Refinished Taipan Mutant Standard (pics)
Well as some of you may remember I hated the stock finish on the Mutant when I did my review of the gun. Jamie had one gun left from his original order that had had a couple dings on the stock so he gave me a deal on the mid-sized snake. Ukrainian paint is really tough to remove. I think the Mutant looks a lot better in her new dress
in case you for got or care here’s my original review:
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=32429&p=330251&hilit=taipan+review#p330251
before
after
All Replies
Too late. Looks like it’s sold. Don’t feel bad, it’s not like you sold a Lelya and had to wait until the next century for them to become available. Taipans sounds like they’re invading our shores. Everyone and their grandma sells them.
Oak I did. I have a cornucopia of bullpups. I can’t keep track of all the holdovers. I am losing my mind. I am kinda hoping it doesn’t sell, I know I am going to regret it. :rofl:
By the way it looks like Keyser just put this gun up for sale on the Yellow.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79574/message/1440388127/Taipan+Standard+for+sale
Thanks, Keyser. You turned a turd into a stock you can be proud of. When I used to strip stocks I was using Strip-eze which ate up the rubber gloves I wore for protection much faster than it removed old stock finish. Your stock stripper looks to be the same type of stripper I had been using. One of my favorite discoveries is using Citri-strip which is readily available at most hardware stores. It is orange colored and not as caustic as most strippers so it won’t burn your hands as quickly. The best part is it does a fantastic job
removing tough finishes off of stocks. I refinished two P-12 beech stocks. The first time it took 3 coats of Strip-eze plus hours of sanding to get the residue completely off. After sanding the stock was noticeably smaller. I had to grind the butt pad to make it fit the reduced stock dimensions from sanding. Citri-strip took 99% of the finish off of the second stock in one application. The second touch up application removed the residue so completely that I only had to use 800 grit sandpaper to get the stock ready for staining. It also saved me lots of time plus the stock was not reduced in size.
I’m not familiar with white ash but I assume it’s a dense wood. Your stock looks like oak from the photos and from the grain pattern in the wood. I want a Mutant Standard as my next bullpup. Thanks for sharing your project. Your gun now looks as good as it shoots.
Congrats on the Shorty :party: , how is the Bugbuster working on there? is the eye relief comfortable? I was thinking of using one on mine.
Elmer I picked her up today. I need some time with her before I can give an honest review. My first impression is awesome. Very quiet.
KS – did you get your shorty yet? How does it compare to your standard sound wise?
Double post :dito:
Work paid off. Those crazy ass Ukrainian’s used nuclear waste mixed with oil, some crazy kind of varnish and black wood ash. Now you know what it’s like to own Ukranian. Could have been worse could have come from Tartarstan………
Thanks guys. It was a lot of work but fun none the less. How is did it was first apply stripper. I needed 3 days to strip the paint. Then sanded with 80, 120, 220, 300, 400, 800 grit sandpaper. I thought about reshaping the stock but I will tell you the stock is very functional. Once the sanding is done I applied a black gel stain to the stock. It’s made of northern white ash. Immediately remove the gel stain with denatured alcohol. This will fill the grain with black color helping make the grain pop. Then sand again with 800 grit sandpaper. Now apply a stain. I chose minwax gunstock red. I cut the stain with thinner and applied it twice to get the color I wanted. After the stain set I took 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper and added a few drops of Tru-Oil. The oil when used with fine sandpaper will create a slurry of oil and sawdust that will fill the grain. Once dry apply Tru-Oil until you get the finish you want. Apply the oil 1-2X a day and rub the stock with 0000 steel wool in between oil treatment. I used 10 coats of Tru-Oil.
This is the stripper that worked best
Simple Tru-Oil
Keyser, what a difference. I bet the picture does not do it justice I know it’s even nicer when it’s in your hands! All that scrapping and cleaning paid off! Grain looks sweet.
Boy that thing looks nice……..
Great job Keyser!
That came out really looking good! 😯
Nice work Soze.
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Taipans are way better in my opinion than Crickets. They are both accurate but the Taipan is a simple joy to own. I would have never sold the Mutant Standard if I hadn’t just got a shorty. I will compare the two for you guy soon. I have a write up I am working on. I am keeping the short and selling the standard but that is only because the short fills a need for me, not because it’s better, just different.