Rather nice day here, slightly windy, but nice enough to get the ol mini out. I needed to tweak the trigger a little anyway. I have it set with a nice short first stage, hits a wall, tad pressure more and then pellet gone. I looked for years for a new or mint mini, never found one. Ended up buying a club gun, and done a full restore if you will. No corners cut on this end. And wrapped up many months in it, but it was worth it.
We had about a 10-15 mph crosswind in gusts today, but that doesn't stop me. I shot probably 150 pellets today out the shop window standing, picked a leaf about 25 yds out, and snapped a 5 shot group. Then commenced to shooting the rat, and as I hoped, it works perfect for these lower power rifles.
I have convinced myself I could get down to just my FWB rifles and be happy. There is just something about these old warbirds?
Prairie Farmer
very nice job on refresh and the shooting
but that stock looks like beech and if that is so, you have a great job and would like to know how you went about it
Mike, you are right, son of a beech. I am guessing the maggots gave it away. This was well used, the left side of the stock had all kinds of pellet dents. I remove almost no wood during the restore. First stripped it with Blue Bear, which works fantastic and didn't melt the hair in my nose.
I then cleaned it with the after strip you can buy at the hardware, which is a mix of acetone and a couple other ingredients. Cuts all the residue. I then wait at least two days to dry and vent.
Spent a full day steaming the dents out, and water popped it. Another week to dry, and remove the whiskers. I stained it with the General Finishes, which buy the way looks like brown paint, wipe on, wipe off. This received two applications.
Then after much reading in the guitar forums, those guys are nutz over wood finishes, I chose the Liberon finishing oil. I used the wiping cloths from Rockler made in France, zero lint, cut a one inch square, and slightly wet it with the oil and apply a very very thin coat, leaving nothing wet looking behind. I hold the rifle by the grip, and break it down in four steps, forearm both sides, then the cheakpiece last.
I allowed to dry in the house, one week between applications, 5 applications were applied. After the third, I knocked the small lint off gently, for what nibs were there which was almost nothing.
After the fifth rub, I let it set for around 6 weeks to cure. I use the Liberon 0000 steel wool and wool lube, and gently polished it. After a day, I rubbed in two coats of the Bison stained wax, and polished with a lint free cloth.
The stippling was last, ebony self sealing, applied with a large head cotton tip, and trimmed the lines with a small brush. I like this stain as it cures almost flat, and I don't clear over it. I don't like the look of the shiny stippling, mine is very close to original in tone.
It was an adventure, not sure how folks do these in a couple of days, I sure couldn't make money refinishing wood.
I know the stock is no longer orange as they are from the factory, but they shoot them with tinted sealer. I love the feel if the hand rubbed wood.
Here is the ol beater, resurrected.
Prairie Farmer
Mike,
Here is another stock in the works, rare step mini stock, with the beveled front. I ordered several bottles of a spirit base stain from R Gale Lock, and let me tell you, superioir to anything I have used. Dries real fast and has exhibited no blotching.
Here is raggedy ann, well beat up.
?1
After stripping,
Steamed and prepped for stain,
Four applications of the stain,
Two applications of the red directly over the brown,
I just started oiling it this week, it will be a few months before finished. I will say, this one was thirsty, it went pretty dark with the first coat of oil, the red is not as noticeable, I imagine it is the slight yellowish tint in the oil has neutralized the red, but looks like a CMP garand, will see how it goes. The Anschutz UIT rail is at the hot bluer for a fresh blue.
Prairie Farmer
thank you for all the info
i have a Diana 75 in beech that has a very shiny finish on it, need to be stripping but i do have a brand new stock for that rifle also i got off Egun in Germany a few years back so it is my need to do projects
i was always thinking of fuming it or dying it or something
thanks again
take care
mike
Very nice looking wood work.
Raggedy Ann has come along pretty well. One thing to note, the amber in the oil zeroed out most of the red highlights from the dye. A couple of the hard hits are barely noticeable but still there, I didn't want to sand anymore than needed. And several of the hard dings were raised but kept their darker attributes. I will call it character for now. Turned out pretty good.
The bipod is new to me, I like it, lightweight, easy on, easy off, cants and pans. Looking forward to shooting it.
Prairie Farmer
what were you using for raising the dents, i have had great success with an old type flat tipped soldering iron
Wife's iron which she never uses......lol.....the tip of it works great. Using gun cleaning patches dipped in the watering can, plop them in the dent, sizzle for about 10 seconds, and check. Works well here for my intentions.
Prairie Farmer
My oh my!! Talk about airgun porn...
Beautiful job!
Regards, Dennis
old wash cloth for me and the soldering iron is a little more precise but those old irons are hard to and not cheap
but which ever works
in any case it turned out very well
that is a good looking bipod also
Looks really good,great job on refinishing!!
That mini is off the chart. ?
Edit: So if I were to send you a stock..... ?
How do you get the stain out of the end grain? This is holding me up, I am ready to apply stain.
How do you get the stain out of the end grain? This is holding me up, I am ready to apply stain.
I have not had any issue with getting the stain out, the Blue Bear stripper I use pulls almost all of it. The pre wash Kleen strip pulled more according to my white rags, then when I steemed it, the water pulled some. Then some light sanding finishes it. The end grains will go dark quick when appplying stain, even more with oil. You will see it around the cheek piece, hand grip, and the front end of the forearm. I have pre stain conditioner on hand but haven't used it, but some do.
Prairie Farmer
