bwinters,
As I re-read your initial post, I noticed that you used three coats of Linspeed. That is very little, and I assume you weren't trying to fill and level the pores. Like Steelhead said, to do that requires upward of twenty coats, filling and sanding repeatedly until the pores are filled and the finish is level. If you don't care about having all the pores filled and you just want a tough utilitarian finish, here's what I would do. I did it once on a grungy SKS stock and it worked great. Remove the old finish and sand your stock. Get some Brownell's AcraGlas and mix up enough for one coat, maybe a couple of teaspoons worth. Be sure to follow the intructions about mixing to a "T", as the stuff is really intolerant if you don't get it just right. Rub it throughly into the stock with your hand. Then take a hair dryer and go over the stock. it The heat will cause the syrupy AccraGlas to get watery, and the heat will help the stock to absorb it. Rub it some more, then wipe the excess off with paper towels, then let it harden. Do this as many coats as you want. Plan carefully and lay out all your supplies, then work fairly quickly as the AcraGlas will begin to harden in about 5-10 minutes and will be hard to wipe off. You may want to wear rubber gloves. I don't use a glove on my wiping hand, but some folks are allergic to epoxies. Have a bottle of rubbing alcohol and plenty of paper towels to remove the AcraGlas from your hands, tools, etc. Another thing about Acraglas, you can sometimes get away with saving the left over mix in your freezer for about 24 hours, but it still stiffens up, so for stock finishing I'd recommend a fresh batch for each coat. BTW, I was hunting bear in the rain when the LinSpeed washed off my rifle. Colorado, about 25 years ago,
Good luck!
Paul
