I have a feather weight that I would consider a hunting grade rig (85%) but its all origianl. The stock has lost some of the finish in places down to the bare wood. There are about 3-4 small places, largest about the size of a quarter. Should I try to add some finish to these areas? I wouldnt worry about it too much but one of the spots is right at the butt plate and I am worried it might absorb water. Will it effect the value any by adding finish?

Go to your local woodworker store and get a product made by Behlen called Qualarenu. Follow the directions on the bottle, it will dissolve the original finish and allow you to spread it around the areas where the original finish is gone. Woodworkers call this a solvent refinish, another product you may want to consider is Timberluxe finish. Go to Timberluxe's website and view the demonstration of this product being used to cover bare spots on a Winchester M/12 stock. I have used both of these products to successfully repair the finish on Winchester stocks.

There was a guy from WI years ago who sold something called a Red/Brown oil finish. It involved stripping the stock, sanding where needed and a process of multiple coats to fill in the pores and then finish to your desired sheen. It was a good wintertime project. I lost track of the seller and product.

Are you thinking of John Kay's Winchester Restorations stock refinishing kit? He also had a good rust blue formula. You can still buy the stock finish on eBay. Some guy bought the rights from John. It looks like the original Winchester finish only it's better.

Should this be a "sticky"? Mel

Why?

Yes that sounds familiar. Now that I think of it, the new seller is located in Arizona.
I'll do some searching to see if something shows up.

Well "searching" isn't all that difficult sometimes. Here it is:

http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/pid_1782.htm

So will this effect the value negatively? Or do I even need to worry about this on a hunting grade gun?

I'd just wipe the stock down with either John Kay's oil or the pre-64 Winchester formula Old West Snake Oil and be done with it....

Yes any alteration of the original finish will devalue the rifle. But if you bought it as a "shooter grade" version, its not a big deal. That red/brown oil is a long process that is fun to work on over winter. If you want a quick fix, the poster above had an idea. I have used True Oil after stripping and sanding. You can put on as little as three coats - hand rubbed or up to 7. Hung in the furnace room, you can do a coat a day.

I wouldn't touch it

If you are truly planning to hunt with it, and use it hard as a real rifle, then yes you should fix up the stock finish somehow.

Do you want a collector only, or do you want a hunting rifle?

Otherwise, get a different stock altogether and hunt it with that.

What Pocono said. Old West snake oil will cover & protect the wood. Won't hurt the value on a 85% gun, might help it.

Thanks for all the input guys

Old West Snake Oil. I read about it on their site but it really doesn't say if it "dries" or "hardens" or remains sort of "waxy"?
Does anyone know what its like when it "dries". Does it resemble Sheath or Ballistol?
Thanks

John Kay did sell the rights to a guy in Arizona. After several years, that guy sold the rights to a guy in Texas who now sells it himself and to other retailers. I'm sure Homestead buys it him.

I've only seen Old West Snake oil used as a protective oil and not a stock finish. Unless they have another product that I haven't seen.