Tung oil for refishining a walnut stock.

A few gunsmiths swear by a tung oil finish. IMO, it is a better option than nearly any factory finish on sub-$1000 guns.

Be aware that products named "Tung Oil Finish" are almost certainly varnishes rather than actual Tung Oil.

The name Tung Oil Finish comes from finish manufacturers developing products that produce a finish on furniture that they think looks like a real Tung Oil finish ... but is hard & shiny & waterproof. Think, glossy dining room table rather than M1 stock.

I always used tru-oil. It works well IMO.

What is the intended application? “Tung Oil Finish” as noted above is a varnish delivering a hard, shiny finish, a lot like the Miroku made Winchesters in the 90s and first part of this century. On a “show” gun, it looks pretty nice. But it’s not a finish that holds up well to use. It fades and scratches with time and use. Tru Oil is a bit better for holding up. Waterlox is another “Tung Oil Finish” but seems to hold up well and can be satined, for a less glossy look. For a firearm that will get used, hard to beat a genuine BLO finish with a beeswax topping. Can be polished up to a good semi-gloss and is easy to touch up.

Traditional finishes are linseed oil, turpentine and an organic coloring like amber or copal. But not the boiled linseed oil found the hardware store. You need ultra pure oil processed specifically for fine finishes.
A good mineral base is also essential.
You might look into some of the prepared oil finishes intended for violins. But skip the water based ‘easy’ finishes, they were invented to be fast drying and cheap for mass production
A good oil finish cures by polymerization rather than evaporation, so the process takes weeks, not hours.

If I wanted to refinish a commercial gunstock or any gunstock to look like a "Remchesterby" commercial stock (hard/shiny), I would probably use Tru-Oil, polyurethane, varnish, etc.

If I refinish or refresh one of my oil-finish milsurps I use Linseed Oil and/or Tung Oil so that they look (feel & smell) like true oil finishes.

Stocks with a mirror shine do not appeal to me, especially milsurps. The only exception that I have found to that is the shellac'd Soviet stocks. My SVT-40s dressed in oil-finish just would not look right ... and definitely would not feel the same. For those who have used shellac'd stocks, you what I mean about the distinctive feel of shellac.

Unlike poly finishes like True Oil, Tung Oil can be touched-up and blended into an existing tung oil finish very easily.

This is boiled Linseed Oil on a (poorly) reproduction of the USMC M40 I made.

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If you want the real thing, you need to find 100% pre Tung oil. Any thing else is not the real deal. You may need to go to specialty wood workers shop. Dilute with some Mineral Spirits and rub out with Bronze Wool between coats. The first coats are diluted with the Mineral Spirits to get deeper penitration into the wood. Let dry between coats and polish surface with the Bronze Wool. Many coats are better. You should be very pleased, nothing like it. Rennisance Wax when finished.

Mn Fats said:

Remington SPS? I think the barrel needs another 2". Or it could just be the pic. Either way, I love it. I've been wanting a Vietnam M40 forever! They need to make another run of these...

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Thank you. It's a VS I bought used in a AICS stock I wanted and the price was right for almost just the stock. Ironically, the AICS stock was hunted for another USMC 40X .22 trainer project. Unfortunately, this VS bbl was already cut and crowned to that length. The stock is from Numrich, its just a generic 700 sporter stock (it was cheap). I re-profiled the forearm to be M40'ish and pillar bedded it. The barrel and sling loop fake parkerizing is Norrel's Moly (I think, its been awhile) and the pre-Leupold Redfield 3-ring is Duracoat to try to look like anodized green. Everything else was leftovers as far as the BM and the mount. Somewhere I have a black anodized Redfield with the more correct accu-range reticle. I had picked it up after this project. I was real happy with the rubbed Linseed oil finish, it was just the tone I was going for. I bathed that stripped stock for a day and hit it up again after bedding.

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I've used tung oil. I think it's faster than linseed oil. But I haven't noticed any real difference in the end result.

Note: already mentioned, I think, but the Formby's "Tung Oil" pictured above isn't real tung oil.

I used boiled linseed oil until I discovered teak oil. It's easy to work with and dries hard.

Here's the teak oil I use.

Here's what it looks like on a walnut M14 stock. I apply it in the usual manner, rubbing in light coats allowing full drying between coats until I get the desired look. I prefer a light sheen.

The overhead flouresent light washed out the detail in the middle of the stock.

I use all minwax products, comes out very nice satin look and still has the wood feel when you handle it...

Nice tiger stripes!!

@Paul R Zartman mentions paste wax and I think that's a product that's too-seldom mentioned wrt gun stock finishing. I use it all the time for the last step whatever I'm finishing / refinishing: rifle stocks, pistol grips, guitar bodies, and regardless of the preceding finishing products and steps.

wiscoaster said:

Nice tiger stripes!!

@Paul R Zartman mentions paste wax and I think that's a product that's too-seldom mentioned wrt gun stock finishing. I use it all the time for the last step whatever I'm finishing / refinishing: rifle stocks, pistol grips, guitar bodies, and regardless of the preceding finishing products and steps.

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I'm debating whether to use paste wax or satin urethane/poly wipe on to seal 2 coats of Watco Danish oil natural I put on today. This was just an unfinished Walnut target grip I bought for the range that needed finishing and shaping. I know I need to wait 72 hours before doing either. I've not done this before so asking for advice.

I only use paste wax, helps keep the wood feel "in my hands"
I have never used a urethane wipe so I can't give a recommendation for it

Paul R Zartman said:

I only use paste wax,...

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Me, too, just plain old Johnson's in the yellow can for gun stocks and grips. More work and needs to be redone occasionally, but much better results both appearance and ergonomics. There are other paste waxes that shine up a little better, but are more expensive.

I use linspeed oil for my knife handles and I’ve used tru-oil on a couple of gun stocks.
I like the linspeed oil as it is a penetrating oil and not a build up on the surface type finish.
In these pictures the knives are linspeed oil and the 336 is tru oil.

stonebuster said:

I'm debating whether to use paste wax or satin urethane/poly wipe on to seal 2 coats of Watco Danish oil natural I put on today. This was just an unfinished Walnut target grip I bought for the range that needed finishing and shaping. I know I need to wait 72 hours before doing either. I've not done this before so asking for advice.

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Paste wax. I mostly use polyurethane when I refinish furniture. It tastes bad to the dogs so they won't chew on it. Paste wax is easier to deal with and doesn't smell as bad.