Finishing a couple new rifles

[Kurt]

I had CPA Rifle build me three new rifles. A .44-75 Ballard, .44-100 Rem St. and a .45-90. I ordered these rifles with the wood in the standard grade and in the raw to finish them myself. I normally don't like the glossy finish on my gunstocks. I like to use Formsby's Tung Oil for a finish on my wood and normally I use the low gloss. The oil does a fine job sealing the wood what is important to me because at times at a match when it starts to rain you shoot in the rain unless lightning shows up. These stocks in the photo's have 12 coats of tung oil on them and the pores in wood the are pretty much filled. I think I might hold up putting more on till later.
One stock I buffed out with extra fine steel wool to take the gloss off and just rubbed the finish with a paper towel to bring a little shine back out and it is what I usually like.
The other stock I left the gloss on to see if I like it. That wood I rubbed the oil in with my bare hand till the oil was dry enough that a finger print does not show up but still tacky. I do this to all of my wood when I finish it and it fills the pores very well. But I just cant decide if I like the gloss or not, but it sure brings out the figure well.
Top is the .45-90 Silhouette rifle.
Middle .44-2.6-100 long range
bottom .44-2-5/8-90 Bn. long range rifle.

Gloss

Gloss knocked off

[Old Jim]

Kurt, in the 1960s, Browning finished the fancy wood stocks on their o/u shotguns to a glossy shine. I have a couple of them with special order grade 3 wood and they are nice. On firearms of a more antique time-line I prefer the hand-rubbed finish also.

Very nice,

Jim

[Kurt]

Jim I had a Browning superposed trap that was like glass looked very good till the rib came off. I really liked that gun.
I'm with you on the hand rubbed finish. I just finished knocking the gloss off now it looks like the bottom one.

[Gunlaker]

Kurt that is really nice work. I also like the less glossy finish. Does that tung oil have any color in it at all, or just pure tung oil? I really like the finish you ended up with.

Chris.

[Dave Roelle]

Jim I had a Browning superposed trap that was like glass looked very good till the rib came off. I really liked that gun.
I'm with you on the hand rubbed finish. I just finished knocking the gloss off now it looks like the bottom one.

Darn Kurt those are just beautiful !!!!!!!!!!!!

i typically use pure un-refined tung oil, at 1 hand rubbed coat a day it takes me about a month to get the results i like-----with the pure product i don't get the "gloss" at all. the final step is a buffed coat of floor wax, leaving a matt finish that repels water like a ducks back

stay safe

Dave

[Kurt]

Dave, what kind of floor wax do you use?
I might put a couple more coats on these, but I cant wax them before I get done with the oil. The center rifle was the first one and it has a .22 barrel also with it. That rifle started out as a .44-75 but the barrel was a screw up that had a muzzle loaded deep groove and the barrel maker replaced it with a proper one that I chambered as a .44-100 Rem 2.6 strait and later on I asked if they still had the bad barrel and I bought it back at a low price thinking maybe I can work with it and make it shoot. I spent a lot of time making brass lapping slugs and started with 80 grid compound increasing the slugs to shallow up the groove dept and I rechambered it to a .44-90 BNto get a higher load so the patched bullet fills the grooves.
I didn't have much time last season to shoot it except for a hand full of loads but it showed promise accuracy wise. I will work with it next spring. If it don't work out I will rebarrel it with a .40-65.

[Dave Roelle]

Dave, what kind of floor wax do you use?
I might put a couple more coats on these, but I cant wax them before I get done with the oil. The center rifle was the first one and it has a .22 barrel also with it. That rifle started out as a .44-75 but the barrel was a screw up that had a muzzle loaded deep groove and the barrel maker replaced it with a proper one that I chambered as a .44-100 Rem 2.6 strait and later on I asked if they still had the bad barrel and I bought it back at a low price thinking maybe I can work with it and make it shoot. I spent a lot of time making brass lapping slugs and started with 80 grid compound increasing the slugs to shallow up the groove dept and I rechambered it to a .44-90 BNto get a higher load so the patched bullet fills the grooves.
I didn't have much time last season to shoot it except for a hand full of loads but it showed promise accuracy wise. I will work with it next spring. If it don't work out I will rebarrel it with a .40-65.

Hi Kurt---------------i use the original formula Briwax

http://www.briwax-online.com/wax.html

carnuba and bees-wax-----------

Thats a bunch of work reclaiming a barrel, hope it shoots for ya !!!!

I'm playing with a 38-55 in a Highwall, originally built by John King, just finished loading brass to fire-form with 270 gr slugs from a Buffalo Arms mold------an original unertyl "small game" scope is inbound for it, oughta be fun at the sillywett range

Dave

[Kurt]

TNX. Dave I saved that link. They have more good things then wax also.

[Dave Roelle]

TNX. Dave I saved that link. They have more good things then wax also.

Yup good stuff for sure
Stay safe

[Caprock]

Unless I'm badly mistaken Formbys is not pure tung oil. It has some poly in it.