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Derringer

Shovelbuck

Shovelbuck

Active Member
I've had this little .45 laying around for ten or fifteen years doing nothing but collecting dust. When I bought it, the plan was to remove a lot of the excess wood. Well. I finally got around to it today.
This thing had way too much wood and one of my biggest pet peaves about factory muzzleloaders is the great American novel the manufactures deem necessary to stamp into the barrels. With file and rasp in hand I got after it this morning.

Before pics.............................................

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The barrel stamping.......................
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Reshaped stock ready for finish...................

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Work complete and all lettering is now gone, replaced by an antique gray finish.

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I also eliminated the brass screws that held the forward brass plates on. Original muzzleloaders didn't use brass screws.
 
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Looks cool Jay. A refinishing question. It looks like you used a water based stain. How did that work out for you? I tried that before and hated it. At least on a large project.
 
I like it Perry. I've been using it for quite awhile. The largest item I've done though is my .62 fowler stock.
 
Here's what I found when I used it. The wood soaked up the stain good and it covered well. But what happens to wood when it gets wet? The grain swells up. So then to keep a nice smooth finish I had to lightly sand it again. That sanded off the very top edge of the raised grain but it also sanded off some of the stain. So I'd reapply some stain and here we go again, the same thing over like a cat that caught it's own tail. I eventually got what I wanted but it was alot more work than I bargained for. Until some magic stuff comes out that applys itself I guess I'll stick with a good old oil based stain.
 
I agree with what you experienced. For gun stocks using oil stain, I normally would "dewhisker" using water. Now I just let the stain do that part of the job. Plus, I'm going for a worn, well used but maintained look. Some stain loss, especially in high areas or edges is desired.
I imagine for larger projects it would be a pain.
 
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