original gun stock finish

[R. Boone]

What did the old gun builders use to finish there stocks with? I know they didn't have Truoil, some of the finish on the old guns seam to have stood the test of time rather well.

 

[exMember]

linseed oil.

 

[Muley Hunter]

Which basically is what Truoil is with something added to it.

 

[Muley Hunter]

I just looked it up. Truoil is a far cry from pure linseed. My bad.

Tru-Oil' is made from a mixture of 56% mineral paint thinners, 33% oil varnish and 11% linseed or Tung oil.

 

[R. Boone]

What is the oil varnish ? Is it just standard oil based varnish?

 

[exMember]

The 56% thinners is most likely the drying agent which helps it set up a LOT faster than a linseed oil finish.

 

[Buck Conner1]

The 56% thinners is most likely the drying agent which helps it set up a LOT faster than a linseed oil finish.

That's correct Jonathan, our society has to have everything now, can't wait for curing time needed in most cases

For years the old boys would rub boiled linseed into the stocks using the heat of their hands. Let them set for a few days then repeat the process until they had the finish they were wanting. We had antique military guns that had years of linseed oil rubbed in, even on the metal making it a little hard to break down (unassemble) the weapon when looking at conditions and proof mark from a buyer's standpoint.

 

[Muley Hunter]

I bought some of this.

http://www.octobercountry.com/boiled-linseed-oil/

 

[exMember]

birchwood casey genuine oil. Thats some purdy stuff! I got 3 coats on my shotgun stock right now. Out in the sun drying as I type.

 

[Idaholewis1]

I bought some of this.

http://www.octobercountry.com/boiled-linseed-oil/

Pete, October Country is a pretty Decent Place. They are just under an Hour from my House, South of me. I have bought a few odds n ends from them. They are more Traditional, Lot’s of leather Goods, Leather Craft stuff right when you Walk Through their Door, The Owner is an ARROGANT fella that I really had NO USE For, But after being in there several times he isn’t all that Bad (Stil not Great) He is in to BIG, and i mean BIG Roundball Guns, His arrogance comes from “Bigger is Better” He walks that walk. I watched a Video of him Shooting 5 Gallon Blocks of Ice with an 8 Bore I believe? Ok I’ve gotten off track far enough, I sowwy 

I do believe October Country makes some Good Products, But My “go to” is Buffalo Arms, Simply because they Cater to more my Style of Shooting

 

[Muley Hunter]

Yeah, I buy a lot of stuff from October. I have one of their possibles bags that's really nice. I don't cast, so I buy his casts balls. Not too sure about his daisy patches. They seem like a good idea but i've never really tested them to see how they compare to regular round patches.

Being an online customer. I don't have to deal with his personality.

 

[Two Feathers]

I bought some of this.

http://www.octobercountry.com/boiled-linseed-oil/

Hey Pete
You can get boiled Linseed Oil or BLO at any hardware store. I get mine for my knife handles,and powder horn caps, from Ace TruValue and Lowes. Just thought I'd throw in my $.02
How ya' been buddy?
Stoney

 

[Idaholewis1]

Yeah, I buy a lot of stuff from October. Being an online customer. I don't have to deal with his personality.

LOL! Very True! 

I use to have a picture of a Roundball Display i took at their Shop, I think it was the 4 Bore Ball that weighed near 1,500 Grains iirc? It is HUGE! I was asking him about it? Powder Charge etc.? He said the last 4 Bore they had Built went to a Dr that wanted it “Just because” I believe he told me it was a 15 Thousand Dollar Build? He said the Powder Charge was 300-400 Grains of 2F Behind that 1,500 Grain Ball of Lead. Can you imagine that? You would need a head of Hair like this  :afro:  To help cushion the Fall, It was right up the owners Alley telling me about it! 

 

[Muley Hunter]

You couldn't pay me enough to shoot that load.

Maybe when I was 25. No way now.

 

[Firestick]

Uh I think that is closer to being a cannon than a shoulder arm. IME BLO holds nothing over Tru-oil. T-O is just as easy to touch up.

 

[Eichholz]

Linseed oil has been used for centuries. Modern stock finishes may be just as good or better than what were used in the old days, and they have the definite advantage that they dry faster.
Nevertheless if you wish to copy the old finishes here are a couple reasonably technically accurate items concerning "linseed oil".
Over the years a lot of vague descriptions, well just plain BS have developed. "Boiled" linseed oil from the hardware means linseed oil to which some manner of "dryer" has been added. Linseed oil does not dry by liquid evaporating, it "dries" by chemical reaction with oxygen from the air to form a polymer.
If for some reason you want honest-to-gosh linseed oil, go to your local art supply store. Here you may find: Cold Pressed Linseed Oil; Refined Linseed Oil; Stand Oil - oil heated 525 - 575F a few hours, thick and slow-drying; Do avoid the various non-linseed oils such as Poppy or Walnut oil. These make inferior - weaker - films.  
Oh yeah - you may want to thin your oil for some reason. Again, go to the art supply and buy some real turpentine, which should be labled something like Pure Gum Spirits of Turpentine. A good brand might be Winsor & Newton's triple distilled turpentine, sold by the liter in a glass bottle for $$$$$. Avoid the hardware store stuff or anything called 'steam distilled turpentine".
Why?
The reason "good" turpentine is a better solvent choice is that hydroxides in turpentine react with acids present in linseed oil. The reaction binds oxygen from the air, which promotes thorough drying of paint films from the "inside out" as well as from the top down.
None of us may live long enuff to see the difference in a flintlock rifle, but it matters to guys who paint on canvas & expect it to last centuries.
I have two rifles in the family, one by John Shuler the other a so-called "Susquehanna River" style. Both percussion. Both look to me to have had some kind of varnish finish from the first half of the 19th century. Well it may indeed not be varnish but doesn't look like plain oil to me. They have not been refinished.
The military wasn't so concerned with Pretty, they wanted walnut stocks that would survive the weather. So they scraped the finish (no, didn't wet to raise the grain) then cooked them in a mix of real linseed oil and real turpentine. It hid the lovely grain present in some pieces, but the  Army wanted a gun to last, not just impress the troops. Even so, moisture gradually works through this finish over the centuries. Occasionally one fines an old musket with a "prickly" finish, meaning the walnut grain which has gradually raised. I have one such, a Massachusetts musket dated 1813.

Sources: The BEST gunsmithing books are the two-volume set The Modern Gunsmith, by James Virgil Howe, revised 1941. Good stuff on heat treating and steel selection (his father was a metallugist, wote an interesting book 190? which I got). Discusses basic things, more like we all do making a muzzle loader.
Why anyone would care about artist's linseed oil I dunno (except me, I take painting classes for relaxation.) but if so: The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, Ralph Mayer, 5th edition is a basic source of info.

 

[Buck Conner1]

Good information Jim, I have several muskets like yours with the same military finish. 

I have a first edition of The Modern Gunsmith, by James Virgil Howe - Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1934. Hardcover, good set.