Finishing a wooden stock
My wife gave me a Stevens .410 break-down for Christmas, 1968. By 1973 or '74, it was looking pretty scratched up. I sanded it and found a really light colored wood beneath the coloring on the stocks. I had a book written by someone that used his rifles out in the weather quite a bit. I kinda followed what he had done to his. You will not get a high gloss unless you add a clear coat for shine. I would wet the wood and wait 'til it dried, then sand it lightly to take off the 'turned up' curls. After a couple of times doing this, I used some steel wool. When I had the wood smooth as glass, I took some Hoppe's stain and mixed it in some boiled linseed oil. I applied it until I had about the color I wanted, wiped off the excess, and let dry. After sanding it lightly or using steel wool, just take BLO and rub some on and continue rubbing until you can feel the warmth from the friction. Wipe it off and wait a day or two, or week, no hurry. I applied probably 12 or 15 coats. Now, almost 40 years later, it looks just like it did when I put the last coat on it. As the writer stated in the book, the ONLY thing that will hurt the finish besides scratches, is fire. I have had to reblue the barrel twice because of letting it get wet and not knowing about it for several days. It was sitting in a corner and a blowing rain got it wet and when I found it several days later, it had already started rusting. Evidently I had no light coat of oil on it! I'm sure that part of the problem was the cold bluing method that I used. What ever you decide to do with the finish I wish you lots of luck for a beautiful, long lasting finish!
