.

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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Supporter » 12 Nov 2015, 10:45 am

Oldbloke wrote:Just some friendly advise. If a boiled liniseed oil soaked rag is left lying around it has a habit of combusting spontainiously. Be warned.


I knew it generated heat as it dried but not that much :wtf:
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by dazey » 13 Nov 2015, 5:27 pm

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice and information. It seems pretty straightforward to strip and clean: I'll use Citristrip and give the Tru-Oil system a go (and post an image of the finished product in the not-too-distant future).

Regards,
Dazey
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Oldbloke » 13 Nov 2015, 6:25 pm

Supporter wrote:
Oldbloke wrote:Just some friendly advise. If a boiled liniseed oil soaked rag is left lying around it has a habit of combusting spontainiously. Be warned.


I knew it generated heat as it dried but not that much :wtf:


If it was left in a container say a jar or bowl the heat can be retained/concentrated more, next thing you know you have a fire. I have seen the results. Luckly the cfa put it out before the building got alight.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Chickenhawk » 18 Nov 2015, 12:49 pm

Happened at your place OB?
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by OODAH » 20 Nov 2015, 10:06 am

I hope you post more pics I'm excited to see how it comes up.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Bark » 20 Nov 2015, 12:23 pm

Chickenhawk wrote:Happened at your place OB?


Too busy putting out the fire to reply :lol:
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Tiger650 » 20 Nov 2015, 8:29 pm

Tru oil works well, particularly in the barel channel and action area where it will pretty much waterproof for rifles used in wet weather.
There is a post somewhere on the net which describes how to treat with tru oil then Armourall between subsequent coats of Tru oil to make Tru oil harden / recoat within an hour between retreatment rather than two days or whatever.
The method works, I have a Rossi .357 " lever action which had shoe polish [my guess] as standard stock finish and a couple of coats of conventionally applied Tru oil were followed by several more with Armourall.
The method worked well and saved me having the rifle offline for a week or ten days to do the job.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by dazey » 20 Nov 2015, 11:35 pm

OODAH wrote:I hope you post more pics I'm excited to see how it comes up.


I'll be sure to put up some images once done - I am waiting for an order of the Tru-Oil "kit" to arrive.

I will also try and remember to take some pics during the process.

Regards,
Dazey

PS. I had known about the danger of rags soaked with linseed oil - you have the same danger with tung oil (china nut oil), and probably any other "drying" oil.

PPS. I hadn't used the rifle, so I took it to the range yesterday before dismantling it. It was fun to shoot, although by the time I got to the 200m target, the barrel was getting pretty warm. I think the trigger pull has been adjusted at some point - it seemed on the light side.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Oldbloke » 22 Nov 2015, 8:53 pm

Chickenhawk wrote:Happened at your place OB?


At work.
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by VICHunter » 24 Nov 2015, 12:16 pm

At least you can blame the apprentice there then :lol:
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by MalleeFarmer » 11 Dec 2015, 7:53 am

Die Judicii wrote:While on the subject, I have a question that's related,
Can any-one tell me about "pure boiled linseed oil"

If I were to get "natural linseed oil" and boiled the bejeez out of it, then allow it to cool and syphon off,,,,,,, would that work ?

Or isn't it that simple ?

:unknown: :unknown:
I used diggers pale boiled linseed oil on a mark X and it came up a treat. I would discourage using strippers and would just sand it back. I sanded my rifle back it had a PU coating and I had to use oven cleaner to clean the stuff out of the checkering and it soaked into the timber and the checkering is now substantially darker than the rest of the stock. I did numerous coats of boiled linseed oil and didn't use a sealant on top as I figure I can oil it as I please anytime it needs it and give it a light sand and re oil to cover any dings it might get during use. Just my opinion. If you look in the thread in this section called my new toy show us yours. You'll see pictures of my rifle as a hard coated timber and bit further on as a refinished rifle
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Re: Refurbishing timber stock of Sportco 33S .222 Rem

Post by Wobble » 16 Dec 2015, 2:07 pm

Of course it would have been evenly coloured if you'd used the cleaner all over and not just in the chequering.

I dunno about not using one, but definitely something to be consistent with if you do.
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