Every time I hear of someone NOT liking Tru-oil as a stock finish, it becomes very apparent after a brief discussion of their finishing technique that they are putting the oil on too thick! And, they are NOT stretching the oil finish, or rubbing the wet oil into the wood with the butt of their hands.
I made all those mistakes years ago using Linspeed Oil, another finish product. I change to Tru-oil because the latter product is thinner, and stretches easier. The layers of finish you can put down using it are very thin, WHEN APPLIED CORRECTLY. I had to show my own brother how to correctly finish a stock before he understood why he was getting indifferent results.
There are any number of good oil finishes to be used out there, that yield good results, IF YOU APPLY THEM TO THE STOCK CORRECTLY. I find way too many people are in too much of a rush to get a gun done, rather than taking the time, and doing it right.
With Tru-oil, I can put another coat on every 8-10 hours, and finish a stock with 7-8 coats in 3 days or less. It all depends when I put on that first coat, and whether I want to get up in the middle of the night to put on a third coat!
I prefer using Tru-oil to Tung Oil because I find it much easier to repair scratches to a Tru-oil finish, than those in a Tung Oil finish.
Is there some kind of Obsessive abhorrence to getting one's hands dirty these days? I can't think of any other reason why its so hard to get people to hand rub finishes as they are applied.
