Seal the stock?

[rb8941]

I'm having a flintlock built for me. I ran across an article on the internet the other day where the author claimed that black powder residue attracts moisture and recommended disassembling a new flintlock and carefully applying a coat of deck sealer onto all unfinished surfaces of the stock to prevent that moisture from softening the wood.

Have any of you heard of such a thing and is it something I should do when I get my new rifle?

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Birddog6]

The builder should seal the stock for you. Never heard of using deak sealer on one, but it it does like my deck sealer has done, it is mostly mineral spirits with some color added & will evaporate in a year & you get to do it all over again....

I use Tru-Oil to seal mine up, in every crevice, under all the plates, in the lock, trigger, & barrel inlets, I even swab the RR hole with it.
Works for me.
:thumbsup:

 

[Erzulis boat]

The builder should seal the stock for you. Never heard of using deak sealer on one, but it it does like my deck sealer has done, it is mostly mineral spirits with some color added & will evaporate in a year & you get to do it all over again....

I use Tru-Oil to seal mine up, in every crevice, under all the plates, in the lock, trigger, & barrel inlets, I even swab the RR hole with it.
Works for me.
:thumbsup:

Same here, everything gets sealed. I run a .22 cleaning rod with a loose patch down the RR hole and even get it in the holes for the buttplate screws.........everything.

Q-tips are only good for applying sealer in a smooth hole, any rough hole will have cotton fluff all over.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You want to seal end grain, unter the buttplate, and under the nose cap- if it removeable, and in both the barrel and lock mortises, and in the morises for trigger guards.

I also use my standard stock finish- Tru-oil-- for sealing, but my brother is using a thinned epoxy resin to seal his end grain, and Tru-oil for the barrel and lock mortises, etc.

IN the lock and barrel mortises, I put the oil on with my fingertips, and in the hard to reach places, with a thin brush that I use to then STRETCH the finish as far as I can go. I don't want a thick coating of finish in either place.

I do think using epoxy to finish a lock mortise makes sense, for some locks where a lot of wood has been removed to make room for all the parts. The Epoxy will dry and harden, and greatly strengthen the wood around it. Otherwise, this is the area of any gunstock where you are more likely to see cracks, and breaks, if the gun falls, for instance.

I also like to use epoxy at the back of the barrel mortise where the barrel butts up against the stock. That is the wood that will take the most pounding in recoil, and hardening that surface will prevent future wood collapse, and cracks, or " splitting". Do the rear of the mortise,and then come forward with the epoxy about 4 inches, or just in front of the forward edge of your lockplate. The rest of the barrel mortise can be sealed with stock finish. :thumbsup:

 

[Stophel]

I'm having a flintlock built for me. I ran across an article on the internet the other day where the author claimed that black powder residue attracts moisture and recommended disassembling a new flintlock and carefully applying a coat of deck sealer onto all unfinished surfaces of the stock to prevent that moisture from softening the wood.

Have any of you heard of such a thing and is it something I should do when I get my new rifle?

Thanks,
Rick

Total, utter nonsense. Moisture is not going to soften the wood, and the black powder residue won't do anything to the wood either. If you want, you can put some finish in the lock mortise, and maybe at the breech end of the barrel, but not to protect against moisture, rather to protect against OIL, which WILL soften the wood and turn it to goo.

 

[doulos]

I am not an expert by any means but I wouldn't use deck sealer on a gun. Go with the advice here about Tru -Oil. I stripped and refinished a TC Renegade with Tru -Oil. I hand rubbed about 10 coats. Let me tell you that is one tough finish. And it seals great. Ive hunted hard with this Renegade with a .58 GM barrel for 2 seasons and I cant believe how well this finish is holding up. And that is through the worst weather that western NY can put out. I'm impressed with this stuff.

 

[Zonie]

Several words of caution about using Tru-Oil to seal the "hidden" areas of a gun like the lock mortice.

It does "build up". That is, each coat will harden and additional coats will build up on top of the previous coat.

While this is great for the finish on the outside of a gun, if multiple coats are applied in the close fitting areas like the lock mortice, the sideplate mortice or the barrel channel, that build up can prevent the metal parts from fitting.

If one is using Tru-Oil to seal the mortice's they should only apply one or two coats at the most.

 

[doulos]

Zonie ,Good point. When I put Tru -Oil in the places you speak of I only put 2 coats and I thinned it with mineral spirits hoping it would penetrate into the wood more. I put the 10 coats on the outside. Seemed like it worked.

 

[Stophel]

I quit using Tru Oil years ago. I always got mixed results with it. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it dries very brittle, and flakes off easily. And, of course, it is famous for being a one-use bottle. Use what you can out of it, and when you're done, you may as well throw the remainder away.

 

[Pork Chop]

And, of course, it is famous for being a one-use bottle. Use what you can out of it, and when you're done, you may as well throw the remainder away.

Can you elaborate? I have a bottle that has been used on 4 different guns now over the space of a year. It still is going strong...

 

[Zonie]

Stophel is referring to the Tru-Oil drying out in the bottle after it is opened.
I had the same problem with Laurel Mountain forge's Permalyn Sealer and Permalyn Finish.

All of these will form a "crust" on the top of the fluid that is exposed to the air in the bottle.

The trick here is:

When you are finished using any of these products, screw the lid on tight enough to keep it from leaking.
Then, turn the bottle/can upside down and sit it on the shelf.

The hard "crust" will form on the "bottom" of the jar/can so you always have nice pure fluid at the top when the can/jar is reopened.
:grin:

 

[Pork Chop]

That makes sense. I had heard of the propensity for the Tru-oil to dry out, so this is how I proceeded. I poked a hole in the foil seal. This allows me to get out what I need to use since I do it all by hand - a few drops at a time. Then when I close it, there is a nice coating of the Tru-oil on the foil, and I screw the cap down nice and tight. As a result, I have to use slip joint pliers to break the seal and get the cap off. Once it is off, the remaining oil works just fine. ymmv...

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you store the bottle of True Oil upside down, and layer of dried or "congealed" oil will be at the bottom of the bottle, while the oil near the mouth of the bottle will be still good.( Do the same with any oil based paint can.)

If you have some denatured alcohol, it will thin True-Oil, and by using a very small amount of it in a separate container, you can make True-oil as thin, or leave it as thick as you desire, while leaving the factory container of finish in its normal state.

I find that if the oil is thinned, it penetrates better, and " stretches" better, than if the oil is used as it comes from the bottle. It takes more coats to finish a gun, but the coats are thinner, easier to put on, and you are less likely to leave a portion of the stock with thick finish.

When sealing the lock and barrel mortises, I rarely use more than one coat of True-oil. Since these areas are protected by the metal parts from external products and weather, They do not need the kind of multiple layers that I use on the outside of the stock.