A good friend of mine recently sold me a 1960's Glenfield Mod. 20 bolt-action .22 S/L/LR rifle for $40. Glenfield was a division of the Marlin company during this time. It's a pretty cool gun as it shoots .22 short, .22 long and .22LR out of a 10 round magazine. A little Google'ing revealed that these guns can be very accurate at distances of 150 yards or better. The finish was pretty rough with scratches, dings and finish worn off to bare wood in some areas. Some of the original ornate design was also worn away from years of use. The barrel was in great shape with no signs of rust or neglect, the bore was very clean and the trigger mechanism worked smoothly. A rifle that's fun to shoot and uses cheap ammo for $40? How can you you go wrong?! I plan on making the rifle a gift for my girlfriend. :mrgreen:

 

Now I'm in the process of breathing some new life into the rifle. I brought her to work today and, in my spare time, sanded all of the old finish off and smoothed out as many nicks and dings and dings as I could. I'm not sure what kind of wood this is, but it clean up very nicely and has a pretty grain to it.

 

The next step is to choose a color to stain it and choose a clear coat to protect it from here on out. I was thinking of using a red tinted stain that would lightly color the wood while letting the grain show through nicely. Any recommendations for stain and top coat?

 

I already ordered a Barska 3-9x40 scope and some 3/8" dovetail scope rings for it. The grand total for this classic rifle and parts will be $100. 8-)

 

Here are some pictures of it stripped and smoothed down. I'm not really too worried about the area where the barrel lays as it'll be covered and out of sight:

 

I have used tung oil. Stains top coated with polyurathane, plain polyurathane. The Birchwood Casey refinish kit works well too.

 

If you want to get an idea of how the grain will look. After I sand my stocks, I wipe them off with mineral spirits and it darkens up the wood until it dries, then it goes away.

 

Could it be maple or ash?

I have used tung oil. Stains top coated with polyurathane, plain polyurathane. The Birchwood Casey refinish kit works well too.

 

If you want to get an idea of how the grain will look. After I sand my stocks, I wipe them off with mineral spirits and it darkens up the wood until it dries, then it goes away.

 

Could it be maple or ash?

 

Good stuff! Thanks for the tips. I'll head to Home Depot and Lowes tomorrow and try to pick out something sweet for it.

 

I'm not sure what the wood is. I don't think it's hard enough to be maple, so I guess it's ash.

Went to Lowes yesterday and picked up some Minwax "red oak", some foam brushes, Minwax Polyurethane and 400 grit sandpaper for wet sanding between polyurethane coats.

 

Today I prep'ed the stock's surface by wiping it with acetone to clean any type of oil, dirt or residue off. I then applied the Minwax red oak stain using a small foam brush. I applied in small amounts and made sure the coverage was equal. After it was equally covered using the brush I took a clean shop towel and rubbed the stain into the wood all over the stock. Naturally, on a rifle this old, the area on the stock which were handled the most are a little more worn making the wood denser and appear darker than the rest of the stock. The current appearance is still light years ahead of what the rifle looked like when I took ownership. The grain is showing nicely with just 1 coat of stain, so I don't think I'll be adding a second coat. It's time to let this stain dry until tomorrow and start applying coats of polyurethane.

 

Here's a picture of the stock with just the 1 coat of Minwax "red oak" stain:

 

Starting to looking really nice.

Looking very nice.

looking very nice.

Is there an echo in hear?

I didnt even see you post the exact thought verbatim.

I didnt even see you post the exact thought verbatim.

 

you too love birds owe me a coke..

Do you work in a machine shop? if so what type?

 

 

 

Went to Lowes yesterday and picked up some Minwax "red oak", some foam brushes, Minwax Polyurethane and 400 grit sandpaper for wet sanding between polyurethane coats.

 

Today I prep'ed the stock's surface by wiping it with acetone to clean any type of oil, dirt or residue off. I then applied the Minwax red oak stain using a small foam brush. I applied in small amounts and made sure the coverage was equal. After it was equally covered using the brush I took a clean shop towel and rubbed the stain into the wood all over the stock. Naturally, on a rifle this old, the area on the stock which were handled the most are a little more worn making the wood denser and appear darker than the rest of the stock. The current appearance is still light years ahead of what the rifle looked like when I took ownership. The grain is showing nicely with just 1 coat of stain, so I don't think I'll be adding a second coat. It's time to let this stain dry until tomorrow and start applying coats of polyurethane.

 

Here's a picture of the stock with just the 1 coat of Minwax "red oak" stain:

 

I received my scope rings in the mail today and was bummed out with their fit on the barrel. The original dovetail was very poorly milled on the barrel and was too shallow/too uneven to accommodate the new scope rings.

 

My girlfriend's away this weekend so I went back to my shop this evening and luckily I had a dovetail cutter that was perfect for the task. After a little mickey mouse'ing the barrel in a vise until it was fairly level (within .003") I started cutting the fresh dovetails. After I finished and deburred them nicely I slightly modified the scope ring mounting points and gave it a go. Perfect fit and alignment. Now I just have to wait for my el-cheapo Barska 3-9x40 scope to show up so I can start mounting it all up.

 

I have about 7 coats of polyurethane on the stock now. On Monday, I'll give the stock a final wet sand to even it out and apply the final coat of polyurethane and call it a project. Expect pictures of a finished rifle by Tuesday evening.

 

Here are pictures of the work I did tonight:

 

Dovetail:

 

With scope rings mounted:

I am jealous, I want my own machine shop

 

Nice work, I can't wait to see it finished.

Last night I decided to head to my shop to fix a few things I didn't like about the dovetail and scope rings. After 2 hours of Mickey Mouse'ing it on a milling machine I finally got it all right.

 

The Barska 3-9x40 scope came in today and it mounted up perfectly. This scope is a serious deal for $30 shipped. I'll be sighting the rifle in this weekend at Davis in Goshen, NY. I'm very excited and happy with this rifle. I'm looking forward to picking some more neglected firearms and freshening them up for a second chance.

 

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

 

 

 

 

she looks gorgeous

Nicely done. Shoot well and often.

 

K

Looks really good.

 

I thought i was handy since i replaced all the moulding in my house and installed our laminate flooring. You took it to the next level, rifle looks sharp.

nice looking rifle Richie.

Very nice,

 

I love putting life back into old guns.

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen.

 

Hopefully she shoots as sweet as she looks. I'll know Sunday. 8-)

Looks really great!