My
old winchester 94, she took a beating from the brush and all over the years
so it was high time to do somethng good for it............ what
i did was first to steel wool the stock down and see just what was what
first with some 5/0 steel wool,i then used a pencil soldering iron and
a drop or two of water on each dent and gouge in the wood to swell the
dent back up ,this helps alot for looks and getting a smooth finish back
asthetically.take the drop of water,put it in the dent and with a hot soldering
pencil tipped iron put the tip in the water drop.the dent will swell up
from the steam in the pores,repeat if neccesary till flush again.i then
sanded the stock out carefully to a 220 grit finish.in my case i had to
get to raw wood but nonetheless did so anyhow.some may use a stripper like
f5f to remove the old finish but wear a rubber glove and steel wool it
down till its gone then wipe the stock down of any traces with acetone
lightly.now for the fun part when your stocks steel wooled to your liking
and no scratches are showing the fun begins.i use formbys satin finish
tung oil myself.the stuff i got for stocks in the gunshop was wayy too
thick from sitting for years on the shelf and the formby's by far has it
down pat for a no play with finish.i layed it down in thin coats using
a cotton patch off a white t shirt.the wood will suck this stuff up so
dont worry about it,it will fill the pores and come out right if you take
your time.mine took about 12-14 coats of it to get it the way i like it.i
put it on.stand it up somewhere to dry for 12 hours or so and lightly steel
wool it between coats to get an even finish on the wood.the final coat
when dry i use a wet or dry 600 grit very lightly with water to smooth
the whole thing out and then wipe clean.i then wet my hand just a little
and hand rub it for an hour or so and then again for 2 hours with a soft
cotton t shirt.next i had just oiled it lightly with some mineral oil on
my hands and rubbed it again for a great shine to it on the rack that looks
great and for hunting i just wipe it down for the dull look with a t shirt.that
satin finish pays off then and really looks sweet!!!!!!
