What finish should I use on my de-sporterized Longbranch with NOS wood?

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sgt.rock

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I got a complete new old stock unfinished stock set a few years ago from our resident Yukon Enfield expert. I assembled the No4 mk1 easily but never finished the stock. It is raw wood.
Anyhow, what were Longbranch stocks treated with from the factory originally? What is a good oil to use? BLO?
I want to keep an original look to it.
Thanks Enfield nutz!!
 
Raw Linseed Oil would be period correct. But, no one will fault you for using BLO.

Many, many thin coats of BLO.

Of course, you may consider dyeing/staining the wood darker depending on what colour you are going for, and then continuing with the BLO treatment.
 
You'd stain or dye the wood first, and then you'd proceed with the oil.

Lee Valley has a line of dyes/stains that seem to be well liked for this sort of application.
 
I generally don't use stains or dyes, other than to even out the colour of a refinished stock. In other applications, I have always used min-wax products, oil based. They usually have samples in the store (Canadian Tire or Home Hardware), pick the colour you want, rub on to a well sanded surface (maybe finish with extra fine steel wool almost polishing the raw wood), let stand a few minutes and rub off (and in), repeat until the desired shade is reached. Denser wood will absorb less. If you find the colour you selected is too light, you can always go to a darker stain, if it is darker than you want, you will have a bugger of a time lightening it up evenly. Boiled oil is fine after the stain is completely dry (12-48 hours), add a few drops of Japan Dryer to a an ounce or so of oil, and mix before application. Discard any treated oil you don't use. Remember, the oil will have a bit of a darkening effect as well.

I use Minwax tongue oil. Same look, but a more durable finish than linseed oil; not as stupid glossy as Tru-Oil. BTW tongue oil is the main ingredient in Marine Spar Varnish so is very durable in all conditions.

Just remember, there is no one right way.:)
 
Meroh said:
I generally don't use stains or dyes, other than to even out the colour of a refinished stock. In other applications, I have always used min-wax products, oil based. They usually have samples in the store (Canadian Tire or Home Hardware), pick the colour you want, rub on to a well sanded surface (maybe finish with extra fine steel wool almost polishing the raw wood), let stand a few minutes and rub off (and in), repeat until the desired shade is reached. Denser wood will absorb less. If you find the colour you selected is too light, you can always go to a darker stain, if it is darker than you want, you will have a bugger of a time lightening it up evenly. Boiled oil is fine after the stain is completely dry (12-48 hours), add a few drops of Japan Dryer to a an ounce or so of oil, and mix before application. Discard any treated oil you don't use. Remember, the oil will have a bit of a darkening effect as well.

I use Minwax tongue oil. Same look, but a more durable finish than linseed oil; not as stupid glossy as Tru-Oil. BTW tongue oil is the main ingredient in Marine Spar Varnish so is very durable in all conditions.

Just remember, there is no one right way.:)
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From years of stock work ,,,,, I totally agree with Meroh ,,,,, "MINWAX" products are the ones to use . Stain , then Tongue Oil .
Both products , as he has said , put on & in 5 min. +/- wipe off . Never a run or uneven result .
 
I believe the finish that you see today on original stocks came about from the factory soak in warm RLO, followed by days or weeks of drying, then periodic hand rubbed repeat coats by the soldier. I have done some of the NOS raw stocks with a couple days soak in a tank with 50% RLO 50% Turpentine. Let hang to dry. After several years, they look pretty decent. The colour today on originals is combination of 70 years of oxidation of the oil, plus some sweat, mud, gun oil, etc. Key issue for me is not to be shiny - no way a soldier would be want a sparkly shiny rifle reflecting any stray light...
 
I've used water-based Saman wood stains for years. (decades?). When I refurb a Lee Enfield, I use stain only to even out the colors, should some parts really clash with one another. Wood has to be clean, clean, clean. Then, I use a few coats of pure BLO. Don't use "danish oil", which some folks at the hardware store will tell you is the same thing. I get my BLO simply at Canadian Tire, no problem finding it there. About $15 for one litre, will last you close to forever. (I finally finished my first bottle about 2 years ago, I think I bought it in 2005 or about. And I probably have refurbed a couple hundred guns).
 
What’s the unfinished wood look like? I find that BLO will bring out the wood grain and darken it slightly. Maybe a stain is not needed?
 
Generally speaking, longbranch did not stain stocks, with the exception of maple stocks, which were oil-stained. The modern equivalent would be something like fiebings oil-based leather dye in chocolate.

Oil with rlo or blo - both were used at different times during no.4 service. Handle it a lot and it will darken on it's own if it's walnut. No stain required.

If it is beech, those stocks were also not stained
Over time the linseed oil oxidizes to a reddish hue.

If you want authentic, follow this above advice. No military ever used linspeed, minwax tung (which is basically just diluted polyeurethane), or anything made by birchwood Casey. If you want that kind of finish, accept that at resale, most people will take a hard pass.
 
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Meroh said:
I generally don't use stains or dyes, other than to even out the colour of a refinished stock. In other applications, I have always used min-wax products, oil based. They usually have samples in the store (Canadian Tire or Home Hardware), pick the colour you want, rub on to a well sanded surface (maybe finish with extra fine steel wool almost polishing the raw wood), let stand a few minutes and rub off (and in), repeat until the desired shade is reached. Denser wood will absorb less. If you find the colour you selected is too light, you can always go to a darker stain, if it is darker than you want, you will have a bugger of a time lightening it up evenly. Boiled oil is fine after the stain is completely dry (12-48 hours), add a few drops of Japan Dryer to a an ounce or so of oil, and mix before application. Discard any treated oil you don't use. Remember, the oil will have a bit of a darkening effect as well.

I use Minwax tongue oil. Same look, but a more durable finish than linseed oil; not as stupid glossy as Tru-Oil. BTW tongue oil is the main ingredient in Marine Spar Varnish so is very durable in all conditions.

Just remember, there is no one right way.:)
Click to expand...

Tung oil.
 
A combination of aniline alcohol based dark walnut stain, oil walnut stain etc. till you're happy with the look.

Don't put BLO or LO on till you have the colour right and matching.

Sadly, the North guy's wood set won't have LB Canadian markings? Pretty hard to do anything about that.

The Goudey alcohol stain changes the colour rapidly and is removable with alcohol.

Best to have both it and some dark walnut stain oil based to hand as well.

As Claven said, the finish developed over many years on originals...just BLOing raw wood will look kind of lame.

ht tps://www.goudeymfg.com/goudey-stain-colours.html
 
The reason I brought up stain/dye is the fact that the reproduction wood I've seen is often light in colour, so a stain/dye will help get it more "natural" looking on a restored Lee-Enfield. Once it is darkened to your liking (I would consider going a little on the light side, given that the RLO/BLO will darken over time), then hit it with many a coat of oil.
 
The stock set is all very light wood. Probably beech. I dont have plans to sell it. I just would rather have the gun look somewhat correct. It will always be a desporterized gun so resale values will never be that high anyway. She just deserves to look her best. I sure have a lot of responses to go over before I decide. Thanks everyone who contributed that knowledge to me
 
sgt.rock said:
The stock set is all very light wood. Probably beech. I dont have plans to sell it. I just would rather have the gun look somewhat correct. It will always be a desporterized gun so resale values will never be that high anyway. She just deserves to look her best. I sure have a lot of responses to go over before I decide. Thanks everyone who contributed that knowledge to me
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If it's raw new production wood, I would use RLO and then ensure the stock is in a warm place - keep putting more on for a while. Original military wood was soaked in hot raw linseed oil for hours to try and saturate it.
 
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