I have been searching around an not coming up with much of anything but we have been asked to do some work on some stocks. These would be consumer level stocks not like any high dollar custom stock. Several people have told us that most all modern stocks now have a clear finish on them (insinuating something like conversion varnish, some sort of laquer, or other film finish) but most anything I read anywhere everyone on nearly every forum speaking to a wide range of guns still talks like they maintain their stocks with BLO or Tung Oil, or some other oil type finish which wouldnt seem to make a lot of sense over a modern film finish.
Does anyone have any first hand experience or knowledge as to what type of finish is on most consumer level wood stocks? I pulled up manuals from several manufacturers and very few of them even list any stock care in their care guides/maintenance chapters in the manual. They all speak to cleaning and oiling the metal parts but nothing with regards to the stock.
My concern with what we are being asked to do is we will have to do some finishing on commercial stocks and I am trying to get a gauge of what that will entail for time and materials. If we are in the thin coat of oil, 5 days, thin coat of oil, 5 more days, sanding in the pores, we likely wont even bother with this work.
Ive looked at several of my own guns and they all look to have a film type finish on them and even some that I dont care about will take a scratch just like urethane.
Any input is appreciated.