Rossi finish gone.

[armednfree]

I hunted opening day, it rained lightly all day. The finish on my Rossi Rio Grande washed off, the wood got wet. The point of impact changed by 2 inches at 30 yards. That part is strange.

So, now that it's dry I'll use mineral spirits and steel wool to strip any remaining finish. Then stain it dark and used gauze to rub in several coats of Birchwood Casey's True Oil.

Pretty has no value here, utility is all that counts. I'd put laminate or synthetic stocks on it if I could.

Thoughts?

[mattw]

POA changed due to the swelling wood. I carry an old 870 Wingmaster 2 3/4 for my slug gun, I strip and refinish it about every 5 or 6 seasons so the wood does not swell and crack.

[Pb2au]

I stripped the finish off of my Rossi with a sink scrubby and a bucket of warm water, so I am not shocked that a good rain did the same thing!
I stained that weird jungle wood with some dark walnut stain and finished it with 4 coats of Tru-Oil and I am happy as could be with it. I would suggest you might do something similar for your Rio.
I just carried through Ohio's gun season for deer, and although I should have been in a kayak due to the horrible rain, the Tru-oil did a fine job standing up to the downpour.
124264

[w5pv]

I used a thinned down bottle of ALOX and change the shade that Rossi had on the gun,and still applying Howard FeedNwax.Plan to re finish the stock after hunting season.

[armednfree]

I just carried through Ohio's gun season for deer, and although I should have been in a kayak due to the horrible rain, the Tru-oil did a fine job standing up to the downpour.
124264

Well, I got two small deer. I was the only one who did in our group. The population in So. Eastern Ohio is dropping. The ODNR says it's liberal limits, I'm calling B.S. on that. It's those darn coyotes that are everywhere. The ODNR won't say it, in fact indicates it's not a problem, so I guess or coyotes are nice ones. Yeah, ours don't eat fawns.

[GoodOlBoy]

or to save yourself alot of time you can scrub it down, let it dry out good then give it half a dozen good coatings in boiled linseed oil and you shouldn't ever have to worry about it again except maybe throwing another coat of linseed oil on once every five or six years.

GoodOlBoy

[knifemaker]

I prefer to use Tru-oil as it has drying agents and can recoat again after 24 hours for the previous coat to dry. Be sure to use 2-3 coats of tru-oil on the inside channel of the forearm to prevent moisture being absorb there into the wood. Best bet is not to leave any wood bare, coat the ends also with the tru-oil. 1-2 coats on the forearm ends and stock ends will fully absord into the wood and not cause problems with fitting to the metal parts.

[Wayne Smith]

Always put equal finish on all sides of the wood. To do otherwise causes differential absorption of water and warpage. After you have done what you want (I use Tung Oil) let it dry good and finish with a good coat of paste wax, again on all sides of the wood. You can't prevent absorption, but you can slow it down.

[dubber123]

Minwax spray poly in satin finish. I have a friend who does beautiful hand rubbed finishes, and when I showed a stock finished with it to him, he was amazed it came from a spray can. Looks nice, not heinously glossy, WAY more durable than Tru_oil, (which I have used, but now avoid), and is super easy to apply. 2 coats a day is easy to do, and I doubt you'll want or need more than 4. Tru_oil on my Rem 270 got blotchy white spots on it in the rain. They went away when it dried, but it told me Tru-oil wasn't so "water proof".

[targetfreak]

Years ago Fine Woodworking magazine did an exhaustive, comprehensive test of wood finishes, and polyurethanes won hands down. Didn't much matter which brand or type, and the Minwax wipe-on poly was one of the best. Worst was traditional oils such as tung oil, linseed oil, Tru-Oil, etc. Absolute best was petroleum-based hard wax, as tested by the Forest Products Lab.

[leadman]

I vote with dubber123 on the spray polyurethane. Been using it for ages, started in Michigan. I even used it on my Garand that I shot in a match here that it rained hard. Nothing at all happened to the stock.
I have had Tung oil turn milky and tru oil let moisture thru. Linseed oil here in Az is not a very good finish as it seems to have to be reapplied several times a year. Must be the heat.