10/22 stock refinish from dark wood to blue

[Brockak47]

I have a plain jane 10/22 stock. If I wanted to refinish it, it's not real beat up or anything it's just dark wood. I'm trying to get it to a blue wood. LOL

basically if I sanded it a little, and put some blue wood stain on it would it turn out OK or is there a key part of prep work I am leaving out?

Thanks, and don't laugh at the blue stain

 

[rcmodel]

The hardwood Ruger uses now will not accept typical wood stain too well.

I might experiment with Fieibing leather die.
It is an aromatic solvent based die and will die just about anything.
http://www.fiebing.com/Dyes.aspx

Following that, lightly finish sand to knock off the raised whiskers and apply Tru-Oil.

rc

 

[Magoo]

A lot of folks over at RFC have used Rit dye with success.

 

[blarby]

A decent wood conditioner, applied after removing existing material, can help with any stain application.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Blarby, it help stain EVENNESS, not penetration, it inhibits penetration, so that open grained areas don't soak up a massive amount of stain compared to other parts of the wood, ending up with the usual pine like blotching, or super dark end grain.

you either find something that sinks in, or goes on top, or just gets lots of tint into the wood even if it doesn't sink deep. Either you go solid, and paint over the graining, or you lighten the wood before you dye it, plain old vinegar can be used to bleach the wood.