Remington Sportsman 12 gauge shotgun

[CW4USARET]

A friend of mine gave me a Remington Sportsman 12 gauge shotgun that was in pretty rough shape. Had rust on the barrel and receiver and wood needs work. I went on line and found a "War Department Technical Manual, TM 9-285, Shotguns, All Types, dated September 21, 1942". What a great find!

Anyway the shotgun was in the manual with step by step instructions on how to completely disassemble the gun. After disassembling, cleaning and oiling all the parts I then used "Flitz" and fine grade steel wool on the barrel and receiver to remove the rust. The metal parts look great but the wood need some work. It looks like the clear coat on the wood has bubbled up and can be removed by running your finger nail over it. The bare wood underneath is in good shape the question is how to get the clear coat off without damaging the wood.

Thanks for any ideas....

 

[NikA]

If you can really get it all off with mechanical abrasion, I would start by trying some steel wool. It's a fairly typical tool for removing only the minimum amount of finish on wood for refinishing.

 

[pete44ru]

.

Typical - right up to the introduction of chemical strippers, like Formby's Furniture Refinisher.

.

 

[powder smoke]

Zip Strip works well also. Steel wool then comes into play. Just did up
a Remington Model 11 came out pretty nice with several passes of Tru Oil. ps

 

[cadillo]

Just curious, is that a Model 58?

 

[AKDRSS]

Get a small piece of glass and scrape it off. Works like a charm.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Probably the Model 11 "Sportsman" variation, which has a 3-shot magazine and is otherwise just like a Browning Auto-5. War Dept bought a bunch right after Pearl Harbor. Some were "riot guns," others were regular field guns to use for training air and anti-air gunners to hit flying targets. Not as common as some other "secondary martial" shotguns from that period. Nice find.