Have an SBR'd Marlin 1894, and I'm looking to redo the furniture. Not too picky on working off blank stocks or redoing the existing furniture, which I still have.

Anyone got a good smith who handles this kind of thing that doesn't charge $2k? Not looking for anything incredibly fancy. Don't need AAAA burled walnut or anything...

Please let me know. All help is appreciated.

I don't know of anyone but you could likely do it yourself.

Most people finishing Marlin furniture use multiple coats of boiled linseed oil which doesn't provide a ton of weather protection and sort of wears away from what I under stand, or they're using boiled linseed oil and top coating Tru-Oil stock finish to create a better weather proof/less maintenance barrier. Do a little bit of googling and you'll find what info on how to DIY it.

I'm in the process of finishing an 1894 stock. Trying to figure out how to turn it black and still see the wood grain. Having fun with it.

Appreciate the input! Seems like it wouldn't be too tricky. Especially with some of the precuts out there, and all the examples of finish on raw walnut.

Really more concerned about the fitting, than anything. But seeing how little luck I'm having finding someone with experience of fitting stocks, it might be my only option.

Still holding out hope. I don't mind running it unfinished for now.

I used multiple layers of boiled linseed oil on this Remington 725 stock, and then top coated it with Tru-Oil for weather protection just as you suggested.

It’s slow getting the boiled linseed to dry between coats, but the deep glow you finally  get is amazing.  This photo does not do it justice.  I know it’s not a lever gun, but wood finishing is the same.

Looks excellent.

General finishes makes a number of semi-transparent gel stains available at your  local woodworking store. With the gel stains, you wipe on and then wipe back off after a minute or so depending how dark you want it. You can let it dry and hit it again for a darker finish. I've used it many times on woodworking projects and should work well on gun stocks I'd think. You have to go back over with a topcoat for protection. Black might be a bit too dark to see much grain. Maybe Java or grey for something different.
Black

Java

Grey

Thanks for the input. I tried my normal stain and poly top coats first. But it ends up covering up way too much grain. Ended up "ebonizing" the walnut with iron oxide and then used Rubio Monocoat "black" for final coat. Deep black color yet you can still see the grain/features of the wood.

Attached File

That looks cool! I'm more of a walnut guy myself, but I can entertain other variations. I'd really like to see a stock with lighter gray color. I'm not adventurous enough to try it however.