I have a recently purchased Browning Citori 725 Trap Max. I now have some light scratches on the stock and fore-end I would like to repair. I have some questions:

The specs on the website say my gun comes with a "gloss finish". The manual mentions how to care for an "oil finish" with products like Watco Danish Oil Finish which I have come to find out is a combination of oil and varnish of some type. Is that the same as the "gloss finish" I appear to actually have? I am thinking not, in which case the manual does not say how to care for the finish I have.

I did a lot of research today both in this forum and others and it does not seems like there is a known, official set of materials to fix scratches. Some people say the finish is a two-part urethane and some say epoxy. Can't be both. Does anyone know for sure what the finish actually is? I have worked with clear surfboard epoxy and have polished that stuff up very nicely. But I wouldn't want to put epoxy on Urethane.

Doesn't Browning make some sort of repair kit? I can't find one.

I see a lot of folks remove the Browsing finish and go to something easier to maintain. I want to see if I can find out how to work with the original finish.

So all that said, if I sand out the scratches, what should I use to recolor and refinish the sanded areas?

I have a similar post in the General discussion. Apologies if that's a no-no.

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AFAIK, the glossy Browning finishes are epoxy-based.

I would suggest trying to effect a repair via rubbing down the scratched area with a very fine automotive polishing compound, then waxing/buffing the stock like you would an automobile.

Also AFAIK, the only alternative would be to strip all the wood & refinish - a heavy-duty chore involving removing the factory finish. (BT, DT - NTS)

Those look a little deep but I have had some luck with ScratchX, which is an automotive polish. This would be the same approach as Crisco mentioned.

Jim

Thanks guys. I saw some other references about Scratch X so I think I will give that a try. I think my local Auto Zone has it.

I do have a 2" air drive polisher I bough I while back for my airplane work. I would need to find 2" polish/buffer pads to use it. I will try by hand first.

Still hoping to here back from Browning.

Super glue does a great job of filling deep scratches in gloss finishes. Dries hard and buffs to a high gloss. Keep it in the scratch,no overflow. Buy the kind that gives a little work time and use the point of a pin to apply.

I see the CA (super glue) idea come up in various threads. I have ultra clear surfboard laminating epoxy on hand (Resin Research). I think I would use that before CA since the consensus seems to be the finish is epoxy.

Scratch X didn't help.

Check guitar sites on repairing scratches with super glue

Wet sand with 1500 grit paper, and use an automotive clear coat safe compound on a mechanical polisher. Don't get compound in the checkering.

That would be the process for either urethane, or epoxy.

I am convinced that if someone came up with a fairly easy way to fix those types of scratches on the Browning finishes, there would be a huge demand for it. In my limited experience, removing that type of finish completely prior to a refinish is indeed an unbelievably difficult task!

I have seen repairs done with Solarez UV epoxy nail polish.. Works well
You apply nailpolish with a pin.. then there is a UV Flashlight that instantly cures the epoxy.. Rock hard/waterproof..

So, UV glue/epoxy is used for a lot of applicatios...I tie fishing flys.. a company called Loon sells UV glue, with a UV flashlight,for instant cure..

You could buildin layers,,, then polish down til llevel,then buff ith the afformentioned waxes/ polishes..

I am proceeding as if its epoxy which I have worked with before on surfboards and model planes. Sand out the scratches, "hot coat" with a thin layer of laminating epoxy, sand 400/600/1000/1200 then compound and polish. My only concern is if I get down to the wood and affect the color, I am not sure what to color it with: either type of stain or color match.

I did hear back from Browning. Zero help. "our finishes are proprietary. You can send it in for evaluation"

True-Oil?

would be like putting oil on a car. The 725 gloss finish is not a traditional oiled finish. The wood is overcoated with a Clear Coat layer: either epoxy or Urethane. The consensus seems to be epoxy.

I refinished two Citori stocks this winter and agree removing the factory finish was very messy and difficult. I ended up taking the stocks to a furniture repair business that had a dip tank to strip the finish. Well worth the $60/ea they charged. See my post.

https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewto ... 2&t=528510

I have literally gone out of my mind repairing scratches on Browning Clear Coat finishes. I can say that there is definitely color so don’t hit the wood if you can help it.

I’ll be watching this thread to see if your epoxy mix works.

Doug

I will update as I get a chance to try it.

I think I am making progress. The scratches sanded out with 400 grit sand paper by hand. The dings in the finish did apparently go all the way through the finish so I hit the color layer when sanding. I had some Minwax Special Walnut on hand so I tired that and it is pretty close color wise. The color changes when coated with the clear so its a little hard to tell how it will look. My sense is that the original color is a little redder. Minwax has another color called "Gunstock" which looks a little redder to I may add some of that tomorrow. It may never be perfect but it's getting there.

My main issue now is whether to use clear epoxy (my Resin Research stuff) or just get some Minwax Urethane gloss and polish that up for the clear coat layer. I will probably try the Urethane because at this point, I have "popped the cherry" on this stock so if the Urtehane doesn't work out I will just sand it off again.

I also had some dings on the foreend so I added a photo of of how it was before any work and then after sanding but bot stained. So you can see the bare wood vs the stained wood on the stock.

I’ve the same problem. The color is good and the clear coat changes it. I’m not sure the urethane will stick to it. I’ve had better luck with pre-catalyzed lacquer.

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FWIW, I've long mixed some Min-Wax Black Walnut stain with Min-Wax Red Mahogany stain in a separate mixing dish to get the reddish walnut color I wanted.

The mixture ratio that works best for me is predominately Black Walnut - but anyone should try a few different mixture ratios to achieve what color they want.

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