Neither is the newly manufactured Boyds stock.
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Flax is a heck of a plant. As stated, the seeds are crushed for linseed oil that used to be the foundation of paint, and the fiber makes... linen! I know about flax because as a very young trainee I lost a month's pay ($300) in one day trading the futures :( When my wife asked, "How was your day, honey?" I had to tell her we were broke until next payday.
At least you lost it in legitimate pursuits. I would tell the first wife I was working overtime at the refinery. The truth was myself and a few other lads were at the boobie bar knocking back overpriced beer and helping young co-eds make their tuition payments. Had to tell the wife more then once we were broke for the week. Fun times, Not a single regret. :madsmile:
I use Formby's tung oil, thinned with mineral spirits. I rub with 0000 steel wool after each coat to remove excess finish; also use after the final coat to eliminate gloss. This carbine stock (WW2 USGI replacement) was stripped, then finished with 3 coats of tung oil:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...b225333g-1.jpg
Neal
I like 'em just a TAD shinier... my standard was the SA NM finish, kind of a matte sheen. FWIW, the SA Museum Preservationist, however, said NEVER use linseed (or any) oil on the stock, he used microwax. Ditto the metal... heat in the oven to 210 degrees, coat with microwax, buff -- never rusts. He gets $200 per gun to treat it.
Wax is used to preserve firearms in a museum in a controlled environment or before taking it out into the rain. In the museum at Springfield it is used on firearms that have already had the stocks finished with linseed or tung oil and is not a finish itself. Waxing a stock and even the metal may preserve a finish and may be a good idea before exposing your rifle to a harsh environment but a finish still needs to be present.
Yup, some use carnauba wax from the auto parts store.
This is the right way to do an M-1 stock. Don't use RLO -- it never really dries, darkens with age, and picks up dirt. BLO has been chemically altered by heating to create a polymerized molecular chain that both dries and is less susceptible to darkening into a chocolate brown (which RLO will do) over the years. Be sure to hard-rub the last coat of BLO to heat the surface to make it set hard. Then treat with Tung Oil -- this is what was done on the original M-1s and is the recommended process on the CMP website. Tung oil is a better protector of the surface than BLO.
Also, be sure to melt a 50/50 mixture of candlewax & petroleum jelly (Vaseline), and when it re-hardens, coat all areas where metal and wood contact each other and especially in the area inside the receiver cavity where gun oil can saturate the wood, causing "oil rot."
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Right On. On guns that I want a very good finish that preserves and protects, I use BriWax (available in ACE Hardware in the US). It is "British Museum Wax" used on the finest antique furniture in the world's best museums. You will be very pleased with the results.