My deer rifle a Winchester Mod-70 has been a great rifle but has some dings and mars to the finish over the decades. I was going to refinish it myself but the checkering is way out of my league to deal with and there is a lot of it. Any ballpark on what it would cost to have it refinished?

If often mask the checkering with tape for all phases after removing old finish.

Does the checkering need repair too?

I never refinish a rifle. To me those dings and scratches are earned. They tell a story. They’re proof that this rifle is not a shelf princess, she has been there and back with me.

Checkering just needs sanding on the surface. Dont fool with the grooves. I like linspeed oil finish.

Scrape the stock then sand. When you get down to 150 grit or so wet the wood with a damp rag. Let it dry and sand. Do this 3-4 times then finish up with 400 grit. Leave butt plate on and sand it with the stock so it still fits.

Put linspeed on with your fingers. Let dry a couple days where its warm. Do another coat. Then use a fine steel wool to sand it off down to the wood. Repeat this about a dozen times. Then just leave it with those two coats put on with your finger. Dont forget to let it dry a couple days between coats.

Instead of just sanding out dents apply water to them. Lay a damp rag over the dent and iron it a bit with your wifes electric iron.

A piece of steel about an 1 1/2 wide, 1/16th thick and 3 inches long makes a good scraper. File the edge so its square with the flat side. Rounded is no good. Dont scrape the checkering. Sand the surface clean.

It takes longer but 100 grit is a good starting place for checkering so you don't remove to much of the surface.

Most gunsmiths will send that job out. If you are really afraid to try. Plenty of places to choose from. Just google gunstock refinishing service.

I think Danny's got the right idea. I've "lifted" dents out of a stock just the way he described. With a gouge the wood is gone, with a dent it is still all there and just need to be brought back.

Years ago I used to buy old beat up neglected guns and give them a new stock finish and remove rust and then give a hardware store bluing.When I was done they looked pretty darn good compared to when I got them.I'm far from a professional but I enjoyed that kind of work.I used to experiment with stains and came up with a few good looking dark ones.Some didnt look good,so I just redid those til they were acceptable.
I bought them fairly cheap and sold them at a modest profit.Mostly to guys that would beat them up again.
next one I do I will try to copy the mottled dark and blood red finish like the original shellacked SKS soviet birch stocks.

I cant believe nobody has jumped in to say don't do it you will ruin the rifles value.

BTW a LOT of post 64 model 70's were made with birch stocks not walnut. You may want to stain it a walnut color again. If you stain it TRU oil is a better finish than linspeed oil. You prepare the wood the same way you just stain and apply tru oil. Thats it your done. If you leave it white and use linspeed the checkereing remains dark down in the grooves. I like that look.

That's how I see it.

I would check with Ahlmans of Minnesota.They can just about do it all.They checkered a rifle for me,a few years ago and it looks great.the cost was $250.Not sure,currently.This is wrap around checkering on the grip and forend.Most companies charge the same for chasing out old checkering as they do for checkering from scratch.They list a Winchester factory type finish,now,at $250.




I understand that some like all the scratches and dings and I get that.The rifle stock's finish is there to protect the wood from the elements.Breaches in that protective coating,can let moisture in that can do no good.I also agree that some rifles,not all,can lose value if refinished,especially amateur work.I have refinished a lot of gun stocks,bows and handgun grips.The one thing I would never do,is sand checkering.In refinishing,the checkering should be masked off,then chased out and when that is done,thin finish is applied with a brush,which is then scrubbed with a soft tooth brush so it doesn't pool in the checkering.If the gun is a later model when they did that ugly,stamped in checkering,it will be a pain to redo with cut checkering.

Finster,I would call Ahlmans and see what they advise.They are running 2-3 months right now,which is slow for them,not for me.Mine took 2 weeks and every thing they told me was right on.Good luck with it.

I was also scared to death of refinishing a gun stock. Last summer I came into several dozen guns that looked to be hauled around in the trunk of a car, piled on top of each other. I thought, what the heck, can't mess them up anymore than they are and if I do, then ill send them somewhere.

Like Danny said, scrape the old Finnish off first. I just used an old knife and was surprised how easy it scraped of. Then I sanded as Danny also stated. The difference comes as I bought Beechwood Casey's Tru-oil, applied as he also stated, with my finger.

These were older guns so to dull the finish some, I took fine scotchbrite over them. Amazing results!

If you mess it up, then you can send it out.

I refinish by removing the action and sand and finish for $75 to $100

For smaller dents a soldering iron can work better at times. And a wet paper towel folded up a few times and when it starts to get brown pull it out and move to a fresh spot.