stock repair question

[scoobydoo6906]

I picked up a rifle a few days ago that has a metal butt plate on it. so the butt of the rifle must have got wet at some point because the butt plate started to rust. the stock has a large dark spot from the rust leaching into the stock. is there any thing I can do to remove the spot? the stock is an old walnut stock and looks nice short of the spot so I want to try to fix it. any help would be welcome.

 

[brickeyee]

The problem is that the iron reacts with tannins in the wood to create the black stain.

There is no easy way to reverse the reaction, and the chemicals to remove it (wood bleach) also affect the rest of the woods coloration.

It can be bleached out, but then you have to re-color the wood and refinish.

The usual fix is to strip the entire object, bleach it, then refinish including dye or stain to get the color back.

 

[Scorch]

It is virtually impossible to remove the stain once it is in the wood. You will have to totally refinish the stock no matter what you use, and results will be mixed at best. Too bad the wood under the buttplate wasn't totally sealed.