doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Beretta Stock Refinish

I'm thinking about trying to remove the "gym-floor" polyurethane finish from an 80s or early 90's vintage Beretta and replace it with an oil finish. Has anyone every tried to remove that crap? If so, what works? How badly am I hurting the value of the gun if the project goes well?

I tried to remove the finish on a 427 with a Formsby product with no success. The finish was dulled but was barely effected. I ended up sanding the finish off. I hope you have better luck. I'm not sure if Beretta had many 1980 thru 1990 shotguns which have been called collectable. What model are you refering to?
Best,
Ron

I didn't have a month to watch it soak, so I used Ditzler Aircraft Stripper, which is an intense, methylene cloride based paint remover. Zip Strip is a more commonly available product that is usually sold in a jellied form. A yucky project, that will involve mutiple brush ons, and gentle scraping with a putty knife, until the plastic is removed from the wood. I took me about one afternoon and evening to get a stock clean, and I did soak it overnight, after the tough stuff was off, in acetone, which took the awful stain that was used off the wood. You will be handsomely rewarded with no loss in value if you get decent results with an oil type finish. Run-of-the-mill Berettas from that era are worth about what they are worth. Shooters, not collectors, per say. Up to about S3 grade, anyway.

The safe yearly exposure for adult, human sized animals to the above paint remover is right around zero-it's a heavy hitter carcinogen, so, protective stuff (gloves, organic vapor respirator, plenty of fresh air and a fan is a great idea) will keep you safe and sound.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
Ted

Thanks Gents, its a 427 with really nice wood but the plastic finish ruins it for me. If I go the methylene chloride rout its sounds like I'd better wait until summer so i can do that outside. I'm going to look for some Zip Strip and a new recoil pad.

Be very sure of what you have. I am not certain of the dating, but at some point Beretta starting using an applied wood grain. It is a film like material that gives the appearance of wood grain. You might want to check with Cole http://www.colegun.com/ They will be able to identify the models and years that Beretta starting doing this.

Pete

I refinished the stock on my BL-3 (1973 gun)last winter with no problems using a standard paint remover/stripper product purchased at the local hardware store. The stock had a thick polyurethane type finish on it. The paint remover product was a citrus (orange) scented product that required reasonable ventilation but nothing really drastic. It took about three coats to get it all off. The first coat took approximately 3/4 of it after a half hour wait. The next coat did almost all of the remainder and the final coat did the small bit that was left. Definitely use rubber/plastic gloves when using the paint remover/stripper. Use a brass "toothbrush" type brush in the checkering. After using the paint remover product I washed it down well and let it dry for a couple of days. Then a light sanding with fine sandpaper was all it took for a good refinish start. Apply the stain of your choice and then the finish of your choice. It took me a month or so of every other evening work of a half hour or so to produce a very nice finish on this stock.