Stain or No Stain?

[kselkhunter]

Hi All,

Working on one of the many gun related projects on my plate.  Refinishing an old Remington 788.  Already Duracoated the barrel and action.  Will glass bed the action screws and recoil lug, and free float the barrel.   I've stripped the old finish off the stock and sanded it down.   I've got one or two more sanding sessions, but here is a photo of it wetted down with warm water to give a glimpse of what it may look like when finish is applied as-is.   Finish will be with Tru-Oil. 

Looks like I have some grains that may still have some of the old stain that had penetrated deeply, or it's just naturally darker grains in the wood.  So am contemplating doing a 10% or 20% dilution of walnut stain to even it all out but not darken it too much.  Am also contemplating just finishing it as-is without staining.  Given how dark the wood is when dry, am pretty sure it's walnut.  Trying to decide so thought I'd put it to the forum for votes and input.

What to do ya'll think?  Votes for staining vs. finish as-is.

Thanks

[kselkhunter]

Attached is a photo of it "dry" without the water bath as a comparison.   System wouldn't let me load more than one photo for some reason....

[Jpmiller]

No stain. It will naturally darken as it ages it it sees much UV light. As a general rule I hate stains though so take that into consideration. I've not used tru oil but I also find that most of my oils leave it slightly "darker" than water does.

[Rem14]

I would not stain. Just use the Tru-Oil. Love that stuff!!!  Have used on many stocks , also on the bed of my 48 Ford  F-1.

[kselkhunter]

Thanks for the input folks. Good call on not staining. Here is photo with just one coat of tru oil.  Will put a few more coats on in the coming days.

[Magnum_Willys]

Classic ! Looks good.  Few more coats ?

[kselkhunter]

Classic ! Looks good.  Few more coats ?

Probably 4 more coats (one per day), and then let it sit a week and see how I like it.  And add more if needed.

It's actually darkened further since I took the photo now that the first coat of Tru Oil has absorbed in further.  Looks even better now. 

[Jpmiller]

That's why I like plain oil instead of stain. Looks beautiful and there's nothing artificial about the color. Not that it matters to anyone but me but I don't like knowing I changed anything I don't have to  keep us posted as you keep on

[kselkhunter]

That's why I like plain oil instead of stain. Looks beautiful and there's nothing artificial about the color. Not that it matters to anyone but me but I don't like knowing I changed anything I don't have to  keep us posted as you keep on

I've got a few more stocks that I will refinish in the next month.  I may give Tung Oil a try on one, as I like the look of that finish as well.  Tru Oil is just so much cheaper and is easy, I did it for this first stock refinish.   

[zwickeyman]

Good choice, its looking real good

[kselkhunter]

Photo after second Tru Oil coat.  Am thinking this will look great by coat 5.

[jackson7]

looks great now, want to see it with the 5 coats.

[lokidog]

Looks great, voted no stain before seeing the photos. I love the look of true oil as well. Need to get some for my wooden guns.

[Dan-o]

Looks great

[kselkhunter]

Woke up this morning and wet sanded the third coat in. And just hand rubbed the 4th coat in hard with my thumb. Attached photo is completion of 4th coat. Still wet so it's  shiny. Will let this coat dry for 24 hours and see what it looks like tomorrow.

[Dadofive]

No stain is the way to go. Looks beautiful. If you have any walnut scraps you could test your 4 coats on then hit it with a buffing wheel to see if you like that. It will make it shine and the oil will dull where the grip is over time which looks fantastic. A used, well-loved beauty and not just a safe queen.

[kselkhunter]

Attached is updated photo. The sun and shadows are causing some areas to look brighter vs darker. When I post the final photo will wait for afternoon sun. This is 7 coats of Tru Oil. I wet sanded on coat #2 and #6 to fill pores. Very happy with the outcome.


Will wait 7 days to apply the sheen/conditioner. Then later will apply a stock wax.


Will post up a final shot assembled with the Duracoated barrel/action in a week or two. A buddy will drop off his Rem788 and Eddystone 1917 next week so will start doing the same stock refinishing and Duracoating barrel/action work on those soon.

[kselkhunter]

Quick test with barreled action.

[nwwanderer]

Looking great, might want to checker it too.  Find a design you like and copy it.  Dem-Bart in snohomish has what ever you need

[kselkhunter]

Still need to finish assembly of bottom metal, but attached is final photo in the sun of the Rem788 in 222.  Glad I didn't do stain on this one, as it had a nicer walnut wood stock than I was expecting.  And Duracoat turned out nice.   

[kselkhunter]

By contrast, this other Rem 788 that I just finished up had a lower quality wood stock (wasn't walnut) and some other issues with it so that one I stained with the Birchwood Casey walnut stain.  Significant difference.  Attached.  Definitely like the "no stain" look better if it's a decent quality walnut stock.  Which this one unfortunately wasn't.

[kselkhunter]

And the Eddystone 1917 that I just finished as well turned out nice, as I was able to keep that one "no stain" and just do straight Tru Oil on. 

These last two need to cure the Duracoat more before I can do final assembly on those. 

[hunterofelk]

Wow, they look great!  Just as if they were manufactured this year.  Great work!