Since I'm not trying to restore an original 40X I don't feel compelled to have all the original stock hardware that I would never use in any case. Plus, most of the Numnuts stocks are too beat up for a restoration anyway. That being said, my early stock did come with the short forend rail AND the handstop/sling swivel assy. Yes, the white line buttpad is toast. But since the stock has been cut at an angle I would probably be looking at thicker pads or spacers so ....????
Refinishing an old 40X stock
- Thread starter XTR
- Start date
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
Once you get the walnut in hand you can then set about to purchase the $150 or so in hardware that it needs, and good luck on the hand stop, and the White Line butplate is no longer made by anyone.
I have one of these that I'm refinishing, and I also picked up a complete with all hardware one off of ebay. In the end the one from ebay was cheaper. Haven't decided to refinish it yet. It's got really sharp crossed cannon cartouches.
My stock above came with all hardware and hand stop, even the tuners still had solid clicks, for less than $80 shipped. Keep an eye on ebay, every so often they go for a resonable price.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
They are all cut at an angle, short on the bottom. It's so when shooting off hand you effectively have a shorter length of pull. I plan on leaving mine the way it is mostly because I shoot SR and it will be fun to try this one out in all positions.
The ones you get from Numnuts may all be cut but when they left Remington they were more or less square to the bore.
LarryDScott
Site $$ Sponsor
I dont know if all BLO smells alike, but I bought some at
Lowes, to finish a shooting table top, and it took 2wks,
sitting outside, for the smell to go away. I dont remember
the brand name. LDS
Lowes, to finish a shooting table top, and it took 2wks,
sitting outside, for the smell to go away. I dont remember
the brand name. LDS
They usually each only carry one type of blo . I bought 5 gal about 15-20 yrs ago , it definatelly has its own smell . It takes me back to high school arts class in oil painting . It really isn't good for doing stocks anymore . Even the French type mixture ( shellac/blo mix ) it doesn't seal the wood .
Old military stocks were dipped in warmed blo then hung or stored .
Tru oil , fombys , minwax are all better water sealants . Plus it actually dries .
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
Klean-strip BLO is what I use.
Every original 40x stock I have seen has been angle cut. There are plenty of sales ads floating around the web from the 1950's-1960's and clearly show the angle cut on the stock.
Every original 40x stock I have seen has been angle cut. There are plenty of sales ads floating around the web from the 1950's-1960's and clearly show the angle cut on the stock.
Here is my butt with a square sitting on top of the comb. At the toe of the stock there is just over 3/4" of gap to the square. Maybe mine isn't cut as much as I thought although it does look like more than the others. It's probably some angle that the AMU came up with. It does seem that in offhand it would rest on the shoulder with less likelihood of sliding off.
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
Finally got my 700 fitted to the 40XB stock today. In normal trim it should drop right in, but mine is a RemAge and Jewell trigger, so the barrel nut didn't fit in the channel and the Jewell needs lots of room in the well. Barrel is 26" Rem Varmint taper and fits the stock channel very well. It is fully floated all the way to the recoil lug. I also had to open that up as I have a .250" recoil lug that was snug in the slot.
Not a bad looking stock or rifle so far!
Not a bad looking stock or rifle so far!
Fast14riot
Gold $$ Contributor
This is a pac-nor barrel nut, but the barrel channel stepped down from the receiver diameter right at the recoil lug.
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
Kind of coincidental that we're all sticking Pac-Nut barrels in these old stocks. Mine was Pac-Nor's #6 Sporter contour, which I had ordered before I got this stock. I didn't know what to expect as far as the barrel channel fit might be, and was pretty jazzed to find that it was damned near perfect. I opened it up a little in the nut area and first couple of inches, and my float is perfect.
I love this rifle now, and this old stock is a good part of the reason. jd
I love this rifle now, and this old stock is a good part of the reason. jd
So I got the first coat of BLO on and have some observations about strippers. I cut off the first few inches of the stock to get rid of the "tuners". I took this cut off section and hit with with purple stuff as recommended. Then after it dried I lightly sanded it and hit 1/2 of it with 3 coats of BLO.
On the rest of the stock, once I was done with the inletting hit it with Citristrip and let it sit overnight. Then next day I scrapped off the old finish and then started sanding. I had to lower the upper surface at the receiver to eliminate some bad chunks missing. I used 80 grit for this and then went to 150-220-320-400 except I stopped at 320 .
The citristrip and extensive sanding made the stock come out much lighter and the grain was WAY more pronounced. The purple stuff strip job left the wood this dull greyish brown color. Then adding the BLO really brought out the grain of the stock whereas the BLO on the purple stuff tip did add color but not as pronounced.
On the rest of the stock, once I was done with the inletting hit it with Citristrip and let it sit overnight. Then next day I scrapped off the old finish and then started sanding. I had to lower the upper surface at the receiver to eliminate some bad chunks missing. I used 80 grit for this and then went to 150-220-320-400 except I stopped at 320
.The citristrip and extensive sanding made the stock come out much lighter and the grain was WAY more pronounced. The purple stuff strip job left the wood this dull greyish brown color. Then adding the BLO really brought out the grain of the stock whereas the BLO on the purple stuff tip did add color but not as pronounced.
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