How to finish a stock?

[hometheaterman]

Anyone have any tips for finishing a stock? I ordered one but it comes unfinished. I want sort of a light finish as in not dark just more of a medium finish. Something sort of this color
Maybe just a hair lighter.


Most ones I've seen are more this color
but I don't think I want one that dark although I could do that.

I would kind of like it to be a little glossy but it doesn't have to be.

Any tips on what I should use and how to do it? Is staining it something I can do myself or should I take it somewhere? Some of the finishes I've seen on guns seems to come off easy where as my Browning the finish just doesn't seem to come off even if you accidentally get cleaning stuff on it. I want this thing to hold up.

Any tips on what to use and how to do it?

[mauser06]

thats a stock i recently refinished




that flintlock is another i did....

first step is to get the stock off the gun and be working with a bare stock.

next, apply your stripper and remove old finish.

(if finishing a new unfinish stock start here)
sand with the grain to remove old finish that didnt come off, dents, dings, scratches etc...personally when refinishing i dont sand a ton...i'll lightly sand the whole stock but i dont like sanding a whole lot because you will tell when you put it back together..also dont go super fine on the sand paper...i can never remember what grit i use....but dont go super fine.

get all the dust off the stock somehow...

i like to hang them to finish them...i usually put a screw back in that would usually hold the butt plate on and tie string to that screw and hang the stock from something. that way i can do both sides at 1 time and not worry about it at all...

now you can refinish with your choice of finishes.

the first gun stock in the pics i did with satin Spar Urethene. 3 coats of it using fine steel wool between the coats when it was good and dry. no stain or anything before the spar urethene was sprayed on.

the flintlock stock i used a high gloss poly urethane...same thing 3 coats...steel wool between them...

i really like the spar urethene...it seems like a very tough finish as well...you could stain the wood prior to the urethane to get the color you desire...but many factory stocks have the same color wood so you might not have much options...both those stocks had about the same color black walnut stocks...

[eldeguello]

First, "raise" the grain by wetting the wood and drying it with a hair dryer or an electric stove. Then sand smooth with 400A paper.Do this at least five times, until you can't get the grain to rasie any more. I then use three or four coats of spar varnish as a pore filler, sanding it down to wood each time, leaving the varnish only in the pores of the wood. Finally, I finish it with several coats of Tru-Oil. You can leave it glossy, or rub the last coat out with rottenstone if you want a semi-gloss or a dull final appearance. True-Oil is good stuff.

For a darker finish, you can add carbon black from candle soot to the Tru-Oil before rubbing it on.

I have also found that you can polish the wood for a super gloss finish by rubbing it with 4-0 steel wool after sanding but just before applying the first coat of oil.