Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles School me on stock refinishing

I started using West System 207 epoxy as a base coat on marine brightwork when they first brought it out long ago. Since it has zero UV protective qualities, one is behooved to continue with a build up of a good spar varnish that does. Using it, or more often spar varnish, to fill the pores on walnut gun stocks, by the time I achieved full pore fill-age in preparation for applying an "oil" finish I realized that I might as well just keep going with the varnish and create a decent barrier finish. (Which modified my basic approach to just apply the varnish and rub out between coats until eventually the pores are filled, then do a couple more for good measure.)

9-10 coats of varnish- with or without a base coat of epoxy- sounds like a lot of varnish on a stock, but remember the key words are "rub out between coats" (with 320x on a backer) which means that the final film is actually pretty thin. Final rubbing out (with an extremely fine medium) to kill the shine of the glossy varnish (heed what Art said about the silica in Matte or semi-gloss varnishes) reduces the film thickness even more. For the coup de main I then apply a good paste wax to instill a pleasing luster. Oft times uninitiated folks believe they are looking at a laboriously applied "hand rubbed" (hah! what a joke that is) oil finish.

There are lots of ways to skin the cat, that will result in pleasing finishes but with varying degrees of actual protection. Basically, there are no shortcuts if one's goal is to create a beautiful and weather resistant finish on a gun stock. My theory is one should allow as much time to apply the finish as one spent in actually making the stock- or pretty close to it. As with most things in life you get out what you put into it.

My livelihood, post-yacht carpentry, is centered on creating fine cabinetry and reproductions of archaic scientific apparatus. The finishes I use on that stuff are quite different than the finishes I use on guns that may see a day of hunting in rain/snow- which come to think of it reflect more closely the finishes I used on exterior brightwork on wooden sail boats.

I learned my lesson back in the Dark Ages of my youth when I felt proprietary oil finishes were the cat's meow. Nothing like getting caught out in the rain and watching that pretty oil finish turn splotchy and the pores divest themselves of "filler" to make one re-think his approach to finishing.