Stock refinishing on a Rossi 92

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Stock refinishing on a Rossi 92

Posted: 3/26/2021 11:24:11 AM EDT

I have a Rossi 92 in .45, and yesterday I accidentally bought one in .22. Both are great shooting guns that are a ton of fun! They are my first lever guns, and I can't believe I've missed out on this much fun until now.

I have 2 problems with them; No sling, and the finish sucks.

I'm working on the sling thing.

The next issue is the stock finish. The stock currently has a "plasticy" look to it that I do not care for. I looked at the Birchwood Casey refinishing kit and it says it has a glossy look. I want an oil matte finish. Would a simple boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits concoction work or would it dry to sticky? I thought about tung oil, but it is too glossy. I could use matte polyuerthane, butit may scratch up too easy.

Any suggestions on what to use that will have more of an antique oil finish look? I'm obviously not afraid to strip this back to bare wood and start over. I will probably round off the top edges of the fore grip when I'm working on this.

Thanks in advance!

Posted: 3/26/2021 1:24:34 PM EDT

[#1]

Strip with Formbys furniture refinisher. (PPE is a must)

Watco Danish oil finish.

Finish is not usually this dark on birch or oak, this wood was dark to begin with. OEM on top, Watco on bottom.

Some of the Rossi wood is really dark. On those, I have just stripped them and added a few coats of carnauba wax.

Posted: 3/26/2021 1:31:28 PM EDT

[#2]

Here is a Stoeger with wax. I antiqued the metal at some point, I am not sure if I had done it yet in this photo. It looked really good when I sold it. Looks like an FFL at the bottom, so it is probably antiqued in the photo.

Posted: 3/27/2021 1:40:36 PM EDT

[#3]

Boiled linseed oil is good but darkens over time.

Real tung oil is not glossy. Modified tung oil can be glossy, so use only the real stuff.

The key to a matte finish with any product is to rub with 0000 steel wool and /or 600 grit sand paper after the finish is dry. This will break any sheen that developed, even on surfaces like varnishes (which I do not recommend).

Posted: 3/28/2021 8:48:10 PM EDT

[#4]

I make my own 1/3 mix, BLO, Turpentine and beeswax. It's worked pretty good for me...

The mystery wood that Rossi uses has always been pretty hard to accept a good stain.

Posted: 3/29/2021 8:06:25 AM EDT

[#5]

Thanks to everyone that replied.

I think I will make up a test block and try a few finished to find the look I'm after.

For those that used wax, did you just use a plain hard wax like Johnson's floor wax? Did you use beeswax?

For the tung oil, I guess you aren't talking about the tung oil I used on my dining room table. It's glossy and very hard. Is the unmodified something I can get at a big box hardware store or should I look for it online?

Thank you for the 1/3 recipe. I will try to mix up some of that and give it a try as well. I'm pretty sure I have about a half of a gallon of BLO now, and turpentine is good to have around the workshop anyway. I'll get that gathered up to try as well.

Posted: 3/29/2021 12:38:59 PM EDT

[#6]

I bought my Rossi 92 .357 in ~2012. The stock came stained but without much of a finish on it. I used Watco Danish Oil although I forget which tint. It went on easily and came out good.

It has a bolt-mounted peep from Steve's Guns and a Bushnell TRS-25 on a rail from NOE Bullet Molds.

Posted: 3/30/2021 1:35:20 PM EDT

[#7]

Here is more recent OEM Rossi finish:

Posted: 3/30/2021 1:38:33 PM EDT

[#8]

This is a really old Stevens that was stripped and coated with carnauba. I use automotive product and this is likely Mothers wax.

Posted: 3/31/2021 8:28:56 PM EDT

[#9]

Here's a couple 20" round barrel CBC guns. If Rossi does one thing right, it's the blueing.
I didn't do a thing to the wood on these guns, yet..

Posted: 3/31/2021 9:00:08 PM EDT

[#10]

I can't fault the bluing on this one tiny bit. It's very nice.

Posted: 4/1/2021 12:20:33 PM EDT

[#11]

Yeah I got an earlier R92 with the orange-ish wood. I refinished it following a Youtube video I found. Turned out OK.

Posted: 4/1/2021 6:45:58 PM EDT

[#12]

That looks great! What video did you use if you remember?

Posted: 4/2/2021 8:48:30 PM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
That looks great! What video did you use if you remember?

View Quote

Now that I think about it a bit more, I think I followed an online tutorial for refinishing a wood tabletop...

- Sanded the finish off the wood
- Cleaned and degreased
- Added a layer of Varathane Pre-Stain Wood conditioner, let dry
- Added a couple of coats of Varathane Penetrating Wood Stain in Ebony, wiped off excess and let dry between coats, with a bit of wet sanding
- Added a couple of coats of Varathane Oil Based Clear Satin Polyurethane, let dry and sanded til I got the finish I wanted
- Covered with Minwax Special Dark Paste Finishing Wax as per instructions
- Final sanding with 1200 grit to smooth everything out

It isn't perfect, and I should probably fix a couple of spots where I sanded through the stain, but overall it's good enough for my needs.

Posted: 4/3/2021 1:54:05 PM EDT

[#14]

I used Real Milk Paint pure dark tung oil. I might have added a little black Rit Dye to darken it a smidge more.

Followed by a furniture wax finish. I might have used Tom’s 1/3 military wax finish.

If you want it darker, use an alcohol based dye, gets the wood dark fast. I’ll be doing that to my Rossi 92 in 45 Colt once it arrives back from the factory.

Attached File

Posted: 4/3/2021 11:00:48 PM EDT

[#15]

I just used Danish wood oil on my .45/.454 Rossi 92. Their cheap finish soaked it up without striping it first. Looks a lot better.

Posted: 4/5/2021 3:21:01 PM EDT

[#16]

I just passed on a Uberti 1866 Yellowboy on Gunbroker because the stock looked so yellow. I know sometimes the picture color contrast isn't always right, but every picture looked about the same from every angle. Nice rifle, decent price, but too light on the stock color. I thought about going ahead with it and just stripping/staining, but figured I've got the time to look around. If I don't find a darker one I'll just redo it. The Cimarron 1873 I've got has a reddish tint to it and I think that really looks good. There's some nice staining jobs done here!

Posted: 4/5/2021 5:46:48 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
I used Real Milk Paint pure dark tung oil. I might have added a little black Rit Dye to darken it a smidge more.

Followed by a furniture wax finish. I might have used Tom’s 1/3 military wax finish.

If you want it darker, use an alcohol based dye, gets the wood dark fast. I’ll be doing that to my Rossi 92 in 45 Colt once it arrives back from the factory.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/170028/6AD20DE4-F107-427D-95C6-9A4AD9C4B52A_jpe-1891300.JPG

View Quote

That's exactly the look I'm after. Thank you!

This has been a very helpful thread. I appreciate the responses.

Posted: 4/9/2021 10:14:58 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
Yeah I got an earlier R92 with the orange-ish wood. I refinished it following a Youtube video I found. Turned out OK.

https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/26706/r92_rds_cuff-1858817.jpg

View Quote

Tell me about that scope mount.

Posted: 4/9/2021 10:29:51 PM EDT

[#19]

Butcher's Bowling Alley Wax works great for your final finish coat.

Posted: 4/10/2021 2:07:52 PM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:

Tell me about that scope mount.

View Quote

Skinner Sights Weaver Rail Mount for R92 (toward bottom of page)

Posted: 4/10/2021 3:50:19 PM EDT

[#21]

I like tru-oil

Posted: 4/13/2021 12:06:30 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
For those that used wax, did you just use a plain hard wax like Johnson's floor wax? Did you use beeswax?

Johnson's Paste Wax (for floors) is almost entirely beeswax.

For the tung oil, I guess you aren't talking about the tung oil I used on my dining room table. It's glossy and very hard. Is the unmodified something I can get at a big box hardware store or should I look for it online?

You must have purchased something with modifiers in it. Look for raw, unmodified tung oil - something that is food safe. Real Milk Paint is a company that sells the real deal.

My advice - don't use anything that forms a film ON the surface (like the handgun grips, above). Get some sort of oil finish that goes IN the wood.

Posted: 4/13/2021 11:42:40 PM EDT

[#23]

P.S. - I once had some tung oil that created a shiny surface film. I got rid of it and shied away from tung oil for a LONG time. That Real Milk Paint product is very different.

Posted: 4/23/2021 4:27:02 PM EDT

[#24]

Well you made me look. Milk link

Hmmm....now I need a project.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Stock refinishing on a Rossi 92

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