I am a complete novice when it comes to wood, heck, we don't even have trees on the prairies.That said I got the bug to restock a few rifles and bought some walnut. All three rifles were single shots, 2 H&R and a Browning B 78. After sanding and steel wool I loooked for some oil and wanting to avoid the hassle of preparing linseed oil I grabbed a can of Watco Danish Oil finish. It says it is for interior use only but even though my rifles are used in rain etc. they are not stored outside. I found the finish to be very durable and pleasing to the eye. This finish is said to polymerize with the wood and does repel moisture to a satisfactory degree in my climate. The material goes on easy and I wiped any excess off 20 minutes or so after applying. There are several tints available and I choose "fruitwood" as the "walnut" stain is far to dark. Fruitwood gave a slight highlite to the grain and avoided the "muddy" look of darker stains.I gave the stocks up to 15 coats rubbing each down with a coarse wool sock in between. Not a custom finish but superior to factory finishes.
