I've got the first coat on now.... will be wiping the excess in another 30 minutes. I stripped the main part of the rifle and then taped off the pieces of metal left. Hopefully I'm not doing anything wrong by skipping completely field stripping every piece off... but I was sure to be careful around the taped pieces. I'm using tung oil (milk something brand recommended on the CMP forums).

How many coats will it take to get that USGI darker sheen to it? It has a new production CMP stamped stock.

Age is what will give it that darker look.

This and I have been going at it for about 4 months now.  

I'll post some pictures in a few days.

I did 3 coats of BLO and 2 coats of Tung.  The last coat of tung I burnished with 000 steel wool.  It's not as dark as the GI stock but it's effing beautiful!

When I was waiting for my .308 Garand build to come back from Warbird many years ago I spent a couple weeks putting a couple coats of BLO a day on my Wenig stock set. When it was all said and done I had about 40 coats of BLO on it.


First pic is right after I put it all together.








This is after several years. As was said above, it is time that gives the darker patina to a stock that has a oil finish. Far left rifle.

This.

I know it's blasphemous but using red maghoney stain and dark walnut stain mixed in will also expedite the process on whiter woods

I've read (on the internet) that BLO will yellow/darken over time and tung oil will not.

Don't know if it's true.

I've used BLO, it worked well on several stocks till I ran into a couple H&R walnut M1 Garand stocks that looked like absolute crap after several coats of BLO.  A couple coats of tung oil over top of the BLO worked out just fine for me.  Now I only use tung oil (well, I don't really expect to buy more M1's, 03's, M1917's, etc., but if I did, I'd keep using tung oil.)

I've only stained one stock (03A3) prior to BLO and that was years ago.  Didn't really get the effect I wanted, even with the stain that was recommended to me by a guy who had done some of his (they looked good, too).

Good luck with it.  No reason not to take care of the wood as well as the metal.

I put the good tung oil on a laminate stock for a precision build, and it took ten coats - and just kept soaking it up.  Probably could have added another five to ten coats.

As someone once said to me go at it like a retard on a snare drum.

Those are beauties would you mind going from top to bottom and ID them. Thanks

From left to right. All are CMP rifles.

1. Started life as a HRA Greek rack grade from when the CMP was selling them for $285. I bought a no name .308 barrel and sent it to Warbird to have the barrel installed and the rifle refinished.


2. A six digit Springfield Armory from the Danish returns and my first Garand. It has a VAR barrel in excellent condition and came with a nice set of lockbar sights.


3. A Springfield Armory rack grade with a 2.5 mil serial that has a lead dipped heel. Still shot "minute of pie plate" even though the barrel was pretty much toast.


4. A service grade Springfield Armory with 4.28 mil serial. Early post war rifle that "might" have made it to Korea. It was refurbed at the Red River Army Depot in the '60s.


5. My favorite. A Winchester that I put together from a stripped receiver I picked up from the CMP South Store in Anniston, AL. I stopped there on the way back from spending a couple weeks with my sister and her kids at the Marine base at Cherry Point, NC while her husband was in Iraq. Assembled it in my garage using a barrel vise and receiver wrench from the CMP, gauges I bought online and a 3 inch bubble level. Got the barrel clocked well enough that it is only 2 clicks off center with the front sight centered on the gas cylinder. My best shooter and one that will get passed to one of my sisters grandkids.


6. A service grade HRA from before they had correct or collector grades. Would be at least correct grade these days.

Put on as many coats as you want.  Though, one thing that happens is the pores eventually get filled with oil and sawdust.  Once that happens, the surface takes on a smooth, non-military appearance.

Thanks for running down the list very impressive indeed! I have a  5.8 Springfield Armory SG and a 3.8 Special Field Grade and now have my paperwork in for a requested sticky post HRA. Keeping my fingers crossed. I must be a purist or something I have had the SG with a DAS and just cant bring myself to shoot it. Hence the special FG.    

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once its stops absorbing you are done, the wood will tell you when its had enough coats
I hate to tell you but if you are not happy with the color you should have applied stain first. It will probably never darken enough on its own

There is an old saying about putting oil on the Garand stock.  "Once a day for a week. Once a week for a month.  Once a month for a year.  Once a year after that."
It's been my experience that after about 4 coats the stock starts to take on a shine.  Raw Linseed Oil(Flaxseed oil is the same thing, but food grade) turns reddish brown quicker than Boiled Linseed Oil. Pure Tung Oil is not supposed to change color.
My normal procedure is a couple of coats of RLO followed by several coats of BLO.  Now days if I refinish a stock I don't put as much as I used to on, since I live in the hot CA Central Valley.  Too much oil on the stock in hot weather and the stock gets a bit slippery.