I have a later Parker Hale P1858 that I am considering refinishing. Really nice gun overall with the exception of the stock. The finish is way overdone with whatever polyurethane they use at the factory. Not only does it look way too plasticky and inauthentic, its slippery in the hands once they start to get greasy. I'm sure someone has redone one of these before, any tips on stripping these down?
I haven't stripped a Parker Hale specifically, but have reworked some Italian stocks with thick lacquer coating and spaghetti sauce stain. The best stripper I've found is called Citri-strip. You can find it in an aerosol or a paste, both work fine. The spray is easier to apply maybe, but the paste works faster if that matters.
After you get it stripped you have many finish choices. I usually go for an oil finish, which I would recommend if you dislike the shiny lacquer look. Tru-oil, boiled linseed oil, and danish oil all would work well. Depending on the type you buy you may want to tint/darken them with a modern minwax oil based stain. Set aside a few months time to rub it in at different intervals, then reapply once a year if you want to keep it looking really nice.
I think the old timer rule of thumb for boiled linseed oil finish was: Once a day for a week. Once a week for a month. Once a month for a year. Once a year thereafter.
I used Citri-Strip to take most of the finish off/out of a Euroarms P53. I then used rags and acetone to pull the remaining stuff out of the wood. I was astonished how clean I was able to get the wood.
Steve
Commander
4th Louisiana Delta Rifles
NRA Certified Muzzleloading Instructor
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