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Posted: 12/1/2025 2:01:27 PM EDT
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I am using Tru-oil to put a finish on a old Remington model 11. I dont really know what i am doing but so far it is working better than i could have hoped for. I dont want to jinx myself. Here is what i have been doing. Stock was degreased by soaking in acetone (100 years of oil in it), cracks repaired, bedded to action in a spot, sanded down to 400 grit, wiped down with acetone rag again. For the Tru-oil i applied it VERY VERY lightly. Almost one drop on my finger and rubbed it in until i felt heat and it would not spread any more. Then one more drop and another small area of the stock. It went very quickly, maybe 5 min per application. If i took any longer i could almost feel it get a little tacky instead of feeling oily. But mostly you could just barely see the wood pick up a slight shine. It never looked wet or anything. One way to describe it is when the stock was stripped and i was adjusting LOP, I would shoulder the gun and bring it up. The oil from my hands and face (maybe i need a bath) would slightly change the wood look over time. That's almost the look i was getting from the tru-oil. So basically i am doing very light coats, letting it dry about 12-24 hours and another coat. At this point I got about 6 coats on and went out of town for 2 weeks. When i came back it looks amazing and is perfectly dry. I was anticipating having to do 15-20 coats and it take a few months of work. Should i keep going or call it good? Once the old shotgun is assembled can i occasionally rub in another coat of tru-oil? PS, in the past i had done a tung oil finish on a old 870. Really like it but it took forever to dry. But that was the look i wanted. A lot of the pictures i saw of Tru-oil were a little too glossy or almost like the finish was sitting on top of the wood rather than in the wood. I know that might not make sense. But the finish i got looks much more like a oil. I am sure some people would like more a "finished" looking finish but i like it a little less "finished". One way to describe it is that when i pick up the stock i am doing i can still feel some of the wood grain, shape and texture under my fingers. A lot of wooden stocks have enough clear on them that it feels like you are holding a smooth piece of resin or synthetic material. Maybe my stock isnt sealed well enough and I will regret it. But i just think it feels and looks nice to have a little more of a "raw finish". |
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Keep going with more thin layers if you want. Eventually the pores will fill in. True oil and the old Linspeed get some flack from some but in my opinion it’s decent stuff. I have only used the Linspeed once and ended up tossing it as it got gum drops in the solution as it was ooooolllllddddd. My dad bought it old. True Oil is fine by me. I probably would not put it on a collectible C&R but I would not hesitate to use it on say a replacement new manufactured stock. I say that but iirc the last time I used True Oil was on a really scabby looking Winchester 52c I got from CMP. That one was bad so I steamed the dents, sanded a little to hide missing wood from gouges. I stained it in my best imitation of the old Winchester finish and sealed it with True oil. It’s not authentic but close enough for what I had to work with. If anything I likely put a few too many coats on and got toward semi gloss. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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