Distressing Gun Stocks! Ways Of Aging Them?

[Swampman]

I always wonder why it's impossible to get useful advise when this subject is brought up. Mike Brooks and Jack Hubbard do this to the guns they sell. They look awesome and sell like hotcakes. I like aged gear and I've been in the hobby for 30 years.

 

I have seen a quite few guys re-enacting longhunters/mountain man. I have yet to run across one guy portraying a farmer. ::

Gerry Barker at Mansker's Station and he is also seen frequenting the Fair at New Boston. Drives oxen and carts and the whole shot. Pretty neat persona.

 

[rich pierce]

Was none of that useful? I did a lot of blabbering, I confess.

Short synopsis:
1) Distressing is OUT. Almost nobody distresses stocks in the sense that people distress furniture.

2) If you want that "gunk in the crannies" look, the flat black paint method looks better than it sounds. Spray the finished gun completely then rub it off everywhere except the crannies.

3) If you want that "worn on the high spots" look, just stain the stock dark then rub it out in these areas with 4-O steel wool or pumice: cheekpiece edge, fore end where the gun would rub on a rest, across the wrist, face side of the comb, is easy to achieve.

4) We can argue all we want about how a gun "woulda looked" but few choose to fake the look of a gun that has been used hard for 5 years, such as might happen in a war or for a professional hunter. Dried out and dull is that look.

 

[Swampman]

I've seen some Browning lever action rifles that were used in Alaska for 10 years. They had no finish left on them and I'd say they looked at least 100 years old. Horses and improper storage (they didn't have proper storage) can be really hard on tools and equipment.

 

Use nitric acid and heat it with a hot air gun to blush the wood. Then rub back with 000 steel wool where you hold the gun and top of the cheek piece down to white wood then LMF stain of your choice and let dry. Seal with LMF sealer and let dry. Rub back with 0000 steel wool. Mix some lighter stain with LMF finish and paint on with a brush. Let dry thoroughly. Rub back again in the handled and worn areas with steel wool. Varnish again with a brush. All of these layers will build up and almost go to the antique aged transparent look in the protected areas that many try to emulate with black spray paint. This will get you what your looking for. This will also take you about three weeks to get 'er done but it's worth the trouble if you want a antigued and nicely aged stock to match your metal parts. If you want dents and chinks do it to the stock between layers by tossing your key ring at the stock. The ring of keys never hit the stock the same twice and is totally random. Be judicious and don't push this too far. I've used this method on Hawkens and NW trade guns successfully. They look like they have been used in rugged conditions but taken good care of in those same rugged conditions.
Hope this helpsya out some,
Don