Ultra XT Stock Finish damaged from fall - where/how to refinish?

My beautiful Ultra XT bounced out of the gun carrier at a sporting clays course and landed in the gravel. I was heartbroken. Now it has a number of chips and scratches in the clear coat finish but no apparent cracks or deep scratches into the actual walnut or on the rest of the gun. I would love to bring it back to "like new" without having to replace it. Most of the damage is limited to the butt stock. I don't know if this is true or not but someone told me that on some of the Browning shotguns the fancy wood grain patterns are imitated and printed or painted on. I was warned that if it were to be sanded on the actual (more plain) wood underneath would be revealed and end up looking like hell. As I said, I'm not sure this is true or not. I'll call Browning for help but if anyone has any experience with this I would love to hear from them. I live in the Las Vegas area and would love to just have it refinished and even do it myself with a bit of instruction if this is an option.

Thanks

Welcome to the Browning Owners Forum !!

Sorry to hear about the accident...and I would like to help but I never heard that "imitated grain" story before now.

Let us know what Browning Customer Service has to say...

I'm very pleased to hear from Browning that what my gunsmith told me is false. The stock you have is all real. Mine is especially pretty (or was). After talking to them about refinishing my stock I'm inclined to try to fix it locally. Apparently their customer service department is backed up for months so what I understand is that I would need to send them the whole firearm and wait for some time to get an estimate and then if I agree to the quoted price I should expect to wait some months for them to complete the refinishing. Without any idea of the cost and no clear time frame on how long it will take it's difficult for me to proceed. I'm less than pleased with Browning's customer service. I expect better from them.

All the major firearms manufacturers have a month(s) long lead-time on repairs and warranty work as you described above...but I'm glad that the stock is not the "imitation grain cheap wood" your gunsmith alluded to.

Let us know how you make out with the repair...

I have a Grade VI Citori that the stock broke on one of the highly figured lines right at the end where the cheek meets the grip. I sent it Browning and after it was there for 2 months, they said 5 more months to get it fixed. I made them send it back and I fixed it myself. They said the same thing about being backed up with too much work. I told them to hire more people. Take your time and try it yourself.