Rifle Rehab
Great Plains Rifle Refinishing Project
My Lyman GPR has been a great hunting rifle that I got from a friend. He had used it for years and had applied several coats of Tru Oil finish that has been wearing off and cracking over the past 2 hunting seasons.
I wanted to refinish the rifle, so I waited till after hunting season to start. The photo below was taken on the last day of the PA late flintlock season.
Step 1- Disassembly
I started by totally disassembling the rifle, making sure to keep all parts and there associated hardware together.
Step 2 - Strip the stock
I applied several coats of 3m vanish and paint stripper. This is a newer version of the product that is safe to use indoors and is relatively fume free. I am doing this project in the middle of winter so I needed something that was safe to use in the house. The first coat I applied I let stand for about 1 hour and then used a plastic scraper to try and remove the Tru Oil. It managed to remove the first layer of finish so applied a second heavier coat and wrapped it in plastic wrap overnight as the directions stated.
The next morning I unwrapped it and used the plastic scraper and the rest of the finish came off easily. I then washed the stock under warm water and used a kitchen sponge to remove the last of the Tru Oil. Once it dried I was able to see all of the imperfections in the wood that the finish had hidden.
The perch belly on the GPR goes away!
Lockpanel gets reshaped
Nose of the comb gets reshaped and also the sideplate panel
Cheekpiece to be changed to this
Reshaped Cheekpiece
Finished product...sorry about missing pictures.
