How to finish walnut stock? Oil? Wax?

[Captain Tuttle]

I'd like to finish the walnut stock and fore-end of a Remington 870. Right now it is plain (unfinished) wood.

My goal is to protect the wood from rain and from cracking due to drying out.

It will not be a show piece. I need a simple, easy to apply and common sense finish for a working firearm. Function over form is the watch word here.

Thanks!

[Chazman321]

I used a poly stain. Sand the wood with steel wool in increments from 0 to 0000. Wet sand between coats with 0000 steel wool. Finish off with wet sanding, let dry. The poly will protect it and seal it, and the stain comes in like 5,000 different colors... lol


-Chaz

[SteveWag]

Two coats of boiled linseed oil applied by the bare hands. Make sure it's BOILED! Thats what was done to over 15 million rifles in the US military.
Steve

[knight0334]

Tung oil or linseed oil. It really depends though on how the buttstock was finished if you want to match it.

Dont forget to sand it in varying steps with differing coarseness levels of sandpaper and to de-whisker it. Use steel wool for final "sanding", and to remove excess tung oil in between coats.

[diesel]

I used Tru-Oil on many stocks, unfinished and finished, I ihink they all turned out real nice, "works for me"

[PennsyPlinker]

Boiled linseed oil is oil that has had metallic driers added to it in order to get the oil to dry. Raw linseed oil does not dry, or dries so slowly that it doesn't really matter. Boiled linseed oil is called so because it used to be boiled in order to get the driers into solution. You can buy it at the store now as boiled, and you do not need to boil it yourself. That is messy and does nothing for you.

If it were me, I would use boiled linseed oil and a rag. Make sure you dispose of the rags in such a way that they cannot start burning. This stuff can start its own fire, as it generates heat while drying. The same goes for tung oil. So if you use it, make a place to spread the rags out so they can dry without getting hot. I have some friends who burned their house down because they did not heed this warning.

If you want a very smooth finish where the pores are filled, get yourself some pumice and rub it in with the oil. It is white, but dries clear when used with an oil finish. This will give you a very smooth finish that is easy to repair if it gets scratched. The poly mentioned by Chazman is a harder and more durable finish, but it is much harder to repair and make it look as good.

[Zef_66]

I am finishing an M1 Garand walnut stock with Pure Tung Oil (not Tung Oil Finish that many places sell). I plan on re-finishing some old stocks by wiping them down with mineral spirits to get rid of the old oils and cosomoline and then finishing with Boiled Linseed Oil.

[Captain Tuttle]

Thanks for the tips gents.

I think I will go with boiled linseed oil and a rag. Couple of coats ought to do it.

Just a couple of more question:

I'm assuming I can pick up boiled linseed oil and Lowes or Home Depot right? Or do I need to hit up an old school hardware store?

Will the linseed oil make the stock and fore-end slippery when it gets rained on?

[Penguini66]

Thanks for the tips gents.

I think I will go with boiled linseed oil and a rag. Couple of coats ought to do it.

Good choice. I refinished a Mosin Nagant this summer with boiled linseed oil. Turned out great.

Here's the procedure I found after researching boiled linseed oil application:
When you pick up the boiled linseed oil, pick up some 0000 steel wool. This assumes that you have already sanded with at least a 220 grit or finer paper.

1. Use the steel wool over the entire surface.
2. Apply a small amount of boiled linseed oil to a cotton rag. You do not want a ton of it. Just enough to lightly wet the surface of the wood.
3. Rub the wood with the rag hard and fast enough until you start feeling heat generation. Continue until you have rubbed the oil into all of the wood that you are treating. Make sure not to leave any excess oil on the surface. (When done, drop the rag into a bucket of water. As mentioned above, oil soaked rags can spontaneously combust.)
4. Let sit 24 hours to dry/cure.

5. Repeat steps 1-4 once per day for a week.
6. Repeat steps 1-4 once per week for a month.
6. Repeat steps 1-4 once per month for a year.
7. Repeat steps 1-4 once per year for a lifetime.

Just a couple of more question:

I'm assuming I can pick up boiled linseed oil and Lowes or Home Depot right? Or do I need to hit up an old school hardware store?

Lowes and HD both cary the boiled linseed oil in a container bigger than you will ever use in your lifetime refinishing gun stocks.

Will the linseed oil make the stock and fore-end slippery when it gets rained on?

No, it will dry (or more appropriately I think cure) to a smooth dry silky finish.