tips on staining rifle stock

when you go to buy stain there will be samples on various woods, see which one meeets your fancy. Then remove a bit of finish from the barrel channel & try the stain, Modify it as you need by mixing various stains & be confident that it doesn't louse up the exterior of the stock. Remember that you must take off 100% of the old finish
 
I'd say it depends on what you want. Do you want a high gloss finish or more of a matte finish? I've used Formby's Tung Oil Finish on stocks before and I think it looks good. I'm not sure how it is for water resistance. I'm not sure what is used for clear coating stocks to get the super high gloss, any one know if it's polyurethane? Birchwood Casey sells TruOil, it's marketed as a gun stock finish. I've never tried it though.
 
tx yote slayer

Brownells has an excellent article on stock refinishing and what will work best for what you are wanting to see as the outcome. It is a three part article and loaded with information. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gifRefinishing Article
 
I've finished factory stocks before and the first thing I did was sand the old finish out to bare wood. If it's checkered, you'll want to avoid sanding the checkering out by taping it over and doing that part with a toothbrush and solvent. Then pick a color of Minwax stain you like and follow the directions. This will raise the grain a bit, so follow up with 400 grit paper and then wipe it with a tack cloth. Get yourself some Linspeed oil and start applying, rubbing each coat out with 0000 steel wool and blow the residue off with an air compressor or canned air. It takes about 3 days drying time between coats. If you take the effort to put about 8 coats of Linspeed on there, you'll have a finish that is unmatched. I touch mine up with a fresh coat about every 3 years.
That 10-22 stock was an unfinished laminate that I sanded out and stained with Minwax Hunter green water-based stain, then lightly sanded. I finished it in 2 days start to finish. Originally it was "coffee" color, but the green stain turned the light parts green and it came out just like I wanted it. It's not nearly as weather proof as a Linspeed job, and it's not at all glossy.

Here's what a Linspeed finish looks like:

HK-770
 
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I'm not sure what is used for clear coating stocks to get the super high gloss, any one know if it's polyurethane?



Yes, most factory stocks (unless it's a very expensive weapon) use polyurathane. If you're in wet weather it sucks, because the moisture gets under the finish and buckles it up. A good oil finish is far superior, I can carry my rifle in the rain for a week without any effect. I've only ever used Linspeed because I started with it and the results were excellent, but it's time consuming to put enough coats on to get a really deep finish. Polyurathane looks good visually, it's real quick to apply, but it won't hold up in wet weather.
 
If you decide to stain the stock (and it is birch), then you will first want to go over it with something like Min Wax Wood Prep. after you have removed all the old finish, and are ready for staining. Particularly if you are using an oil based penetrating stain (standard Min Wax stuff). What the "Wood Prep" does is soak into the porous areas of the stock. Otherwise you will end up with a blotchy looking stock. Learned this one first hand. An alternative is to try a Gel Stain. These sit on the surface, and can be rubbed out more evenly. -But are more prone to scratching off. After staining, you will need to apply a top coat of some sort like previously mentioned.
 
For the gloss look I personally like to use high gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. I put on about 15 coats and the depth of the finish really brings out the character of the wood.It is surprisingly durable and if it does get nicked up it is easy to repair, which is not the case with poly or varnish.

As far as stains, for the hobbiest on birch the easiest is to find a wiping stain instead of a penetrating stain as the thicker binders will reduce the splotching. I have some imported waterbased stains from Italy that are just phenominal on woods like Maple, Birch and cherry that have a rainbow of colors and no blotching but they are high priced and hard to get.


If you want a dull finish use any of the oil finishes like tung, linseed,danish... They are all similar in function and durability and will not flake off if exposed to moisture.



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I bought a gold 10ga one day for a steal. It looked like it had been thrown from the truck though. Had nothing to lose so I sanded off the factory finish (taped off the checkering). Fine sanded then stained with a lighter stain. Then used an arousal lacquer that had a satin finish. Turned out WAY better than expected. I thought it looked real good. Make sure you put several layers of the lacquer. Mine looked better than factory, expect to put in plenty of time!
 
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If you want a dull finish use any of the oil finishes like tung, linseed,danish...



Linspeed can give you a very high-gloss finish if you choose the correct grade and use enough coats to totally seal the wood grain. I had a Winchester model 100 that looked like a mirror.
 
To this point I will put in a second to the Birchwood Casey sells TruOil JimT mentions above.

I am about 1/2 through refinishing a Weatherby Vanguard 25.06 I just bought that had been completly cammo's painted. I would have left the paint on but the wife didn't like it and she will probably spend more time with this one (not my idea). The stock has been fully removed of all paint with near zero sanding using a paint stripped. Will probably end up with 8 to 10 coats of the TruOil with approx 3 days drying between coats. All coats will be taken down with #0000 steel wool until the grain is completely filled and the proper amount of sheen is on the wood. After the final coat I will apply a rubbing compound for the final gloss and to smooth out (not sure which brand yet but I have a ways to go still).

I have used tung oil also but they tend not to give the high gloss finish in my opinion.
 
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