What wood finish was used in 1934 on a 31?

[Bushmaster1313]

What wood finish was put on a 1934 Remington 31?

[Virginian]

99-1/2% chance it was varnish. Just about everything other than multi-coat oil finishes was varnish in the pre-advanced coatings days.

[Mike Strietbeck]

According to the "Model 31 Repeating Shotgun Specifications" document of 01/08/1940, the wood finish for the various grades of Model 31 are as follows:

Grades Offered: ----------Wood Finish
31A - -------------------3 Coats Lacquer
31AC - -------------------3 Coats Lacquer
31AP – Standard Grade-----3 Coats Lacquer
31B – Special Grade-------3 Coats Lacquer
31D – Tournament Grade----3 Coats Varnish
31E – Expert Grade--------3 Coats Varnish
31F – Premier Grade-------3 Coats Varnish
31H – Hunter's Special----3 Coats Lacquer
31P – Police Grade--------1 Coats Lacquer
31R – Riot Grade----------3 Coats Lacquer
31 Skeet------------------3 Coats Lacquer
31D Skeet Tournament------3 Coats Varnish
31E Skeet Expert----------3 Coats Varnish
31F Skeet Premier---------3 Coats Varnish
31 Trap Special Grade-----3 Coats Lacquer
31S-D Trap Tournament-----3 Coats Varnish
31S-E Trap Expert---------3 Coats Varnish
31S-F Trap Premier--------3 Coats Varnish
31TC Trap (or Tournament) Grade---3 Coats Varnish
31T-D Target Tournament---3 Coats Varnish
31T-E Target Expert-------3 Coats Varnish
31T-F Target Premier------3 Coats Varnish

Oil finishing of stock and fore end could be special ordered at extra charge for all grdes excepot "Riot".

Mike Strietbeck
RSA

[Virginian]

Thank you Mike. I have dealt with all kinds of technical stuff for decades, and until you posted that I hadn't realized I was using lacquer and varnish pretty much interchangeably, and incorrectly.

[Bushmaster1313]

Oil finishing of stock and fore end could be special ordered at extra charge for all grdes excepot "Riot".

I am doing some personal "special order" oil finish on my 1934 31R:

Remington 31 from 1934:



The finish on the stock was deteriorated beyond repair:


so I refinished all of the wood myself:

31R – Riot Grade----------3 Coats Lacquer

This explains why the finish on the 31R was able to flake off.
Maybe it got into a few inches of standing water butt down.