Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Finish for a claro walnut gunstock?

I have a claro walnut rifle stock that I need to put a finish on, it is raw wood right now and has been fitted/bedded to the action by a friend of mine. all I have to do is finish it, what is a good type/brand of wood finish to use and what should I avoid?
Wife said she doesn't care what it looks like, but it has really nice grain and I want that to show nicely.

any suggestions?
thanks in advance!

I have two preferences that I have used considerably. The first is the one that Sitka Deer recomends and that is Helsman Spar varnish made by Minwax. This is actually a Urethane product. Do not thin it,but apply as it comes out of the can for the 1st three very thin coats. I don't pay much attention to looks as I am only trying to fill the pores, although I don't put it on heavy enough to cause runs or sags.
I then sand it down to ALMOST bare wood. When I get a little wood color in the white dust from the varnish I stop. I repeat until I have all the pores filled.
I then cut the varnish with about 20% tung oil (not tung oil finish, pure tung oil). I apply and then wipe dry.Preferably applied and the wiped off until dry, waiting about 3 minutes (depending on ambient temperature and humidity.)
This takes 20-30 coats as it is a very thin layer. I lightly sand with fine paper after each just enough to break the finish. When I after about ten coasts you start to get a good looking finish and you keep it up until you are satisfied with it. Then set it aside for a week or so and then buff it out with pumice mixed with mineral oil. I suppose very fine auto body rubbing compound would work also.

Wiping dry after each coat will give you a hand rubbed oil finish ,but more durable. The buffing out will cut the gloss.

Another product is Arm-R Seal by a General. It is a polyurethane varnish with tung oil. I use the same method with it. I do not use the semi gloss or matte.

The biggest problem is guys want to get it done fast and this is one method that takes time.

Here is an old Ithaca double I made the stock for before I buffed it down.

Is it possible to use Permalyn or Custom Oil over a current Tru-Oil coat? I understand one would first need to sand but is it necessary to sand down past the Tru-Oil penetration?

A few things to realize... Claro is almost always very large-pored. It will take some doing to fill those pores. Please, do NOT wet sand the wood to get sanding slurry to fill the pores! The slurry will dull any finish it is used with.

The old-time stockmakers wet-sanded but they were seldom using open-pored wood and very little slurry got into the pores. It was also a time when oil was not wasted. They hand rubbed it in because it was starting to cure and needed the heat from their hands to penetrate.



Also, NEVER use any Satin or Matte finish on stocks. The matting agents used are mostly silica and do nothing positive for the finish. They do lots of negatives though. Polish the surface after you are done to produce the finish you want. Buffing out with rottenstone in mineral oil on a felt rag works quickly and does a better job. Let the stock sit for at least a month before buffing it out.
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I haven't tried that, so I'm not certain whether the latter is chemically compatible over the former. I personally would sand down to the wood just to be safe. The folks at Brownells may be able to provide an answer to this question.

http://item.brownells.com/brands/laurel-mountain-forge-products/index.htm

I agree with that, however, I've used the same method whether the wood was Claro, American, English walnut, even laminated wood, with equally good results. I don't use a "matte" finish and in fact the finish I use (Permalyn sealer) is designated neither "matte" or "gloss." The level of sheen you get is dependent on the finishing method used. I don't begin wet sanding until the pores are completely filled, and I don't use the sanding slurry as a filler. Using the Permalyn sealer (or any sealer or oil, for that matter), I keep applying to the wood until the wood will soak up no more. I personally prefer the Permalyn sealer because it's thinner than either Tru Oil or tung oil and therefore wicks deeper into the pores. Once there is a built up sheen on top of the wood, then I start wet-sanding back down to wood level, but not below wood level, alternately wet-sanding a small area (using the finish itself as the wet sanding agent, along with wet/dry sandpaper in auto body finishing grades) and wiping the surface with a paper towel. I allow at least a day of cure time between each wet sanding step. I progress from 320, 400, 600, 800, and 1200 grits after I'm certain the wood is completely filled with finish. I use a gum eraser as a sanding block on curved surfaces, different sizes of rubber hose around wooden dowels for curved surfaces (shadowline cheekpieces, comb flutes) and a hardwood block on flat surfaces and around transitions where I want sharp corners (the top line of forend channels, ejection port chamfers). I don't use steel wool, as I've found it's really hard to ensure all the tiny pieces of steel wool are removed from the surface before reapplying finish, and those tiny pieces can get trapped into the finish. When all wet-sanding is done, I sometimes rub with rottenstone on a linseed oil soaked felt pad to even out the satin sheen. Either way, as a final step, I buff with a cotton t-shirt after the finish is well cured to bring out the final sheen.

Gunstock finishing is one of those things where "there's more than one way to skin a cat," and I've seen different methods and finishes used that produced equally excellent results.

Danish oil!

Having said all that, if you have "lab tests" that clearly show it's a bad plan to use the finish to wet sand with, please post that info, as I'm always anxious to improve and learn new things.

You do understand that the wet sanding is done AFTER the wood is completely filled, and it isn't adding any additional finish buildup onto the surface, right? As you wet sand, you're wiping the surface clean with a paper towel before moving onto another area to wet sand, and you should always be inspecting the surface carefully as you go. It's no different than using linseed oil with rottenstone or pumice on a felt pad to impart a satin sheen on the surface.