Wood refinish on a Steel Shot Special
 

This Steel Shot Special had its wood worked over. The owner wanted the comb lowered to better fit his needs for dimensions. And he wanted the wood refinished to better enhance to look of the grain.

Both the comb and heel were lowed and the comb reshaped to better reflect traditional Parker stocks. A new finish was applied to stock and forend after removal of the original urethane. The checkering recut and oiled. The owner of this gun wanted the factory repro checkering border left, so that is what I did.

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That is one spectacular stick of California English walnut and your finish really made it pop.

Beautiful to say the least.

Great Job!!!

Brian, I don't see any "before" pictures.....





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I am horrible about that. I did not take any. The owner did send some to me when we first started talking about the work, but I did not save them.

I can't believe that wood lurked below the typical Repro finish. Wow!

good looking wood for sure....charlie

Were you able to refit the skeleton butt plate?

That is no problem. The plate was not actually moved down. The heel of the Repro plates have a very large radius to them as compared to meriden plates. The way that I am able to lower the heel on these is to just bent down the spur on the buttplate as to reduce the radius on the heel. Then I inlet the bent spur deeper into the wood. That leaves me a goo amount of wood to then be able to take down. This allows for up to 1/8" or more to be taken off at the heel.

And with the amount that the comb can come down, it still leaves for a heel that is on the high side, but the dimensions can be made much more comfortable for someone who is used to shooting a gun in the 1.5/2.5" drop area.

I hope this makes sense.

Looks like you used a black felt pen & drew in the grain like so many of the new Beretta's of today. Nothing worse than faked wood grain.

Nothing of the sort. The wood on this gun is completely natural.

Brian, a beautiful result. Have you ever tried bending them to get more drop?

I do not really recommend bending personally. It is a crap shoot. I have never tried first hand to bend. And dont ever intend to. And the only time I had a gun of mine bent by someone else (a repro), I may have well taken my money and put it right in the garbage.

Here are the before photos. I asked Brain to bring down the comb and refinish the wood to bring out the figure. I believe he succeeded in enhancing the natural beauty without using a darkening stain. Such is the beauty of English or Persian Walnut Juglars regia . Most importantly, the gun fits me better. Outstanding work! Thanks Brian!

See attached photos

Well Brian did an outstanding job bringing out the figure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bobby

Jerry, that's a striking difference between before and after especially on the left hand side. Amazing work Brian.
Can you post a pic of the butt plate after the modification?

You wouldnt notice any difference in the buttplate.

I stand by my observation of faking the grain. All you have to do is look at the before & after photos I've been a stock maker for 40 years & know when the grain's been faked and/or enhanced. It's especially easy with English Walnut. You add black lines with an air brush or felt pin & some stains. I'm a purest when it comes to wood. Leave it natural and if you want highly figured wood buy good wood; don't fake it.

David you sure do pick a very pleasant and diplomatic way of introducing yourself to this group.
Bob Jurewicz

David,

Please clarify your position. Are you saying that grain lines CAN be faked by some out there, just as a matter of saying?
OR
Are you insisting that I faked grain on THIS example in this thread? And then further accuse me of being a liar when I tell you that I did not???

If it is the former, then I agree. If it is the later... then allow me to show you the door.

All the grain/Figure that was there before is still there now, it looks more vivid because it was obscured by tint they (Japan) put in their sealer/topcoat which is most likely sprayed .....I give this one to Brian. I have a CZ Rigneck that has a Beautiful piece of Turkish Walnut on it, the original factory finish was a stain/sealer all one combo......being a woodworker/ finisher my whole life....I saw what was beneath that hriible finish....you would swear up and down that I enhanced the grain on that one too! but, i didnt.....Nice job by the way Brian

I stand by my observations.

Gentlemen, there is another double gun site that has several people that continually attack others, what they list, and what they say. For that reason I stopped listing anything on that site and making comments there even though there are many good people there. This site has never been that way and is the reason I follow it closely. The people on this site have integrity and hopefully the above postings were just someone having a bad day and typing before they think. Having taken thousands of pictures of guns I know it is very easy to get very different results using different lighting and exposures. Harsh light will "wash out" most grain patterns, and proper lighting will certainly enhance grain. For that reason alone I would never doubt someones word on this or any other forum. Just my two cents worth.

Ok.
I guess that means you are calling me a Liar.

And there is nothing else than I can say I suppose.
One cannot convince a man otherwise when his mind is already made up.


I will post here photos right next to each other so that others can better see and make up their own minds on if I am a liar or not.

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Fine job Brian .

One of the rules of PGCA Forum use is that you can NOT flame anyone for any reason at any time.

Let’s observe and obey the rules. We pride ourselves in having the most ‘user friendly’ forum in the collecting/shooting community. Let’s keep it that way please.





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There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I had to lower the comb on a Beretta 686 28 ga. and found when the bowling alley finish and the slurry of filler was removed along with the dark stain i had a very nice piece of wood. Have to do the same to the fore-arm
The comparison photos show the same thing with the factory finish obscuring what is under it. No enhancement was needed just removing the dark stain is all.

I get asked a lot about “what kind of finish I use”. I normally do not like to answer this. Not because it is any sort of secret. But because it is a very loaded question because every job is different and processes/products can vary depending on the desired outcome.

But, I will address it here on this particular repro. Just because there seems to be so much interest and distain around it.

I had to think back and remember what I did here on this one.

I first used clear Dalys ship & shore teak oil sealer. (Normally I add alkanet root to my sealer, but with this one I felt it did not need it). First penetrating coats followed by wet sanding coats.
Then it is finished with pro custom oil aerosol spray.

That is it. Nothing special or secretive. Period.

Thanks for all you do, you have been a blessing to us Parker friends.

BMD Gunstocks
 

Brian Dudley is honest and direct. He conducts himself in a professional manner in every respect. His work speaks for itself.

I don't own a Parker Reproduction but my only negative about the gun is the finish. Brian showed us what a good finish applied to a reproduction gun can look like.

There are many that will agree with your statement Chuck regarding the hi-gloss finish applied to most Parker Reproductions. In fact, I do too. Brian Dudley and others have shown us several examples of what one can achieve regarding the aesthetics of refinishing the wood on these guns.

But, let's play Devil's Advocate and take a look at the other side of the coin with an alternative opinion. I believe it goes without saying the durability of the Repro finish is superior to an oil finish. Get caught in a downpour two miles from the truck and you could be looking at a complete refinish of an oil finished stock. With a Repro you'll simply be looking for a towel to wipe it down -- the end results will be the finish will be as good as new.

Take a look at the question and answer at the two paragraphs in the lower left column of an excerpt taken from a Stuart Williams interview with Jack Skeuse regarding the hi-gloss finish vs. an optional oil finish offered with Parker Reproductions.

I've obviously been doing something wrong. When I have tried to remove the finish on a Remington 700, altho I got the majority of the finish off (LOTS of elbow grease) it seems that there is a residual amount which prohibits oil from being absorbed and the resulting finish is blotchy

That is why I usually choose to use Pro Custom oil on repros. It is very durable for a gun that will be used in the elements (though maybe not as much as a urethane). And the high build sprayed application more replicates the original look of the repros by way of finish build and sheen (pro custom can be left satin or rubbed up to near a gloss).

I do this unless someone asks for a more traditional “at the wood” oil finish.

But the key to maximizing figure is the use of a penetrating sealer as the ground coats. Vs the original urethanes just sit on the surface of the wood and obscure the figure.


Here is another example of a Lefever B grade 16g that I am finishing up now. Someone thought it was a good idea to put a bowling alley urethane finish on it at one time. That crap was removed and a more traditional oil finish was used. (That is a factory Monte Carlo stock by the way).

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Unfortunately everyone behind a keyboard can be an expert. I trust Mr. Dudley's reputation and can actually rely on my own real life experience. While not near a Parker Repro I have an American Arms Silver I that is from the early 90's that was a gift. I loaned it out one afternoon and it came back with a crack at the tang. My father was a wood worker and I grew up appreciating great stock wood. While the grain on my AA was fair, had I not stripped the finish myself I would never had believed it was the same piece of wood. The irony here is that the grain contrast is nearly identical.

Looking at the pictures on page three it's amazing what lurks below the finish. Excellent job!
In the left side photo the grain structure resembles Bethlehem Olive wood, the finish is beautiful!

Glad I never had any work done by that other guy.

As always great job Brian !!

While oil finishes are not particularly durable when compared to urethane, they can be easily renewed without a complete refinish. I just spread a few drops of oil on the stock and then rub it off with a clean cloth. It can be done multiple times to build up the razor thin new finish and the stock will look like new. This can’t be done with urethane. If you get a scratch, it will be very hard to hide it.

I don’t have a rainy day gun. I subject all my working guns to the weather, regardless of the intensity. Hard rain will dull an oil finish but the sheen can be easily brought back. This is one big advantage to oil.

I have a pre 64 model 70 that was custom stocked by Monte Kennedy using an oil finish. I used it in a couple of days of hard rain this year and the finish dulled a bit. A couple iterations of oil and wiping off fixed the issue. It’s as simple as that.

My “oil” finish consists of tung oil filler iterations, followed by a mixture of turpentine boiled with alkanet root to color the stock if necessary. Then I finish by applying multiple coats of Tru Oil and wiping them down as I do to refresh a stock.