Got this 1956 Stevens 86d and it needed help. A previous owner had removed the original finish and did a poor job of changing the color. It had what I refer to as a 6 foot finish. It looks ok as long as you are 6 ft away. Any closer and it looks like crap.
I stripped, sanded, stained, and painted the black tip back on the forend (I found the outline when I stripped the stock) Applied 5 coats of low gloss Tung oil varnish and finished with a light buffing. Also repainted the trigger guard and fixed the wobbly trigger with a thin shim. I added the sling using the stud hole that was already in the buttstock and filled the hole in the forend (nicely hidden under the paint) and added the magazine mount. Oh, and I got rid of someone's homemade attempt at a white buttplate spacer.
What do you all think. Did I do right by trying to restore it's heratige?
For comparison here is the before pic.
I stripped, sanded, stained, and painted the black tip back on the forend (I found the outline when I stripped the stock) Applied 5 coats of low gloss Tung oil varnish and finished with a light buffing. Also repainted the trigger guard and fixed the wobbly trigger with a thin shim. I added the sling using the stud hole that was already in the buttstock and filled the hole in the forend (nicely hidden under the paint) and added the magazine mount. Oh, and I got rid of someone's homemade attempt at a white buttplate spacer.
What do you all think. Did I do right by trying to restore it's heratige?
For comparison here is the before pic.