Original finish on arisaka's type 99's

[gwpercle]

Another finish you may want to check out is Minwax Tung oil finish. It is not pure tung oil but is thicker and has driers added. three or four coats gives a nice film, quite similar to true oil ( true-oil is linseed oil based, the min-wax is tung oil based) . I finished several military stocks with it and prefer it to true-oil and pure tung oil. After finishing a table and chairs with 6 million coats of pure tung oil , that stuff was so thin it seemed like that many coats were needed to build up a decent finish, I swore off of pure tung oil....with drying time it took months to finish the table and all six chairs. The min-wax tung oil finish is much quicker has a nice finish to it. I applied the coats with a small foam brush. Give it a look-see.
Gary

[Aragorn243]

I'm apparently not allergic to poison Ivy. Never gotten it in my life and if my wife is within 10 feet of it she breaks out. I think I've given it to her from her washing my hunting clothes. I don't rub it on me and steer clear of it when I see it but I have been in it with no reaction.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

The other thing I seem to recall is that many Arisaka stocks were treated with Potassium Permanganate as a "preservative" before final oiling, lacquering, etc.

Hence the odd "red-ish" tinge to stocks that have not been bashed around in the jungle for months or years.

Any other info?