What can I use to increase moisture resistance of my stock?

[GAHUNTER60]

I used Minwax Antique oil to finish my Kibler Colonial stock. I really like the look, as it is very low-luster, as a woods rifle should be. However, I just read a woodworker's review of the product where he listed the moisture resistance of wood finished with it as "poor."

That's not really what I want in a finish for a hunting rifle.

So, what can I use on top of the oil finish already there to improve its moisture resistance?

 

[rafterob]

Paste wax.

 

[SDSmlf]

Maybe strip it and start over? Personally would not use to finish a gunstock.

From Minwax website
‘Antique Oil Finish is recommended for interior wood surfaces such as cabinets, tables, paneling, doors and trim.’

 

[user 48679]

Unless you intend on dropping your Kibler into a creek for a day or so to soak, I've never had any water/rain/moisture get into my wood stock after staining with Minwax & finishing with oil - but, be sure to tend to the hidden areas of the stock, like the barrel channel, the lock plate inletting and under the butt plate.

 

[Jim Nasium]

I don't know if I'd bother stripping it. Maybe thin some tung oil out, sand it in, and see if it will suck any of that up. I'm guessing it will. Especially if you didn't thin the Minwax. Having the Minwax on there isn't going to hurt anything. If you're sick of dealing with it, and you're happy with how it looks, just wax over it like rafterrob mentions and run the gun.

 

[Davey Boy]

Lanolin

 

[GAHUNTER60]

Thanks guys, as always!

I just orders some Renaissance paste wax off Amazon for $17.50 with free shipping. I've got a few guns that could use a coat of it! Larry Potterfield's moisture test video with it on Youtube is pretty impressive!

 

[user 34300]

Short of a thick synthetic Weatherby type modern finish, inside and out, you can not fully seal the wood.

Wax is good.

Lots of guys get all enthusiastic about BLO. IT does not seal anything. Other than looking and smelling good it is pretty poor. Yet it sort of works and make folks happy. I'm sure your Minwax is better than BLO. Put some wax on top and you will be fine.

IN the future consider thinned spar varnish or Permalin.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Low lustre finish? Original guns were not low lustre.

dave

 

[kansas_volunteer]

Polyethylene glycol

 

[TexiKan]

Years ago, when I built my Sharon Hawken rifle, I used the Wahkon Bay products for the barrel and the gunstock finish. The gunstock finish label says it "Provides deep penetrating oil protection and patina" and the prime ingredient is linseed oil.

A few years later I was at an area rendezvous and was going through a woods walk when about half way through, a heavy rain drenched our group. Most gave up at that point but I knew my rifle would continue to function throughout the rain and I eventually finished the walk. Unfortunately, the rifle stock was soaked and the finish looked bad as most of it came off unevenly. I eventually stripped off the finish, re-stained and this time, tried the Birchwood Casey finish. I also used a paste wax on the stock which was not previously used. Fortunately I have not been caught in another torrential rain since.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Marine Spar varnish. They use it on boats for that reason.
If you want to keep,the low luster finish, here’s what I do.
Three or four coats of Chamber’s oil finish, 2 or 3 coats of spar varnish, then another 2 coats of Chamber’s put on with a maroon scotchbrite pad.
Beautiful, durable, low luster finish.

 

[Col. Batguano]

The most waterproof finish is going to be a 2-part finish, like a marine epoxy finish. Not very HC / PC, but you MIGHT be able to thin it down enough and get it to penetrate so that it doesn't sit on top of the wood and stick out like a gilded orb. Finish over it with your regular finishes but just make sure they're compatible. Other options might be very dilute hide glue, or shellac. Both are good for keeping out physical moisture, but not much of a barrier to gaseous moisture.

 

[Master Blaster]

A small piece of linen, saturated with wood wax and carried in a spare flint wallet can be used to refresh the water shedding effect of your gunstock and metal, as during a woods walk. The smell might be a problem when hunting...

 

[rp77469]

Yes to the Johnson's Paste Wax. I use it on everything: gunstocks, saw blades, CS-BS-Planer cast iron beds, hand planes and is the final coat for wood furniture and boxes. Helps reduce rust and friction at the same time. Great product that has been around almost long enough to be historically correct.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The key is regular maintenance. Use of a good wax is important. If you want a near forever waterproof finish, I have found that pure Tung oil to be the best.

 

[JCKelly]

Renaissance Paste wax may even be as good as the English say.

Coupler hundred years ago American black musket stocks were boiled in (real) linseed oil. Lousy for Bringing out the Grain but OK for surviving bad weather. The grain, by the way, had NOT been raised first.
Which one may see if fortunate enuff to come by with an original having that "prickly grain" Meaning it has never been messed with by an energetic modern collector.
Even a good boiled oil finish will let in enuff moisture to raise the grain in a century or so.

 

[vintovka]

In another discussion the finish on my "parts" Hawken was brought up. Its acraglas! and will seal a stocks if not waterproof them. I do not know who did it or why but might be the ultimate in sealing.

 

[PaperPatched]

I finished a wide window stool with Minwax Antique Oil Finish for my wife. She used it for houseplants and was not always accurate with her watering can, yet it held up for years and looked good. That isn't saying that it would survive a day hunting in the rain. However neither would I. I've since added the extra step of using a coat of paste wax on the outside and inside of rifle stocks. The appearance is a pleasing satin to low gloss finish. If you are going to encapsulate you rifle in some two part epoxy you might as well buy an inline. A lot less trouble, and you don't have to worry about what it looks like. I've just completed a Kibler SMR and used a lot of coats of Tried and True varnish oil on that, and finished with a final coat of paste wax.

 

[Flinty Scot]

I use beeswax and Howard Feed-n-Wax. Withe the lockdown, I recoated it every time I got bored.
Normally, I wax it every time, both surface and any recess I can reach) I clean the gun. but then i get bored easily.