I don't know if I am getting smart, or just lazy.

[Char-Gar]

I just put the last coat of wax or my new Krag sporter stock. I decided to go with a military style bloiled linseed oil finish (2 scrub coats and 8 hand rubbed coats). The wood is a very plain grade of "musket cut" American walnut. All of the other stocks I have made have a high grade, dead smooth, gloss finish on figured wood. They are very pretty, but I don't even like to take them out to the range for fear I might get the finish dinged. That is nuts, they were made to shoot and shoot often.After a few months of reflection, I may decide the strip the finish or one or two of the others and go back with a good BLO finish. That is a decision I want to be slow in the making.

[375RUGER]

I've got some nice furniture on some of mine. I've done the finish my self on some of them. They sure look nice, but I never get bent if I put a scratch or ding in one. They're still beautiful if they have a scar.
I don't abuse them or deliberately cause defects, but I like to use them. From time to time they will get a scratch. The guns are the most important part of a hunt. I don't have any that are just range guns.

[geargnasher]

Another thread rendered worthless for want of a photograph... HINT HINT! :kidding:

Let's see this nice rifle, Char-Gar!

Gear

[41mag]

Let's see this nice rifle, Char-Gar!

Yea you might inspire me to rip the gloss off one or two of mine.

Not sure I would go the BLO route, but hey I am open minded.

[Wayne Smith]

I've done several stocks with Tung oil. I get the raw tung oil and mix it with driers myself to get the consistency I want. Start sanding it in thin, gradually get thicker as I go. It is an oil that fully polymerizes unlike BLO.

[Char-Gar]

Yea you might inspire me to rip the gloss off one or two of mine.

Not sure I would go the BLO route, but hey I am open minded.

The metal needs to be finished before we do any picture taking.

Nothing special about BLO, just traditional and very easy to do. Better have some patience though, it is very sloooow.

[bearcove]

I want to get a BLR and the first thing I'll do is take off the furniture strip it and oil it.

Had a few Brownings that I hardly used because of worry about scratching the GLOSS.

Never again.

[Catshooter]

Lazy & smart sometimes go hand in hand. :)


Cat

[whisler]

Tung oil is great stuff. Just finished a .54 cal.muzzle loading rifle with 8 coats of Tung Oil Varnish. Brass furniture and blued barrel and lock and it looks real nice to me. It even shoots well! I love it when a plan comes together.

[Bullet Caster]

Well, I once had an old WWII Marine vet tell me to use notin' but True Oil on the stock of my M1 that I used to have. Worked great. And then it sank. Into the ocean. BC

[runfiverun]

sp tp quit worrying about a scratch you are going to use paper that scratches it?
i'd just use it and touch up all the scuffs when i'm done using it permanently or let the next guy worry about it.
the stuff is there to protect the wood.

[RACWIN375]

how do you do a boiled linseed finish I want to do that on an old blot 22 I have

what do you use and how do use it
I have used Truoil BUT I like that boiled linseed finish too

Rick

[220swiftfn]

That's the great thing about BLO or Tung finishes, if you ding it, just rub some more in, it'll be fine (Better if the stock is "boned" first, tho....)


Dan

[quack1]

I have always figured that since I made/finished the stocks in the first place, if it gets dinged up from use I can always finish it again. Guns were meant to be shot/hunted with. I hunt with all of mine, and while I am careful and don't abuse any of them, they do get used a lot.
Think of it this way, while you are waiting for a deer, elk etc., you'll have all that fancy grain to admire.

[Char-Gar]

how do you do a boiled linseed finish I want to do that on an old blot 22 I have

what do you use and how do use it
I have used Truoil BUT I like that boiled linseed finish too

Rick

I have used Tru-Oil for 50 years and it is a very good finish, but doesn't not do what I like for a military finish. Here is what I do.

1. Use Boiled Linseed Oil and not raw linseed oil. Raw oil take much longer to dry and BLO is slow enough as is.
2. Take a pad of 0000 steel wool, dip it in BLO and scrub on a coat of oil, keep the pad wet as you go.
3. Let the stock sit for about 30 minutes and than wipe it down. I use paper shop towels, blue or brown makes no diference.
4. Let the stock sit until dry, takes 1 - 3 days depending on climate and repeat 2 and 3.
5. When dry after 2nd scrub coat, rub BLO into the stock with your hand, making one drop go as far as you can and creating some friction as you do.
6. After 30 minutes, wipe as above, and let dry as above.
7. Repeat the hand rubed coats until you are happy. Anywhere from 5 to 20 coats makes most folks happy.
8. Now, let the stock cure. It takes a week in my shop, more won't hurt.
9. Apply two coats of paste wax as the BLO isn't as water resistance as some folks think. For a higher gloss finish, I use Johnson's Paste Wax. For a duller finish I use Tom's 1/3 military wax.

That is all their is to it. It is the essence of easy. If you want a dead smooth high gloss finish, continue to use Tru-Oil or some other product.

BLO was used on US Military rifles until WWII or just after when they switched to Tung Oil, because TO dryed faster.

BLO on rags or paper towels can combust as the oil dryes if the towels are folded or crumpled and can cause a fire. I keep a plastic bucket half full of water beside the bench and drop the used towels in there. I then put them in a zip-lock bad and throw them in the trash, the morning of collection. I have no heard of any fires in our land fill.

You can upgrade a BLO finish any time. Strip the wax by wiping the stock with denatured alchohol or mineral spirits, let dry and have at it again with the BLO.

BlO is not what you need for a high grade sporter, but is very good and easy for a military rifle or utility sporter.

[41 mag fan]

Send one to me, I'll shoot it, put a slight hand wear on the stock, then I'll send it back so you have a reason to strip it down and refinish :kidding:

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Just go use your rifles.
I have a $4800 custom 98 Mauser that looks like it was drug behind a 4 wheeler.
It was made t be used -and is!

[edler7]

After stripping the old finshish off my M1, I re-oiled it with BLO and gave it the Gunny Paste treatment.

Gunny Paste= equal parts melted Beeswax, Turpentine and BLO. It comes out about the consistency of shoe polish. Rubbed it in with a piece of old T shirt, using the heat from my hand and the rubbing friction to soften the paste and get it down into the wood pores.

I followed the "traditional" schedule...once a day for a week, once a week for a month, and once a month for a year. Now I give it a yearly coat, mostly because it's just nice to get the old girl out and rub on her for a while. The paste has a wonderful smell...and that stock looks sooooooo good when I get done. I'm not the least bit worried about moisture damage to the wood. If it gets another ding or scratch, a little Gunny Paste makes it just like the others...just part of the old girl's charm.

[Char-Gar]

Just go use your rifles.
I have a $4800 custom 98 Mauser that looks like it was drug behind a 4 wheeler.
It was made t be used -and is!

I have been in many hunting camps with folks that had no respect for their rifles and turned them into junk. You can use a rifle and still not turn it into something that looks like it was dragged behind a 4 wheeler.

[Char-Gar]

After stripping the old finshish off my M1, I re-oiled it with BLO and gave it the Gunny Paste treatment.

Gunny Paste= equal parts melted Beeswax, Turpentine and BLO. It comes out about the consistency of shoe polish. Rubbed it in with a piece of old T shirt, using the heat from my hand and the rubbing friction to soften the paste and get it down into the wood pores.

I followed the "traditional" schedule...once a day for a week, once a week for a month, and once a month for a year. Now I give it a yearly coat, mostly because it's just nice to get the old girl out and rub on her for a while. The paste has a wonderful smell...and that stock looks sooooooo good when I get done. I'm not the least bit worried about moisture damage to the wood. If it gets another ding or scratch, a little Gunny Paste makes it just like the others...just part of the old girl's charm.

Tom's 1/3 Military Wax is "Gunny Paste" but available already made, without the mess of doing it yourself. Where I live
BLO won't dry enough for another coat in one day where I live. Putting new oil on top of sticky undried oil is not a good idea.

[edler7]

Where I live BLO won't dry enough for another coat in one day

I bet it won't. It's so dry around here, NOTHING stays wet 24 hours.

I didn't find Gunny Paste any more of a mess to make than Recluse's 45/4510. Both are pretty easy to do.

[Blammer]

every stock I have on any gun I have will get used in the hunting field or shot a lot at the range, or both.

several of my firearms have scraps that I got during certain hunts, they tell stories. If they get too bad they may get fixed. :)