Yeah... looks like you may have that "hard to refinish" wood. I think there may be a product out 2 that make it take stain and oil better but I am not familiar with it. Someone may jump in with it. On that tube.. Maybe pull the guts out and find a socket that fits in snug. Put a wire hanger thru it so you can pull it out then heat the tube up and lightly tap it back to shape. Might not need to be perfect but better than it is without leaving a void from grinding. These 1400s hit hard and are quite accurate. I love my "Dans" but I also like the compactness and convenience of using .22 cal pellets with the 140/1400 platform... even with the progressively hard trigger pull. Oh, and they are adjustable.BTW... first coat of Tung Oil on..
I'll be following the results here, I need to get motivated to finish restoring my 1400 !, planning to re-stain the and re-blue the metal that doesn't look good, I think my 1400 may have the "boring" wood, not sure. yes Rick at Precision Pellets is a very nice guy, I ordered the pump link arm and other parts from him for my 1400 instead of trying to fix the old one, coinsidently last night installed the spacer he sent me for my CR-180, it fits like a glove, maybe I'll order one for the 1400 and replace the plastic one. Last night I was also trying to figure out how to fix the damage the old link rivet caused to the air-tube metal, I was thinking of hammering back to shape using the pump arm cylinder as a "mold" on the inside, but I'm worry I may damage it, I think I've seen pictures of others grinding down the damaged part instead. If anyone has any better ideas?