Shining up a dull stock

hairygrump

hairygrump

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I have a Stoeger Uplanlander and a newer Chiappa Double Badger. Both of them are cheaper firearms and I bought them knowing I would need to put a bit of additional work into them to get them up to snuff. I've degunked them, sweetened up the triggers and actions a bit, properly fitted the wood to the metal, and the sights are dialed. Final step is brightening up the wood. What do I use to get that nice deep, glossy, polished finish that you find on higher end equipment. I've played around with TruOil and Stock Sheen but that dosen't seem to really do much. Should I be looking at wax finishes, or do the stocks need a complete strip and refinish?
 
Try a few coats of tung oil or Boiled linseed oil, and buffing. Ive seen some come out with a very nice glossy finish, but it may take some effort and experience.
I refinished an SKS stock with high gloss varethane, and it came out pretty good and was easy to do.
 
I'm not sure what TruOil is made of, but it makes sense that Tung oil is in it. I like the hard finish on the SKS, its very durable, and I'm sure it will stand up well over time. You can apply thin coats and sand in between, so you don't get a lot of heavy buildup.
 
Depending on what is already on there you will likely need to strip and maybe sand off the existing crud so you can do an oil finish if that is what you want.

On the other hand if you're after that "dipped in plastic" shiny look then oil is not the way to go.
 
The shiney finishes on high end stuff is polyurethane. That doesn't belong on firearms. It's plastic. Anyway, Tru-oil is a blend of tung oil and other oils, according to Birchwood Casey.
You want pure tung oil(Not tung oil finish. That's something else again.) for a nice sheen. It has gotten kind of pricey at around $18 per litre, but a litre goes a long way. It has to be applied properly by rubbing thin coats in(needs to be warm to the touch via friction), over several days, using a clean lint free cloth(new cloth every day). The more you rub in, the higher the shine. It also has the advantage of being easy to repair scratches. Just put a bit more on.
You absolutely must put any stains on before any tung oil. Tung oil soaks into the wood to about 1/4" and will keep everything else out. It will bring out any grain the wood has as well, but don't expect much of that on your stocks. Low end stuff is usually birch or beech and neither have much grain.
 
Lee Valley sells a product called "Polymerized Tung Oil" that is excellent for such things as gun stocks. It's a honey like consistency because it's 100% tung oil instead of being a thinned down product like so many other makers produce. So the first coat or two is worth thinning to soak in and get a deeper bite on the wood.

With the heat and UV from sunny days the PTO will cure (side note- oils don't "dry" as such. They undergo a polymerization due to chemical change from exposure to oxygen and light) in a day or even less. If oiled indoors in a dull room it can take a full 24 hours or longer for the oil to cure and be ready for the next coating. So be patient depending on the circumstances.

I've noticed that the oil changes the way it smells once it cures. So check for that as a guide for the next coating.

On low end wood I've recently played with mixing a little Minwax stain in with some boiled linseed as a finish for a Rossi lever rifle stock. When sanded the base wood was so light in colour that it could be mistaken for beech or ash or some other cream coloured hardwood. I think the results were excellent. The colour built up a little more with each of the four coatings. This is now my favourite method since I found that the lighter use of the stain coloured the wood nicely but without leaving the grain looking muddy. Here's a picture of the original factory finish that I tried to strip with a paint stripper that is dampened with mineral spirits and the sanded and oiled with stain mixture parts on either side. I think this was after the second coat.

P1020088.jpg


In this case I used boiled linseed because I wanted a more period like low lustre finish. If I'd used the Lee Valley PTO within 4 coats I'd have been up to a nearly gloss shine that was way too much for the look of a cowboy's lever rifle.
 
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