Water-proofing a wood stock

[Maniac Jack 2]

I've got a wood stock S-.308, and I love the wood stock so much that I'm not about to swap out for a synthetic and/or convert it. But wood isn't exactly waterproof (it swells and stuff). Its not one of my guns that I would throw in the mud like I would my SAR-1, but I still want the option to fire it under adverse weather conditions, rain, sleet, whatever. I didn't want to go with a shiny laquer finish, cause I like the finish its got now. So, I was thinking, what do you guys think of Thomson's Water Seal? You think that would do the trick to waterproof it while still keeping its current finish? Thanks.

Edited May 22, 2005 by Maniac Jack

[G O B 3,516]

I generally use several coats of BLO, I especially seal the end grain. Years ago I did my sporter stocked .03-A3 with satin polyurethane, again taking extra care to seal the eng grain. For polyurethane , use the non water clean-up type (solvent based) thin the first 2 coats 2 parts solvent to 1 part finish. This will penetrate and seal the wood. Saturate every part of the wood inside and outside,leave no pores open for moisture to penetrate. The old .03 stock still looks as good today as it did 30 couple years ago! A light 'skuff with scotch bright after the final coat is hard makes the stock look almost like unfinished wood. If you don't want the color of the wood to darken when using finish, use the kind called "water clear"

 

G O B

[k_dawg 0]

On the flipside, I like to use several layers of plain-old tung oil on my old milsurps. This seems to bring out the best of the "natural look", and has great protection.

[Onepoint 0]

Strip the varnish or whatever they use and tungoil or use some gunstock finish, which is pretty much the same thing. I use semi gloss Formbys tung oil on stocks and have used Birchwood caseys stock finish also. Both have cured to be very tough and water proof. BLO is good too, especially on something that is already dinged or has oil in it. Anything you over coat the factory finsih may flake off when its cured. But you can try a little patch somewhere and see how it works before you do the whole thing.

 

I don't think Thompsons will last, and it stays soft for quite a while.

[Maniac Jack 2]

So Thomson's stays soft for about how long? And what the heck is BLO? And I've never heard of tung oil. You guys are gonna have to enlighten me about this stuff.

Edited May 23, 2005 by Maniac Jack

[IndyArms 10,186]

Tung oil is a kind of oil for wood...

 

just go to a hardware store like lowes or home depot, and ask for TUNG OIL, they will lead you to the wood refinishing section and show you many bottles of it, I am sure...

 

Follow the direction on the bottle.

 

I use it on my $2000.00 bass guitar... works like a dream... your Saiga stock will be just fine with it!

 

 

[G O B 3,516]

Tung oil is great stuff. BLO is Boiled Linseed Oil. It was the poormans preservitive for the last 2000 years. It comes in quarts and gallons at the hardware store for CHEAP and waterproof/protects any organic substance (that is the smell in old military leather and canvas). Tung oil makes a harder/more durable finish, BLO is cheap enough to slop the crap out of everything (and I am just that kind of a guy!)

 

G O B

 

CAUTION- rags soaked in any organic oil will spontaniously combust if stored improperly. Keep them in an airtight METAL can, and dispose of them as soon as you are finished with them!

[Bvamp 604]

yeh what all these guys said. ill stress that you must take the wood off the gun, and seal the entire piece of wood, inside out and end to end. you dont want to do it when it is wet or damp in any way. if you have a decent amount of sun and some pavement, you can leave it out in the sun all day during daylight one or two days in a row (bring it in at night) or put the wood near a heat source (i dont need to say dont light it on fire i hope), and that will force the rest of the moisture out of the wood. you might also put your oven on defrost or the lowest bake setting and cook it for an hour. not highly recommended. it could damage the wood or warp it if you finish curing it too fast.

 

its just like sealing your deck or staining your porch. if its new wood, and ya seal it, you will have one warped deck or porch next year. its GOT to dry out completely or your efforts are wasted.

 

I would use dutch tung oil as well. i use it on customer's cabinets i build and on wood that i have to strip and restore in old houses. you DO have to coat it once in a while, because the wood absorbs it, but it will look like its bare wood almost.

 

like GOB said, do it outside, and (i would) burn the rags when you are done with them to prevent a chemical reaction in the garbage can. stuff is flammable as anything, so throw a match at it when its on the ground so you dont light yourself on fire. dont mix the stuff on a rag with things like sawdust, oil (wd40 has oil in it), or diesel fuel either or it will be a very BAD day.

 

one other option you might consider (ive never tried it on gun wood) is a clear wood ski wax. you can put it on with a car waxing buffing pad and a drill. that wears down too, but isnt flammable as hell like the other stuff is.

[Maniac Jack 2]

Well, I really just want to seal the wood permanently, but still preserve the finish it already has. So to achieve that, which do I use: tung oil or BLO? We are talking about wood on a Saiga rifle, so I don't quite know what kind of finish it has to start with.

[Onepoint 0]

I dont know about the tung oil mentioned above, pure tung oil will have to be mixed with other stuff to get it to harden.

 

The off the shelf stuff like Formbys has varnish in with it and will harden up quickly. Boiled Linseed Oil works much the same way, but can yellow on stuff left in the sun too much and doesn't last quite as long as a true varnish. A person could try using BLO, it sticks to about anything, wood as well as my hands and pants and sunglasses . The worst that can happen is have to strip the wood and start from scratch.

 

Whatever you get, read the label instructions and ingredients. They do come in handy.

Edited May 24, 2005 by Onepoint

[flintnapr 0]

regular paste wax for cars works excellently to waterproof wood with any kind of finish. it also protects the metal parts. water beads up and falls off. when you wish to re-oil the wood, just strip off the wax with mineral spirits first. Acrylic floor wax also works very well, and leaves a tougher coating. tougher to remove if you want, though.

[Maniac Jack 2]

Well, how about this: if I just bought some matte laquer and painted it on, would that work? If I just slathered the stock with laquer, do you think that'd do the trick?

Edited May 25, 2005 by Maniac Jack

[G O B 3,516]

Laquer is not waterproof. What you need is polyurethane. The Spray cans will work, but you MUST remove the stock and the butplate and spray EVERY part of the wood. Several light coats are required. That's why I use BLO, just slop it all over the wood and wipe. Do that 3 days in a row and when you drop the foolthing in the lake- yu can shake it off and go.

 

 

G O B

 

P.S. Nothing worth doing is going to come out well if you 1/2 ass it.