By Gnoahhh...
Would that Savage hadn't switched to an oil finish by the 1930's. The worst wood finish possible, IMO. But, they, and everybody else including the national arsenals, went that route so it's what's to be used if re-creating an original finish. They used oil not because it was the best finish but because it was dirt cheap. Be aware of what finish is proper for which model and which era. Varnish was used a lot earlier on. (Note: lacquer or shellac was never used. Shellac is crappy on wood that has even a slight chance of getting rained on.)
Some general thoughts:
As for commercial oil finishes, meh. I mix my own of a roughly 50/50 blend of pure tung oil or boiled linseed oil and a high end spar varnish. I mix up only enough for immediate use. (It doesn't matter if you use tung oil or linseed oil- they're identical in their characteristics, and the gun companies as well as varnish makers use/used it interchangeably in their formulas depending on how good a deal they got on a batch.) The best oils are obtained from art stores, not hardware stores, gun shops, or Brown-give-me-all-your-money-ell's. Be sure the label says "pure" on it, in as many words.
If filling pores (and you should for an elegant finish), use a substance such as varnish or epoxy painted onto the wood and sanded off leaving the pores filled. Repeat as necessary until pores are filled completely. Commercial grain fillers run from crappy to sort of ok, but rarely do any of them stay firmly in place and not shrink over time. The worst approach, in terms of longevity, are those techniques that require wet sanding in with a slurry of finishing oil and sanding dust. A royal waste of time IMO. Sure epoxy filled pores are very labor intensive but it stays in place and doesn't shrink. A job worth doing is worth doing right. The best approach when building a stock from scratch is to use thin-shell (English, French, Turkish, blah blah) walnut to minimize pore size and quantity, than American black walnut. (That last is sort of tongue in cheek.)
Stains: ditch the hardware store quality oil based stains.They are too laden with solids and as such tend to muddy the figure in a piece of walnut, and are susceptible to ultraviolet degradation. Use an alcohol based analine dye instead. Colors will "pop", and you will thank me later.
Learn how to re-cut checkering when refinishing a gunstock. No job looks as unfinished as a stock that was given a dandy finish but the checkering was ignored, no matter how good the original checkering was.
Lastly, and I almost forgot, the most important thing is to take your time. All good things come to those who wait. And don't forget to finish off the whole Magilla with a coat of quality paste wax. (No car wax please, it has silicone in it.) That will actually impart a modicum of water resistance to the finish that an oil finish simply can't provide.
... I use Epifanes glossy varnish- best in the world in my opinion. Captain's isn't bad, nor is Man O' War in truth. The better grade of spar varnish (ie: more expensive- you get what you pay for) the more solids it'll contain which translates into durability. Also, always use glossy varnish- UV protection is better than with matte or semi-gloss. If you wish for a dull finish, final rubbing out will provide that.
Air in the container will start the polymerization of finishing oil (tung) thus denigrating its effectiveness. Go to an art store and buy tiny bottles of fresh pure oil for each project- there's plenty in there to do a stock.
As for sanding, if done properly with a stiff or semi-stiff backer there's nothing wrong with it. Scraping in lieu of sanding is an option but not many people know how to do that anymore.
Definitely do not use steel wool in any step of the process. Teeny particles will break off and embed themselves in the wood. You'll discover them the first time the wood gets damp and little brown rust freckles pop out. Not a guarantee, that, but it happens and I won't take the chance if I don't have to. If the need for wool arises, use bronze wool instead. Regardless though, never ever use hardware store grade steel wool without first de-oiling it with solvent. They lightly oil the stuff so it doesn't rust on the shelf. Better yet, buy cabinet grade steel wool such as Liberon brand.
All this said, for my own projects involving new wood I simply do a complete spar varnish finish- 8-10 coats sanded between coats, rubbed out and waxed it'll look like a London Oil finish and provide a world's better finish than any oil finish ever was. I use oil if refinishing a stock that was originally oiled, or as in the case of a M1903A1 Springfield I re-stocked recently.
