Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles reviving an oil rubbed stock

If it were my rifle I would wipe it down with Murphy's soap and immediately dry it off. If the finish was good I would use a quality wax on it like Renaissance, Briwax or any that have Carnuba wax in them.

I would be tempted to at least rub it down with Artist grade Linseed Oil thinned with turpentine before waxing. If you wanted more durability then Linspeed or any of the better spar varnishes could be mixed in at half linseed, 1/4 turps, and 1/4 varnish or less.

Regarding Oil and shellac mixes: James V. Howe has a formula in "Modern Gunsmithing" using shellac and linseed oil. Many of the formulas for Slacum used by Purdey and others have shellac added as a filler. LC Smith and Parker both used an oil shellac mixture for finishing and Parker would mix oil, shellac and varnish for really porous wood.

I didn't think it would work until I tried it and they are not only compatible but produced a nice finish faster and with at least initially more water repellent properties than oil alone. Not as durable as any of the modern finishes but traditional.

Yeah well it's damned hard to f*ckin tell as I've used about every finish there is at one time or another including gloss, semi gloss and satin oil based polyurethanes and I'll be damned if I can tell a difference. One things for sure and that is they are all pretty durable and much more so than'any of the water based or "wipe on" poly's and oil finishes like tru oil or linspeed. The rifle in the OP is a hunting rifle for f*ck sakes and as such should have some damned scratches. I'd rub some minwax spar poly in the scratch, let it sit for a few and wipe off the excess. Let dry, repeat the procedure a couple times and call it good.

I can say that minwax polycrylic is susceptible to most gun solvents. I finished a gun cleaning bench with several coats and had to go over it with oil based as Hoppes, break free, and other oils and solvents would melt it.

Gloss rubbed out is always better than looking through the flatteners in matte. You can also go gloss until the final coat, as it makes the finish less muddy.

Regarding Watco, I was going off of the Jewett finishing book. Supposedly if you leave a drop on a hard surface like the mirror and it dries hard it is varnish. Wrinkly it is oil and varnish blend. If it doesn't dry in a reasonable time it is oil. Watco dries wrinkly.

Well, among most of your other foolish statements you can add being totally clueless about poly finishes. Most of the current water-based polys are as good as they come and quite a bit harder and stronger than the old hydrocarbon solvent polys...

There is no doubt you will be damned, and if there is a wage to pay for not being able to see the very obvious differences between toughness and waterproofness in matte finishes versus gloss your bill will be high.

Look you thievin know it all azzhole, I've got two rifles in my safe right now that are finished with Minwax poly. One in gloss one in satin. I've hunted each of those rifles for 8 years since the refinish and there ain't no difference ANYBODY COULD TELL INCLUDING YOUR SANCTIMONIOUS STUPID AZZ. Also have used water based and there IS A VERY NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE IN DURABILITY YOU AZZHOLE, AS THE WATER BASE IS VERY BRITTLE AND CRACKS/CHIPS EASILY. So go F*ck yourself silly and see if you can find anymore stuff you'd like to steal from your customers and shut the f*ck up.

Umm, I've finished quite a few stocks for myself over the past 40 years and many more for customers. I make a decent living working on guns and it's been my sole source of income for quite a few years now. I don't believe I need your advice on anything.

Were this true it would say a lot about someone as clueless as you have proven to be repeatedly...

Well it is true dickhead, get over it. I know quite a few well known and highly regarded smiths personally. Have worked for several over the years actually. Not one uses your cockamamy tru-oil over epoxy finishing technique. Most use one brand or another of polyurethane, even for their so called "oil" finished stocks.

Wow, you sure do get uptight over all sorts of little stuff...

And the ones that do use epoxy and oil? Considering the numbers out there? Compelling argument again! Your background shortcomings show clearly.

You want to badmouth a method you have no experience with, endorse some that are clearly inferior to similar finishes, badmouth some outstanding products with far better characteristics in the areas you should be looking for, claim you are making a long-term living as a full-time gunsmith, and be taken seriously?

Acting the aggressive ass is obviously a cover for a real shallow intellect and a lack of experience. Phony mean anything to you?

Look, I'm done with you. I don't give a rats azz how you finish your stocks. If you were all you think you are you wouldn't need, nor indeed be able to supplement your income guiding hunters and fishermen. You'd be too damned busy working on guns. Enough said.