Help with finishing garand stock

[mtnsmith]

One of the Garands I received from the CMP is a H&R with a new walnut unfinished stock. I have cleaned other Garand stocks and finished them with Tung oil and one with boiled linseed oil. Incidently, I got both of these oils from Home Depot. Both of these seem to produce a sheen that is not characteristic of an original Garand stock. I thought we used linseed oil in service. Many years ago I added a finish to all my stocks with true oil, rubbing in many, many coats to produce a very high gloss which, here again, is not what I want.

What would be the best oil for a new Garand stock?

 

[alleycat]

10thmountain @MILSURP Collector

 

[10thmountain]

Did you sand it with 0000 steel wool between coats? I find that a light sand helps with gloss. I use danish watco walnut for my stocks and they look like the real
Deal when done.

 

[Russell0331]

Find pure raw linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil is chemically different and will not produce the same look and feel.

 

[1006]

I too, have had good results with the Watco Danish oil, but it does not soak in well on “stainable” wood filler, maybe nothing does—-used on my FN Commercial Mauser that had some damage. I used Dark Wallnut; it is not as dark as I had hoped, but it does match the color guide on the lable.

The dark repaire lines are Acroglass and unstainable. Wood filler was used to try a rebuild/clean up some checkering. The stock had been repaired years ago after breaking in half at the wrist. A great uncle fell from a boat while exiting with it and tried to catch himself with the gun stock.

Available at Lowes, dries fast, no gloss.

 

[Hayata]

BLIP

 

[jeep78]

Use only 100% tung oil, not the "tung oil finish" products sold in stores.

The only place that still sells real tung oil these days is

https://www.realmilkpaint.com/shop/oils/pure-tung-chinawood/.

It is what raw stocks were finished with by the military. Blo was used in the field for touchup.

 

[BLIP]

The real key is removing the old finish. After years of use and retouching a variety of products were probably used. This is not a very popular method because it tends to dry out the wood but it can be done with care. Warm up the wood do a light acetone rub and then sand. Dispose of your sandpaper and then do the same thing again. The key is light sand. When it is completely dry you're going to need a wood conditioner and again a lights and. Formby's tung oil is just as good as any of the military grade oils. Remember you're not restoring a piece of furniture you're preserving a piece of History

 

[GAGunguy]

Where is Pops when you need him?

 

[mtnsmith]

Did you sand it with 0000 steel wool between coats? I find that a light sand helps with gloss. I use danish watco walnut for my stocks and they look like the real
Deal when done.

NO, I was afraid to touch it with sand paper or steel wool for fear of destroying character marks from wherever they came. However, I may try this. Thanks.

The real key is removing the old finish. After years of use and retouching a variety of products were probably used. This is not a very popular method because it tends to dry out the wood but it can be done with care. Warm up the wood do a light acetone rub and then sand. Dispose of your sandpaper and then do the same thing again. The key is light sand. When it is completely dry you're going to need a wood conditioner and again a lights and. Formby's tung oil is just as good as any of the military grade oils. Remember you're not restoring a piece of furniture you're preserving a piece of History

Would not thought of acetone. I used a rang soaked in alcohol and rubbed it for about 30 minutes careful not to get it too wet and then let it dry for 24 hours and repeat - did this for several days and it came out looking pretty good ready for oil finish. Thanks.