Quote Originally Posted by Crashyoung View Post
linseed oilicon is hygroscopic.
A fancy word that means it absorbs water.

If you look at wood treated with linseed oilicon,
the dark areas are where hands have held the stock.
There are many ways to prevent the absorbtion of
water, wax is one, but the military wasn't wanting
shiny stocks on the rifles, they just wanted something
to protect the wood without being expensive or shiny.

I like to use tung oil on my stocks. I don't mind if they
are shiny!
I have to admit, if it's done right, I don't mind shiny.

Thick shiny... like a layer of glass over the wood, I like, on the right gun. I like shiny on milsurps to, as long as isn't that bar top 50-Mil urethane look... I guess I'm saying it needs to be thin enough the wood looks shiny.

Here's the thing. I'm not 100% certain what a new coat of linseed oil on a stock really looks like.

I was thinking it looks this way... which is little thinner than I'd like. I want a finish to actually protect the wood. I.e. the finish should be the sacrificial element in my opinion... and the actual wood should never take any wear... that way the wood, is forever. Just refinish every so often... and ideally, the finish should keep crap out of the wood. The stock should not be a sponge. I finishes I can "scrub", LOL!

http://i54.tinypic.com/2hp106a.jpg

That said, I can really appreciate this kind thing too... but it strikes me as not historically correct by any means... This one's a Mosin.. but see the gloss on the buttstock? I like that.

http://pic70.picturetrail.com/VOL188.../269333227.jpg