David,
I meant to send you a note to thank you for the tip on the Sutherland & Wells tung oil. I finished both the Kibler copy and this rifle with it and am very pleased with both the ease of application and the outcome. Actually, I combined your suggestion with one from Dan Phariss. I had purchased the S&W High Luster polymerized tung oil and then mixed up some of it 50/50 with some real turpentine that I had allowed to sit open in a shallow pan for a few days. (Dan does this with the linseed oil he uses.) On the Kibler copy, I put the 50/50 mix on as a first coat, let it soak in as much as it might, and then wiped it down. I then put the stock in direct sunlight (on my little low RPM stock rotisserie) and it was dry in a couple of hours. I then applied another coat of the straight S&W oil by rubbing a very small amount (finger tip quantity) as far as it would go all over the stock and then, before it got too tacky, I tried to rub it all off with a paper towel. This resulted in a stock that was immediately "handleable" and the coat dried very quickly in the sun. Four of those coats (over three days) and the stock was done.
On this walnut stock, I didn't want to fill the grain so I made no attempt to do that. I used the 50/50 mix to start and then, because I wanted to subdue the sheen a little, I continued to use it for the entire finishing operation. It worked great and I am pleased with the outcome.
And thank you all for your kind comments. It has been fun to have a little free time to devote to these last couple of rifles and I learn something from the constructive and cogent comments made on this board.
