I'm fascinated by the whole experience you've had. :corn:

I've got to ask though: In antique furniture; refinishing is now a bad word. Unless the furniture is completely missing it's original finish. In your case; I'm assuming that some finish is there, underneath the mold and grime.

Do you refinish or not? And what criteria is used to decide. In furniture; a really good piece of furniture is worth more in a un-refinished, original state. I'd assume if there's some patina to this old gunstock; it should be cleaned and oiled? I don't know. But I'd love to hear from the guys here on that. And obviously has been a topic before:

John, when I refinish an old piece for a customer I always go by the following criteria: Is the goal of the owner to refinish for resale. Is the owner treating it as an heirloom for their estate. Just those two choices, simple. If they are putting the piece up for auction then I will treat it with delicate hands. Usually this means I simply clean the piece thuroughly with a low-grade de-greaser and repair the hardware (if it has hardware) and repair any damage to the wood. If the piece is not going to be sold and the owner simply wants the item to last another couple hundred years, then my options open up. I have done everything from completely resanding the piece down a thirty-second of an inch all around and applying a strong varnish (in the case of a birdseye maple endtable where the owner wanted to see the pocks clearly); to very simply stripping the piece and applying a new surface agent.

So, delicacy and education is needed if the piece has re-sale value and/or historical significance. But really most folks I meet just want their old family treasure to be safe for years to come.

In the case of my gun, I've never done a gunstock before. Having said that, it is clear to me what my options are with the wood. I've worked on wood of the same era so I'm very familiar with the process. What is NOT clear to me is what my heart is telling me. This will be the key to this project. My heart will dictate how far I go. I will not be selling the gun, and it does not have significant historical value. So, I know that the gun is special only to me. I am my own customer. My heart wants desperately to strip it down completely to let the wood show more dramatically. But I have held off here. I may feel that I will clean it as best I can and then put a mild preservative and light finish on it. I'm leaning toward deep cleaning with a light finish or even just a simple cleaning then waxing.

What I do know for sure, is that the stock in two places has a hair-line crack. Only about an inch long. Those need attention. Also, I want the gun to be safe to fire. So no matter what I do to the body of the stock, I will be treating the area where the hinge mounts to the stock with a wood hardener. I use an excellent product that is safe for any wood. I'll be using it in the crevises of the stock where the side plates meet the wood and especially the fore end grip, that part is pretty thin and slightly punky in parts.

So I suppose in this case I am driven by my heart and love of the item. I don't really care if my work on the stock is true to some arbitrary law dictating what it "should" be. Though I know for a fact that the Parker-purists out there are very forgiving and really only want the gun to last as a part of American history and folklore. I'm sure anything I do to it will have their support as long as it doesn't destroy the physical action and properties of the gun and as long as the focus of my restoration is to preserve and protect.

I'll keep you very closely informed with every step I take in my other post in the restoration forum.

Thank you for your interest!
Sean