Sealing gun stocks

[LRB]

  I used Permalyn sealer as a finish on this India made dragoon pistol. The wood was really crappy and quite oily. I was amazed at the penetration, and that it dried. I stopped at two coats, and so far it seems great and the wood seems less chippy. It is a hard finish, though soft to the eye.

[Rich]

I seal the barrel channel and lock moritse, about like everyone else. In thinking about it, I really don't think it makes any difference if you seal or not. It's just something we think makes it better. The sealers are not really water proof. If water gets in the barrel channel, the wood will still absorb some and dry out. It might absorb less than if sealed, but then take longer to dry out. Rot is not caused by water but by the organisms that consume the damp wood.

[Leatherbelly]

 Wick,
 Is that pistol stock cherry? I love that color and finish!

[northmn]

We have had discussions on finish before.  One consensus was that walnut looks very good with linseed oil finishes.  I have no argument to that point.  As to finishing the inside of a stock,  I tend to take Dan's view that, in that I do not much care what the originals did as it makes sense to seal the gun.  I live in a Mn where there is a very high humidity variation which tears apart old wooded furniture.  As to the lock mortise, I used to really commit sacrilege and seal it with epoxy as cleaning fluids like to leak into the area.  I also stain the barrel channels and lock mortises and other inletting areas,  as any little inletting discrepancies do not show so much as compared to white wood.

DP

[LRB]

  Leatherbelly, that is the wood the cheapo India guns are stocked with. I believe it to be a form of teak wood. It is chippy, terribly grained, oily, kinda soft, and light in color. It would rather tear than cut, even with sharp tools. I stained that one with Fiebings spirit type medium brown leather stain, then two coats of Permalyn sealer.

[Birddog6]

[quote
It is my understanding that Permalyn doesn't "dry" in the conventional sense. The polymers "link" forming a bond and John Bivins always cautioned about letting too much time pass between coats because after some point the later coats will not link to the underlying coats. It has been years since I heard this and he was specifically talking about using it for a built up finish as he often did. There was a window of time between coats and this is probably covered in one of his old Rifle Magazine articles.

I don't think that would make any difference when using the thin version as a sealer.
Humidity shouldn't make any difference.
[/quote]

Well, can't tell ya..... I guess in another hundred years we will know if it held up OK. As of for now, the 2 I have that John built look as good as the day he built them, built around 1975 or so & they have held up well.

And the rifles I have built & used it on have held up well & had no complaints on them.  Even if I use a Tung Oil finish, I seal it first with Permalyn or Tru-oil, then apply the oil finish.