Refinishing the QB Stock

This text is in response to several requests I’ve received on how to rework the factory QB-78 and QB-22 stock into an attractive and functional sporter design, with a true pistol grip and a European-type shnauble forend tip. First, to give credit where credit is due, I did not originate this design, 
it is the work of Tom Zablocki of Santa Barbara, California, who was kind enough to send me a picture of his stock and asked for my comments and advice on it.

I liked the design so well that I reworked my own QB-22 stock to the same basic design, and have received a lot of favorable comments on it. The real beauty of this design is that it is made by simply removing excess wood from the factory QB stock with common hand tools, but the result is a beautiful stock that is also much more functional and comfortable, and is easily customized.You can see Tom’s stock on Hengie Ma’s website, “My Airgun Notes”, along withhis email address and some comments on it.

 I'm just going to detail here how I reworked my stock, and you can freely modify these guidelines as needed. First, let's discuss the factory QB stock. It has a heavily varnished finish that will be one of possibly several different types of Asian hardwood, usually some type of Mahogany. Mine was red Philippine Mahogany, and it finished out to a stock with beautiful grain that appears to be choice black walnut with a slight reddish tinge

A word about working with this wood: several other fellows have reported problems with these stocks cracking during the finish sanding phase, which indicates that the wood on some can be very dry. Because of this I don't recommend using any chemicals at all to dry or bleach the stock, such as alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. Don't worry about any dark spots or streaks in the grain, because my method of finishing will blend it all into an attractive finish that will be complimented by the darker grain in the wood. Only simple hand tools are needed, and in fact they work better anyway.

I used only a finish (straight-line-type) sander,100 grit and 240 grit sandpaper, a hacksaw blade, some OO grade steel wool, and two wood rasps (a half-round and a round "rattail"). These are all the tools you need to get the job done.

First, carefully study the picture of Tom's stock. Note that excess wood has been removed in several key areas, specifically the forend has been thinned and tapered to the shnauble tip, wood has been removed from the front and top of the factory semi-pistol grip to form the true pistol grip, and the comb has been thinned a good bit on the top and sides near the back of the pistol grip. This is the basic "roughing-in" work you have to do to form the stock. The hacksaw blade is used to make the bottom cut behind the pistol grip.Everything that follows after the roughing-in is finish work, from the hand sanding to blending all the curves through the final sanding with 240 paper.

I don't recommend using any paper smoother than 240 grit unless you want a glass-smooth finish, which I personally don't care for on any oil-finished gunstock. To me any gunstock should afford a solid grip under all weather conditions, with dry hands or wet. This is why I don't like shiny, slick 
plastic stock finishes like polyurethane; they don't furnish a good grip in wet weather! A good oil finish is attractive and superior in this respect. An oil finish, by the way, is also much easier to repair when necessary.

Forming and Sanding the Stock

I found the easiest and most productive method was to first cut down and form the comb and the pistol grip. The forend and schnauble tip can best be formed later, since the tip should be proportioned slightly smaller than the diameter of the pistol grip to be attractive. This requires a bit of an eye for stock work, but if you refer back to the picture of Tom's stock it's proportions are pretty obvious. 

Use the wood rasps to make the side cuts into the comb area and the side cuts on the forend for the schnauble, and the sander with 100 grit paper to remove all the old finish and thin the comb, and also to thin and taper the forend. It's easiest to form the shnauble tip first before thinning and tapering the forend, since then it's simple job of more or less straight line sanding to thin and taper the forend.

Change your paper often; it's cheap and sanding will go much faster if the grit isn't loaded up with 
sawdust. Take your time and mistakes are easily avoided. I strongly recommendusing only a straight-line finishing sander; orbital sanders may remove wood too fast, and sometimes make deep scratch patterns that are hard to remove with the finer 240 grit paper. Remember, on any hardwood gunstock you always should sand with the grain to prevent gouging or deep scratches. I repeat: take your time! It's always quicker to do it right the first time!

There is a certain amount of hand sanding that must be done on the pistol grip and schnauble in the curved areas. Usually this can be best done by wrapping a strip of sandpaper around the round rattail rasp, then using it to work the paper into the inner curves. This also applies to the side cuts on the comb and the pistol grip. You'll find this out yourself as you go along. Once you've done all your final sanding and are satisfied with the appearance of the stock, it's time to "raise the grain". 

This is done to remove sawdust from the pores of the wood and thoroughly clean the surface.
Take a clean damp washcloth and thoroughly scrub down the stock. Important: Don't use anything but water to dampen the cloth! Using alcohol or other chemicals at this point may cause the wood to check or crack! After it's clean, let the stock sit until it's completely dry. You'll notice that little
"whiskers" of wood have risen all over the stock. This is normal and to be expected. This is "raising the grain" in preparation for applying the stock finish. Polish the entire stock with OO or OOO steel wool until you remove all the raised "whiskers" of the grain and the stock is completely smooth.
I've found that most QB stocks if unstained will finish out quite light, in shades from blonde to honey blond or just a little darker. If you prefer a darker stock with more prominent grain, the stock should be stained.

Staining the Stock

There is only one type of stain that should be used with any oil-finished stock, and that is an oil-based stain! I make a point of this because many stains today are polyurethane based, and will prevent the finish coats of oil from penetrating the stock. My personal favorite is Minwax oil based stain, and it comes in many different shades. For the QB stock I personally prefer the red mahogany shade, because it really highlights the darker grain in the wood. This should be applied in only one even coat, not excessively heavy. If you put too much on, wipe the excess off with a piece of cheesecloth, which by the way is also the best media for applying the stain.

Now let the stained stock dry for at least 24 hours. This is absolutely necessary to set the stain into the stock permanently, don't try to cut the drying time short! After the stock is completely dry, rub it down with the OO steel wool pads until all the surface stain is removed, and the beauty of the grain of the wood is fully revealed. Be sure to polish the stock well, because how well you do this step will determine how beautiful your finished stock is! 
A word about stain: stain should never be used to hide defects in the wood or hide poor workmanship! The purpose of stain is only to darken the tone of the wood and highlight the grain! It's far better to go back and resand any bad spots, because the oil finish will make defects appear even worse than they really are. As I noted earlier, don't get in a big hurry to finish the stock!

Applying the Oil Finish

This is actually the easiest part of the whole process, since any mistakes can be easily undone simply by steel-wooling the oil coat off and redoing it again. Use a soft lint-free cloth to apply a light coat of oil to the stock. I like cheesecloth best for this purpose, it's cheap and easy to use. My own
personal preference for the finish oil is Birchwood Casey Truoil, and it's available virtually everywhere gun supplies are sold. There are a number of good oil finishes on the market; I like Truoil because it's easy to apply, does an excellent job of sealing the stock, and lasts for a lifetime with aminimum of care. It also dries fast, typically in 2-3 hours.

Be sure to wait until the stock is completely dry before applying the next coat. After each
coat, run down the stock thoroughly with the steel wool until the surface is smooth and hard. Then wipe the stock to remove any steel wool fuzz, and apply another coat. If you've used the oil stain on your stock, you'll probably need 3 or 4 coats of Truoil to bring out all the beauty of the wood grain.
If you want a deeper, more lustrous shine, apply another coat until you're happy with it. You'll reach a point anyway where more oil won't improve it. After steel-wooling the last coat, rub and polish the stock with paper towels until you have a lustrous finish, and no more traces of oil come off
on the paper towels. Although it's not really necessary, you can apply a coat of good furniture polish such as Old English or Pledge. If you wish, a pistol grip cap can easily be made from a piece of black plastic, and white line spacers can be cut and formed from a Clorox bleach bottle.
And that's it! If you've followed these directions, your QB stock should now be very attractive, and much more functional. So, shoot and enjoy!
Unc

A couple of days ago Marty and I had a little dispute about what sandpaper grit to use when finish sanding a gunstock. Everyone more or less does their own thing in woodworking, but in the interest of accuracy I went back and double checked the paper I'd used to sand my QB stock. As I remember, I told him it was 240 grit, but it turns out it was actually 220 grit. What IS important is the type of paper it was! I used 220 grit 3M aluminum oxide open coat resin paper. Why is this important? Well, there are many different types of sandpaper that may use the same grit size, but different types can produce vastly different results. I dug out some different types of sandpaper and compared them to the 3M resin paper I used on my stock: the 220 grit resin paper was actually a lot smoother than either 240 grit silicon carbide paper or 220 grit paper of other types. So if you use a 220 grit sandpaper other than the 3M open coat resin paper I used, you may indeed scratch the stock, and then have to use a smoother paper to finish sand it. So Marty, I apologize, I guess we were both right on this. Hope this clears it up for those of you who are refinishing your own stocks; I should have checked it out sooner. Regards,
Unc