Stock Refinish

[Dylan Rhodes]

Hey Everyone,

I purchased a shooter GH 12 gauge courtesy of a member here as my first foray into hobby restoration. So far, I’ve managed to get the stock off without damaging anything and luckily there are no major issues with split stock heads / etc. Anyways, my plan is to put the stock in an acetone bath for 1-2 weeks to get the old oil/grime out of the wood, let it sit and dry out another 1-2 weeks, address some minor cracking with epoxy and a few methods of injection I have researched, then refinish with timberluxe and finally chase the checkering. I will do this for both the butt and forearm.

So a couple of questions I have.

1. What’s the consensus on the stock shield? I am inclined to leave it right where it is for my acetone bath and then very carefully apply finish around it. I’m not sure how to get. New one to stay in place if I pop the current one out.


2. There’s a “2” in the trigger guard area of the stock. Could this be a second stock? I’ve ordered a letter but that seems to be taking a bit. Just speculating in the meantime.

Of course if there’s any comments or suggestions I will take them. Unless, your going to suggest I send it to someone who makes a living at this. That’s not really what I’m trying to accomplish here. I’m just tinkering for fun.

Thank you,

[Jim DiSpagno]

The shield is held in by 2 brass brads. If you remove it , you will probably have to re-inlet it so it is flush. The "2" could represent frame size. By the way, what is the frame size as indicated by a number 1, 11/2, or 2 on the bottom of the rear barrel lug

[Dylan Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Jim DiSpagno

The shield is held in by 2 brass brads. If you remove it , you will probably have to re-inlet it so it is flush. The "2" could represent frame size. By the way, what is the frame size as indicated by a number 1, 11/2, or 2 on the bottom of the rear barrel lug

It is a 1 frame

[Jim DiSpagno]

Ok then the "2" is the grade. 2 equals G in grade nomenclature

[B. Dudley]

The 2 is the grade. This was a normal marking in the guard inletting along with the serial number.

As jim said the shield is held in with 2 brads. This is all that they were held in with at the factory. On many old stocks the shield is pushed up due to oxidation build up under the shield. When you pull them off, there will be thick green buildup under it. You could clean it up snd re-inlay it back flush if you want. Or set it in epoxy and then put the brads back in. And then sand it all flat with the wood. This is how I install them on new stocks.

I would only really recommend leaving it in place as long as it is flush with the wood after your cleaning cycle.

[Stan Hillis]

My only addition to the advice above would be to wait for a time after removing the wood from the acetone soak. The acetone will often remove all moisture from the wood to the extent that it shrinks and leaves grip caps, buttplates, etc. standing proud of the wood. A couple months of resting in the open will see the wood reabsorb moisture from the air and the wood will return to a more normal size.

I made the mistake of refitting these parts on a Remington 1889, that I acetone soaked once, only to find the wood regained the lost moisture and returned to the "before soak size" a few months later.

[B. Dudley]

Yes, the OP said he intended on letting it sit for 2 weeks after the soak.
I have found that normally 1-2 weeks will bring things back to normal after a long soak. The buttplate fitment is a great way to check to see if things are good to go forward.