I am restoring an Old Marlin 336 in 35 Rem, it was aquired from a Foreclosure and was in bad shape, Rusted, Buttstock, Breech bolt and ejector missing. I checked the condition of the bore and Low and behold it was spotless. So decided to see if I could find parts for it. E-Bay came through for me on that end of it. My question for you is what is the best way to refinish the forend and used Buttstock? I was going to Tru-Oil it. But am trying to get the color of the walnut to match as close as possible. Any suggestions. You working with wood all the time, I figured would know what to do.

Thanks! Roy :)

Well, do you want to go original? It's more than likely a lacquer finish on the original. But, being that it's no collector gun, why not an oil finish? I did and old garage sale Winchester a couple of years back with 50/50 mixure of boiled linseed oil and Tung oil with a splash of Japan dryer.

I would first of course start by stripping the wood. If you have checkering, maybe a chemical stripper would be best...but it is really messy. After the finish has been stripped off, clean the checkering up if you can with a checkering tool, give one coat of the oil mixture and allow to dry. After the checkered area has dried, tape it off from the rest of the finish. Sand the finis with progressively finer and finer papers ending with around a 2000 grit and then steel wool. Fill the wood with a good filler like "Behlen Brown #744-0026" and sand down again ending with the steel wool or a fine 3M pad (I like 3M pads better actually). Stain with a good Walnut stain like Minwax #224 or whatever stain you preffer. Apply coats of the oil mixuture once a day and in thin coats.....this will take maybe a couple few weeks, but once you get it to your liking, it's a damn nice looking finish. My gun came out fantastic.

But, if you want a Lacquer finish, it's best to use a spray gun (do everything else like I described, but instead of applying oil, spray it). If you don't have a spray gun, you can use a high quality can of clear lacquer spray, such as "Watco Clear Gloss". This will take many coats as well and sanding between coats. You then will want to use a buffing wheel and swirl remover for final finish and end with a fine polish.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Thanks Again ! Roy :)

Regards 525

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