Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best wood sealer for barrel channels?

What is the best thing to use to seal a barrel channel after sanding the wood?

Something impervious to moisture to protect the wood....

Anything that one would use on the outside of the stock itself would do the job. I’ve used Tru-Oil.

WEST epoxy.

Like Poconojack I've used Tru-Oil more than once. Think I've used Minwax wipe on poly a time or two too. After whatever you use is good and cured, generally after about a months time, a coat of wax unbuffed in the barrel channel and stock inletting adds further protection. Don't use car wax or anything with silicone in the wax. A can of Johnsons paste wax for wood floors in the yellow can works fine, and one can is a lifetime supply.

100%

I use Permalyn from Brownells

You're all wrong.
Sitka Deer will be along directly to set you straight.

Use a finish as close to the rest of the stock as possible. Epoxy in the barrel channel with a plain oil finish is a mistake. When relative humidity changes from conditions when sealed the rest of the fore end will absorb or lose water much faster than the barrel channel.

That can create stress and bending of the fore end.

A simple oil finish in the barrel channel of a polyurethane finished stock can cause the reverse.

Only epoxy and CA make a truly waterproof finish... oil finishes actually move atmospheric water faster than bare wood.

Jealousy is a tough emotion to get past...

I finish stock with BLO for color, truoil for built up layers and a little gloss, then Renaissance wax for added protection. (Entire stock including inletting gets all 3 stages.)

When I use tru-oil or boiled linseed oil I put on as many coats inside the barrel channel as on the outside of the stock. Depending on the wood that may be 50 to 60 coats, rubbed in.

If the rifle is going to be an all weather and I’m using laminate aged wood. I’ll open the channel a bit and fill with epoxy, leaving plenty of room for free floating the barrel.

What do you do if you want to full-length bed a light barrel? Epoxy or CA on the stock before the oil finish?

Tougher than arrogance?

I've used a mixture of 1 part polyurethane to 9 parts mineral spirits to weather proof a stock channel.

If you had the slightest basis to challenge the information it would look a lot better than sniveling "arrogant" just for being correct. Since you have never been able to challenge the information it makes your foot-stomping and tears pathetic.

Extremely good question... several important considerations would include the grain flow through the fore end... If it is perfect you have options ranging from just do it and ignore the wood to full on prevention. And the types of wood make a difference, though most woods considered for stocks are quite stable. Also the age of the blank in terms of how long it has been dry can have a big effect. Many stock makers will not touch wood less than ten years dry. Kiln-dried woods without significant age is another concern.

On a myrtle blank about 20 years dry I was concerned about the grain because it comes up through the fore end a bit aggressively and it is half way between quartersawn and boardsawn... the annual rings are 45 degrees from vertical. So I completely hollowed the fore end through the main stretch from just in front of the recoil lug to about the last six inches of fore end. The shell is about 1/4" thick and it took a lot of time to get it hollowed. I filled it with sections of graphite fishing rod sections bedded in epoxy fluffed with microballoons.

It has not moved even the slightest bit. And the entire stock only weighs 23 ounces even though the myrtle was very dense for myrtle. I also reduced weight by hollowing the butt as much as I have ever dared.

An epoxy or CA finish would probably work as well without near the effort expended on hollowing the fore end.

Please finish one side of a board with your mixture and the other side with the polyurethane alone. After an equal number of coats cut the test board in half and compare the penetration between the two sides. Thinning finish makes it easy to apply. It does not make it penetrate deeper. Especially at 9:1 it is less waterproof than plain.

Guys, guys, guys!

Minwax Helmsman exterior poly.
If it is good enough for a ship wheel, it will protect a barrel channel.

I don't care if it is the same finish as the outside. I don't soak the outside of the stock. But water under the barrel sure will soak the open grain of the inletting

Your point is not sound logically, though...

You are suggesting it is one or the other, only. It isn't.