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Thread: Odd question about commercial gun stock finishes.

  1. #1

    Odd question about commercial gun stock finishes.

    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.

  2. #2
    Mark,

    My limited first-hand experience was years ago when Herter's Inc was still in business. I used their gunstock finishing product called Satinsilicol/ As I recall it was a wiping varnish, possibly a polyurethane but probably an acryli or phenolic. Epifanes spar varnish reminds me of the color and consistency. After staining and filling you wiped it on and scrubbed it off. After it dried you could re-coat as many times as you wanted. That finish was very durable and attractive

    Jumping to your question -- I would seriously consider Epifanes Spar varnish for a gunstock today. But first I would make sure I knew what the client wanted and how he was planning to use the gun. BLO or Tung oil are traditional but I do not like the feel, especially of BLO. AFAIK military riles like the Springfield were saturated with petrolatum, which the grunt had to scrub off.

    My two cents. I hope it helps.

    Doug
    Last edited by Doug Hepler; 08-02-2018 at 3:48 PM. Reason: corrected an error

  3. #3
    Thanks a bunch Doug. I couldnt get my head around people applying BLO or any other oil over top of a modern film finish but I also never found any posts that talked about maintaining the finish on a consumer level gun. I just cant believe something like a mossberg, henry, remington, consumer level or any other brand of shotgun or rifle someone buys at walmart or cabelas has anything other than a dipped or sprayed film finish that will basically be impervious to any type of oil maintenance.

    Still leaves me wondering what a factory finish likely consists of to take into consideration any type of interaction with any work we do.

    I'll keep searching around.



    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Hepler View Post
    Mark,

    My limited first-hand experience was years ago when Herter's Inc was still in business. I used their gunstock finishing product called Satinsilicol/ As I recall it was a wiping varnish, possibly a polyurethane but probably an acryli or phenolic. Epifanes spar varnish reminds me of the color and consistency. After staining and filling you wiped it on and scrubbed it off. After it dried you could re-coat as many times as you wanted. That finish was very durable and attractive

    Jumping to your question -- I would seriously consider Epifanes Spar varnish for a gunstock today. But first I would make sure I knew what the client wanted and how he was planning to use the gun. BLO or Tung oil are traditional but I do not like the feel, especially of BLO. AFAIK military riles like the Springfield were saturated with petrolatum, which the grunt had to scrub off.

    My two cents. I hope it helps.

    Doug

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    I used to mess around with guns quite a bit, and refinished a few factory stocks, and have had a couple of custom rifles built. You're correct in that pretty much all production rifles and shotguns with wood stocks have some kind of film finish on them, and have had probably since right after WWII. These days they probably use some sort of poly or precat lacquer. Anyone applying BLO or similar finishes over a factory film finish is wasting his time.

    Penetrating oil type finishes such as BLO, tung oil, or commercial variants like Linspeed used to be the standard but they take forever to apply (multiple coats, rubbing out with steel wool, repeat, repeat) and are not particular water repellent compared to modern film finishes. Wood stocked military rifles were finished the same way, usually with BLO.

  5. #5
    Thanks Dave. Thats been my feeling as well. I know in the custom world the oil/rubbed out finish is the standard. Sure would be nice if the manufacturers gave a little info on what they use but I think we will be ok with our plan based on what bits of information Im getting.

    Thanks a bunch for your input, much appreciated.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Northern Florida
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    I'm pretty sure almost all modern consumer level stock finishes will be a tinted lacquer. The tint might hide some really nice grain or might not, but it makes it easier for the manufacturer to get consistent results. BLO, Tru-Oil and the other wipe-on finishes are often used by people refinishing their own guns because they can give very good results with a minimum amount of expertise.

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