# 870 project



## Fireaway (Jan 27, 2009)

I am by no means a gunsmith, and I am not very good at wood working. I also have never refinished anything. However, I have decided to try and refinish my scratched up old Remington 870 express. I thought some people on here might like to see how I do it, learn from my mistakes,  and mabey some folks who have done this sort of thing before could chime in. 
Anyway, I started off tonight by removing the fore-stock and by removing the rear piece. I went to the store and bought some spray on stripper, a plastic stripper brush, and some 220 grit sand paper. 
I forgot to take some before pictures, but here are some pictures of the stock after I have sprayed the stripper on it and rubbed it off with a paper towel after waiting ten minutes.


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## Fireaway (Jan 27, 2009)

It actually took two ten minute soakings of the finish remover to get all the finish off, but it was relatively easy. I got most of the finish out of the checkering by using the plastic bristle brush I bought earlier tonight.
Here is the stripper and brush I used.


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## trckdrvr (Jan 27, 2009)

Looks good..now put on some primer and spray them black and put'm back on.


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## Fireaway (Jan 27, 2009)

After I got all the finish remover off I decided to go ahead and sand just a little. I don't have any real deep scratches or huge dents so I just decided to give a really light sand with some 220 grit on a sanding block to get the last few remaining spots of finish off. I hear that if you do have some bigger dents you can press them out with a damp towel and an iron. I put the buttpad back on the rear stock so I didn't inadvertenly round the edges off with the sand paper. After the sanding paper I gave it a couple rounds with some 0000 steel wool and I am satisfied with it now so I am done for tonight. Tommorow I will but on the first coat of stain and take more pictures then


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## Fireaway (Jan 27, 2009)

trckdrvr said:


> Looks good..now put on some primer and spray them black and put'm back on.



Haha,  I actually thought about painting it black, but I decided I would rather stain it. I am going for a darker finish than the factory stain. I didn't ever really like the yellow brown (straw) color that they come with. I am going for a medium deep brown.


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## trckdrvr (Jan 27, 2009)

Yeah,its your gun and something to do/keep you busy..but.

They used a hardwood on the xpress just not a walnut..birch stocks if i remember correctly.

I have several of the express 870's and i have done what you are doing..1 of them i painted flat army green,it looks really good with the flat black of the barrel and receiver..

Good luck,have fun.


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## Fireaway (Jan 28, 2009)

Alrighty; tonight I applied some of birchwood casey's walnut stain to the stock so that it will have a darker color once I am done. I applied it with a paper towel and I will let it dry overnight. Tommorow I will put on my first coat of tru oil.


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## Skunked (Jan 28, 2009)

Be careful using papertowels.  You can get lint mixed in with the stain and make it rough feeling.  It is easy to sand out the rough texture but using a lint free rag or lint free towels will make it easier when it comes to sanding in between coats.


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## Fireaway (Jan 29, 2009)

Skunked said:


> Be careful using papertowels.  You can get lint mixed in with the stain and make it rough feeling.  It is easy to sand out the rough texture but using a lint free rag or lint free towels will make it easier when it comes to sanding in between coats.


Thanks for the tip. I did get a little lint on the stock, but I got it out this morning with a little steel wool. I have some lint free stuff to apply the actual finish with


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## NottelyBILL (Jan 29, 2009)

I did my stocks the same way but kept puting coats of stain on till it got real dark. Looks like you did a good job to me.


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## SmokyMtnSmoke (Jan 29, 2009)

It's coming along good.
What are you going to put over the stain? TRU-Oil maybe?

I used the Minwax "Gunstock" stain an covered it with Tru-Oil on and old Mosin last summer. Here's a look...


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## Fireaway (Jan 29, 2009)

SmokyMtnSmoke said:


> It's coming along good.
> What are you going to put over the stain? TRU-Oil maybe?
> 
> I used the Minwax "Gunstock" stain an covered it with Tru-Oil on and old Mosin last summer. Here's a look...




That looks good. That is about what I am going for. I am going to use Tru-Oil as well. I plan on trying to make it a more satin finish though.


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## vol man (Jan 29, 2009)

you will love the truoil.  put it on lightly and evenly - it will booger up if you get it too thick and you will have to sand/steel wool it out.  

apply truoil, let it dry over night, buff lightly with steel wool (000 or 0000) , wipe it down with wet cloth or blow with compressed air to get all of the steel wool fibers off of it and then recoat with truoil.

i did 5 coats of truoil on a mauser sportster stock and i loved the finish.

good luck and take your time!


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## Fireaway (Jan 29, 2009)

Today I put on the first coat of Tru-oil. I ended up just using my fingers and rubbed a real thin coat over everything. I thought it would gloss it up a bit, but the first coat just seemed to get kinda adsorbed. The stock was not very shiny and the tru-oil looked just like new motor oil.
Anyway I let that coat dry for 6 hours while I went to my afternoon classes and lab. 
I just but on a second coat about 10 minutes ago, but before I did that I went over the whole stock with some OOOO steel wool before dusting off the stock with a slightly damp cloth and applying the  tru-oil. 
This coat really made the stock look good!
I am gonna let this one dry overnight and apply another in the morning before class. 
The directions on the bottle of tru-oil said to wait 2 hours before applying additional coats and I waited 7 hours between coats, so I think I should be good on that. 
Anyway thats it for tonight 
here it is with the second coat


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## Mako22 (Jan 29, 2009)

Where can I buy the stain you used and the Tru-Oil? I have an 870 that I would like to do the same to. Can I get this stuff at Wal-Mart?  Oh by the way it looks good.


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## Fireaway (Jan 30, 2009)

Woodsman69 said:


> Where can I buy the stain you used and the Tru-Oil? I have an 870 that I would like to do the same to. Can I get this stuff at Wal-Mart?  Oh by the way it looks good.



Thanks, I bought the finish stripper at walmart along with the brush. I bought the stain and the Birchwood Casey TRU-Oil at Academy sports. Any good gun or outdoor store will carry the TRU-oil


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## Fireaway (Jan 30, 2009)

I applied a third coat this morning. I thought it might be worth mentioning that after the first coat I have not applied anymore tru-oil to the checkering. I don't want to fill in the checkering with the oil so I am only going to but a total of two coats on the checkering (the first and last coats)
I wanted to tape off the checkering with some masking tape to prevent the oil from getting in; but my wife is a high school teacher who stole my tape and took it to school. Therefore I have no tape and have not had a chance to go buy anymore, so I have been very careful applying the oil with my finger around the checkering. 
Here is a picture of what it looks like with the third coat.


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## vol man (Jan 30, 2009)

looking good!


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## Fireaway (Jan 31, 2009)

I put on a 4th coat last night and a 5th coat this morning, scuffing with 0000 steel wool and dusting off with a damp rag between coats. The stock is really starting to show some depth now and is starting to look good in my opinion. I am going to stop at 8 coats I think, one more tonight and then two coats tommorow. After that I will buff it down to make it a satin finish. The picture of it now looks about the same as the 3rd coat, but in person there is a real difference.


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## Cadcom (Jan 31, 2009)

Looking good!
What is the reason for the multiple coats? Is it for protection or does it actually make a visible change in the finish?
One more question - How do you get the forearm nut off? Do you have one of the Remington wrenches or can you get by with something else?


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## Fireaway (Jan 31, 2009)

Cadcom said:


> Looking good!
> What is the reason for the multiple coats? Is it for protection or does it actually make a visible change in the finish?
> One more question - How do you get the forearm nut off? Do you have one of the Remington wrenches or can you get by with something else?



The reason for the multiple coats is to increase the thickness of the finish, so it is more protective. I think it also makes the finish look a little better, almost like it has more depth if that makes sense 

I got the forearm nut off by using two flathead screwdrivers. I just put one screwdriver in each notch and broke it loose. Once it was loose I could unscrew it all the way with just my fingers.


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## Cadcom (Jan 31, 2009)

Cool - Thanks!


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## CPage (Feb 2, 2009)

*lookin good*

the stock looks good, how many coats of the walnut stain did you put on before you tru oiled it?


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## tv_racin_fan (Feb 2, 2009)

That looks very nice. I got an 870 Express last year and the stock needs work. I may just give it this treatment.


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## Fireaway (Feb 2, 2009)

CPage said:


> the stock looks good, how many coats of the walnut stain did you put on before you tru oiled it?



I put on two coats. It didn't seem to get much darker on the second application, but I did it just in case


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## Fireaway (Feb 2, 2009)

I put on the final coat of Tru-oil last night. I am not going to post a picture because it looks pretty much the same as before. 
I plan on buffing the stock to give it a satin finish on wednesday because the final coat is supposed to dry at least 48 hours before you apply the stock sheen.


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## greenhead84 (Feb 2, 2009)

Looks glorious, why do you want to restain it?  It looked great before...


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## Fireaway (Feb 2, 2009)

greenhead84 said:


> Looks glorious, why do you want to restain it?  It looked great before...



Ignore this guy, he is sitting next to me in class and being...funny


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## greenhead84 (Feb 2, 2009)

Good luck!


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## Fireaway (Feb 4, 2009)

I finally finished it up. After letting the last coat of tru oil dry for three days I applied some Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner to a clean rag and rubbed it onto the stock. The Conditioner takes away the real shiny part of the finish, which is what I wanted. I then put the gun back together and was happy to be done. 

Here are some pictures


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## Cadcom (Feb 4, 2009)

Looks great - Im starting on mine this weekend.
Thanks for the post!


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## 027181 (Feb 4, 2009)

looks real good my grandpa did a remington 510 targetmaster the same way and gave it to me on my birthday the year he passed away that was eight years ago and it still looks great


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## tv_racin_fan (Feb 4, 2009)

Fine job right there...


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## hotamighty (Feb 4, 2009)

That turned out really good. Nice looking gun. I am glad you posted the step by step like that with the pics. That is some very helpful info. I have a Winchester 94 AE 30-30 that I have been wanting to refinish but wasnt sure what to use or how to go about doing it. Sounds like it wasnt too bad of a job.


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## The Original Rooster (Feb 4, 2009)

Good job! That turned out really nice looking!


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## Fireaway (Feb 5, 2009)

Thanks for all the kind words. I am very happy with the results.


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