I bought a Ruger M77 last night Blued Steel/Walnut and was wondering what is the best way to keep the wood clean and protected. The gun is almost LNIB.

A light coat of a quality wood/furniture wax is what I use. Been using Renaissance lately.

http://www.thefurnitureconnoisseur.com/renaissance-wax-polish/

That sounds good and the fact it is a cleaner is a plus.

It's a handle- beat it, gouge it, dent it, scratch it, chip it. Give it some character...... like mine.

I like Bri-Wax slightly better, but either is a far better choice than virtually all other waxes on the market.

Bri-Wax seems a bit harder to me, BTW, which is my reason for liking it better. Renaissance will help you get junk off while waxing, but I think there are better ways for doing that...

Formby's Furniture Refinisher applied lightly and quickly, for example...

I have both Johnson's paste wax and Renaissance wax, for the added cost I can't really see that the Renaissance wax is that much better. Never tried Briwax, it has somewhat of a following amoung woodworkers. For cleaning I have used Murphy's Oil Soap, I used to clean and restore Gerstner Oak machinist chests and MOS did a good job of removing years of machine shop grease and oil.

What's wrong with linseed oil?

Everything!

It is a good finish IF high grade oil is used properly. Just blathering it on a stock after the fact, no matter how carefully you think you cleaned it off, is a huge mistake.

BLO is great on axe handles.

Fixt!

I have a walnut stocked gun, I bought new early 60's, that came with raw wood, no finish, that would argue that.
To each his own.

Please explain how your unfinished rifle stock would argue against BLO is good on axe handles?

If that's what you really meant.

BLO is the bottom grade of linseed oil. It is usually packaged for hardware store sales and shelf life is the big concern. Between the curing catalysts and the delayed curing crap there is no telling what you will get.

Fresh, quality linseed oil, applied properly will deliver a fine finish. It will never be sold as "BLO" or anything hinting at it...

If you have a decent finish from linseed oil it did not come from a BLO can.

Agreed, both above.

Carabuna???? wax is good. Lasted the hell out of a stock I built in about '80.

Carnuba, grasshopper, carnuba!

Carabonga dude that guy sure made a mess of spelling carnuba wax now didn't he. Not my favorite by a long shot, too hard to buff off whether on an auto or a gun stock.

Try again.
carnauba wax

Yup. i learned alla that from a friend of mine.

I'm only referring to axe, maul, hatchet, hammer, etc., handles.

Well, I'll be damned! I had to check, thought you had to be wrong...

Often mistaken, but never wrong.....or sumpin!

Don't put linseed oil on any firearm that has a varnish or hi gloss finish. My brother topcoated a Sako 75 with it and every time he goes hunting in the rain or damp weather it looks really bad some kind of haze. Not sure about the shelf life of the material used. It is a good tough finish and restorative for bare wood though.

Good luck and shoot straight all.

I, at one time, worked with a Artwork Conservator. Bri-wax was high on her list and not just for paintings. All kinds of artwork.

It is good stuff, but they changed the formula many years ago from acetone to some crap that really did not work. It took a while to get the old style back and a reasonable formulation for the new.

Looking at the Bri-Wax. It comes in 10 different colors. Are you guys just using the clear?

Most of what I do is using the clear. I also keep black and deep red around.