A Little Grip Work...

Have a new-to-me OM Blackhawk which is going to be a trail gun. But, that doesn't mean I don't want her to look nice. I have two things I'd like to do to the grips and wanted a little advice:

1) The black paint/enamel on one medallion has come up some. Can I clean it out and repaint it? What would you recommend?

2) The wood grips need refinishing. I was going to sand them smooth (know how to do that) and was wondering what finish is recommended for grip.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom!

I use either arrow oil or true oil on all of the grips that I sell. True oil can be had at most of the bigger gunstores. The arrow oil you will probably have to order. i order it direct from the guy that makes it. Drop me a line if you nwant to get in touch with him, I am at work and don't have access to that info right now. Steve

I like boiled linseed oil for wood grips and stocks.

Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil is just a linseed oil based product, but they charge you multiple dollars for a little bottle. You can get a quart of BLO for the same or less than a 4oz bottle of TO.

Some people prefer Tung Oil but I find it takes far too long to cure.

-- Sam

I haven't had much luck repainting the medallians, but they will set you back about $8 if you order new ones. Our own Cary Chapman recommends a satin black Rustoleum to repaint the eagles.

Here's what he had to say in a post a few years ago:

"If you want to repaint your medallions, satin black (Rustoleum) is the one I use, more closely resembles the stock Ruger medallions.

I would not use sandpaper on the medallions. A tooth pick works well for distributing the paint in the recesses of the medallions. If you let it set for a minute or two, then holding the medallion by the post, rub the face of the medallion completely along the length of a piece of printer or typing paper.

The smooth paper will remove the paint from the face of the bird without disturbing the paint in the background. Do this on a nice flat surface. Works for me."

Click to expand...

I like to finish my wood with pure tung oil. It's real simple, looks good and is reportedly more moisture-resistant than linseed oil. Just make sure it's PURE tung oil and not a tung oil FINISH, which is often linseed oil based. Unless you have some big woodworking specialty shops nearby, you are looking at mail-order to find pure tung oil.

Application is simple. Remove the finish on the stocks and sand till you are satisfied. Thin the first few coats 50/50 tung oil and mineral spirits or pure turpentine. Rub the oil on, let it set for an hour or so, wipe it off and let it dry for a day or so. After the grain appears to be filled with the 50/50 blend, apply the tung oil full-strength the same way- rub it on, let it set an hour or so, wipe the excess off and let it cure overnight. If it is too glossy, hit it with some 0000 steel wool, then put on the next coat. You'll know where to stop when it gets the look you like. I've found that, unless you don't wipe off the excess after an hour or so, it sets up and cures overnight with no problems at all. As long as the oil had cured and is dry, you can proceed to the next step. If it is still wet or tacky, let the previous coat dry COMPLETELY (or wipe off as much of the excess as you can, then let it dry completely) before proceeding with another coat or it may not dry/cure at all.

It takes a while to refinish using tung oil, but I LOVE the results. So far, I have used it on the walnut stock on my 10/22, on an M1 Carbine (commercial Iver Johnson, so I didn't butcher up an original), an Indian .308 SMLE that was cut down to Jungle Carbine specs and several sets of handgun stocks. All look GREAT and seem to be holding up VERY WELL. Here are some pics of the 10/22, the only one that I have pics of right now.







You can go real glossy, matte glossy or pretty dull, depending on how much you steel wool between coats. The 10/22 really isn't that glossy, the sun makes it look more glossy than it really is.

Good luck on your choice. Whatever you decide to go with, there should be someone here that has done it and can help you out if you have questions.

Bub

Thanks for the recommendations on the finishes. I should be able to put something together from that... whatever I can find at the local hardware...

Where does one get replacement medallions?

Bub... that stock is very pretty! I didn't see it until I had already posted.

I'll look at the local hardware. It is a trail gun, so, I'm not going to go too fancy or expensive on the materials, but will do the best I can with what's available.