Help staining an M! carbine stock.

[ajagcapt]

I have an old M1 stock somebody painted that I plan on refinishing.

The CMP has some very specific instructions on their website that I have found very helpful:

http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/askarmoreranswerwood_cleaning_article.htm#68

However, in those instructions they recommend a combination of R. Gale Lock Company Dark Walnut Gunstock Stain #69 and Chestnut Ridge Dark Walnut Military Stock Stain "with a hint of red" to achieve the "Springfield Arsenal Red" appearance that I am looking for.

I can't find either of these available in Canada and would appreciate any recommendations on a domestically available stain that can recreate that colour.

I do not want to use the tung oil/linseed oil approach. I would rather use the CMP recommended approach of applying an alcohol based stain.

Thanks.

 

[purple]

Use alcohol based leather dyes as they will penetrate the residual oils in the wood. I use Fiebings brand leather stains in lt brown, med brown and dark brown. Fiebings is available from a lot of leather/saddle/shoe repair shops. They all produce a reddish brown colored result very similar to the Chestnut Ridge product which I also use. Experiment a bit on scrap wood to before applying to your stock. If you want to darken the red/brown a bit you can mix in a black leather stain. Methyl hydrate can be used to dilute the mixture.

 

[sunray]

Hi. Stain and oils are two very different things. The oils must go on after the stain. Any oil on there before the stain will keep it out. Far moreso with tung oil than linseed though.
Otherwise, wood is wood. You use the same products and techniques used on fine furniture. So you'll likely find a recipe for a stain using mahogany stain mixed with walnut. Mahogany is a reddish wood.
Leather dye runs around $9 per 4 ounces in any shoe repair shop.
R. Gale Lock Company Dark Walnut Gunstock Stain is available from Brownell's but you'll have to sell a kidney. 4 ounces runs $20 US. Don't know if they can ship it.
Chestnut Ridge Dark Walnut Military Stock Stain runs $15.95 for 8 oz from Chestnut Ridge themselves. No exports though. Might be worth an e-mail asking if they have a Canadian retailer.

 

[Hal O'Peridol]

Go find a Tandy leather. There is one in Surrey B.C. Buy a bottle of Fiebing's medium brown and a bottle of cordovan or oxblood stains. Mix 2 parts brown to one part cordovan.