Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ruger walnut stock finish?

Does anyone know what type of finish is on Ruger walnut rifle stocks? Are they stained, or, is it an oil? I have some scratches that expose the white wood underneath and want to rub something into them so they will match the surrounding wood.

They're stained, alright. Most factory stocks are. The walnut they use has lots of sap wood.

I use orange shellac. It's tinted, so it tends to blend reasonably well.

I've never worked with shellac. Is amber the same as orange? I always had the impression that it was gummy to work with. Can I rub it in? I have a small area of scratches from a fall on concrete. So, I don't want to do the whole stock.

Amber is more yellow-ish. Probably not dark enough.

I mix it to the consistency of pancake syrup, then paint the stuff on with a small modelers brush. Since it's thinned with denatured alcohol, it dries fairly quickly. After it dries, go over it (lightly) with some wet-or-dry, then buff with a cloth.
It might take a couple of applications.

You can use it to build up shallow gouges, too. Brownells sells shellac sticks in various shades for deeper gouges.

Thanks for the advice! Fortunately, I don't have gouges. The scratches are just deep enough to take off the finish.

on rugers I have used boiled linseed oil,put thin coats on them.the stock let sit for 24hrs.do that every day for about a week.r you could you use True Oil as well..

I wondered about linseed. Did you use it for a full refinishing? Or, just repairs?

I had a Ruget 77 several years ago that had a poorly repaired chip behind the bolt when I bought it. I sanded down the offending chip and stained it with a Red Oak Minwax finish. Then a few coats of spar varnish over the top were carefully applied and feathered in to the surrounding finish. It was nearly impossible to see. Ward

Rubbing a little Linseed oil on a stock that already has an oil finish is fine. I wouldn't use it to completely refin a stock, though, because the stuff never really dries completely.

Tru-Oil works about as well as anything else I've tried. If you don't want to mess around with the shellac, that would be my next choice.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

I've never noticed linseed oil not to dry completely. I've even clearcoated stocks that I had linseeded (but got bored with) before and never had a problem.

I haven't used any in a long time; but, I seem to recall tung oil not drying as well as linseed.

Had a rough #1 stock that was dinged a bit. Some 4xxx steel wool to take out the dents and then Deft Semi-gloss. Matched the original finish pretty well. Easy touch up and dries in less than a minute. Just two cents worth.

I can see that. Some linseed oil has dryers added.

For minor scratches and water stains I use MARKRON GUN STOCK SCRATCH ERASER.

LINK

any auto clear coat restorer that works chemicaly will do the same thing. most advertise that it does not use any abrasives. Mothers is one and there are about a dozen others.just read the labels, you may already have some in your garage.

The only thing is that the scratches have exposed white wood. So, I would think I would need to use something to restore the color to the wood before using a product to repair the finish.

Boiled linseed oil may not 'chemically' dry for a long time, but as far as you and I and your rifle stock are concerned, it dries to a rock hard resin that bonds with the wood fibres and actually makes it stronger.
The difference when you use BLO as a finish is that you are actually touching the surface of the wood when it is done, rather than a varnish or a shellac or polyurethene, where you are touching the coated finish on the outside.
Tung oil takes forever to dry.