Working on a 12-A. Somewhere along the all the wood was heavily varnished...without removing the wood from the metal. Thanks to brush marks, drips and runs It needed doing.
Wood (I've left all honorable dings, scratches and dents), and metal has been done without damaging the patina. Problem is the butt plate. It too was varnished. In 1920 the plate was hard rubber. Which means that ordinary remover won't work; it'll eat the material. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks again.
Those old plastic buttplates don't take well to chemicals and I don't have any idea how you could readily clean it up but if you are interested in an exact duplicate, Vintage Gun Grips in Florida makes a "spot on" match.
If you really want to dress up your gun they offer them in colors as well, I'm not kidding................always wondered what one of their pink ones would look like on a Model 12 or 14 but I am confident you would prefer the black.
Their part number for the Model 12 plastic logo plate is R12, their code for the plate that will fit the Model 14 is R12a but either will have to be fit to the gun but the screw holes align perfectly. My recollections is that they are about $20 delivered.
Thanks for taking time to think about this. I really appreciate it. I tried some denatured alcohol and that didn't work. But...after thinking about still wool, very fine grit sandpaper and stuff like that. Key word: "abrasive." I went into the kitchen, grabbed the Comet and a plastic bristled brush, wet the butt plate, loaded the Comet on and scrubbed away. Two quick and easy passes and the old varnish was gone. A single squirt of ArmorAll and all was right in the world. Thanks again for your attention. Oh, you're right... no Pink butt plates.
