First in the white gun for me.

[Bull Shannon]

Left handed cherry stocked trade gun, 20 gauge. This is my first "in the white" finish attempt so I'm going slow but after sanding with medium, fine, and finally 400 grit sandpaper in got the first cost of stairs on tonight. Instead of using lye in order to bring out the red tones of the cherry I went with a red "mahogany" stain by Minwax, applied with a thick disposable shop towel. Once completely dry I will apply a light second coat and get the areas that I missed today. I will finish with boiled linseed oil, sanded in between a few applications. I'll be using a cold blue cream on the barrel and all steel furniture which I may polish with steel wool for a French grey finish. It just depends on how it turns out. Here are some pics so far.









craps game simulator

[Bull Shannon]

Some metal polished with emory paper along with the barrel along with the first coat of stain to the stock.

[BOB HILL]

Looks like your on the right track. Looks nice
Bob

[Mike Brooks]

"Next time" you don't need to sand down to 400 grit, I quit at 220. Also, I'm not so sure about Minwax stains, no personal experience with it, but I recall something negative about it, someone is sure to fill in the blanks.

[oldtravler61]

  Mimwax stains are very durable. At least I have had no issues with it. Have used it on furniture and a couple of gun stocks.
  Not real H.C. But it does a great job.
  One thing I do like is if you chip the stock or furniture and you show bare wood again. It blends in real well without any issues.    Oldtravler

[Pete G.]

 Oil based stains do not penetrate very well on hardwood. They also tend to fade over time.

[hanshi]

I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the finished gun!

[Bull Shannon]

Oil based stains do not penetrate very well on hardwood. They also tend to fade over time.

I'm counting on exposure to UV rays over time to bring out natural red tones of the cherry wood stock, in case the stain starts to fade. I had researched the procedure normally used to accelerate that process which uses lye dissolved in water and then applied directly to the surface but was given the Minwax stain by a friend who has built a few muzzleloaders before, so I decided to go that route instead. So far I'm pleased with the results. This week I will put on another coat and perhaps do some additional sanding before I start the final finish of BLO. I'm not sure how many coats that will take or if sanding in between coats will be needed. Does anyone have some thoughts on that? I've used boiled linseed oil before but that was a long time ago and more recently I had used Truoil to refinish some of my lever guns. Since this is a trade gun I didn't want a shiny finish or something that would look out of p!ace for such a utilitarian firearm but I do want to show off the nice grain and figure of the cherry.

[elk killer]

BLO isn't all that durable, and takes forever to dry, there are much better options out there

[Bull Shannon]

BLO isn't all that durable, and takes forever to dry, there are much better options out there

What do you suggest? I don't have a dedicated work shop and my garage is pretty much the place I do most of my work.

Here's the stock after a final coat of stain.

[FDR]

Since you are familiar with Tru Oil just use that and rub back the final coat to get rid of the gloss.  Very Durable and easy to repair.

Fred

[Bull Shannon]

Will do and thanks for the advice.

[Daryl]

True Oil has been working for me since the 70's.  Want to dull it, 0000 steel wool, rotten stone or pumice will rub it back to a satin finish.

[Bull Shannon]

Barrel, buttplate and trigger guard have been blued.

[Bull Shannon]

I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the finished gun!

Not quite finished but three coats of Tru-oil, which my friend John gifted to me, all put together except for the tang screw and two barrel pins. It's probably shootable as is with a reduced load. 30 grains of 3F under an ounce of salt rock and over shot card should do the trick and keep the kids off my lawn. 😁

[little joe]

A trade  gun should have a brass butt plate and iron trigger guard unless you are doing a type G , otherwise a fine piece.

[Bull Shannon]

Small problem occurred when putting one of the pins back in, resulting in some small splinters breaking out. I used an Exacto type razor knife to slightly enlarge the places where the splinters broke out from so that they wouldn't sit too proud once glued back in place. A drop of glue for each one and 24 hours later I was gently sanding away the finish so I could get an even coat of stain on. This is it so far, without the final finish.

[Justin Urbantas]

Small problem occurred when putting one of the pins back in, resulting in some small splinters breaking out. I used an Exacto type razor knife to slightly enlarge the places where the splinters broke out from so that they wouldn't sit too proud once glued back in place. A drop of glue for each one and 24 hours later I was gently sanding away the finish so I could get an even coat of stain on. This is it so far, without the final finish.

  Take out all the pins, and bevel the ends a bit with a file

[Bull Shannon]

I had done just that after removing the pins initially. The problem is that Jackie used wire to make the pins with and this makes them too soft IMO. If they aren't perfectly straight when put back in, even with one end beveled, this happens. I should have enlarged the holes and used finishing nails or brads cut to length as advised by my gunsmith friend but I am stupid stubborn sometimes.

[Bull Shannon]

I never followed up with pics of the completed piece, so my apologies.
Here's how she turned out.