SMR walnut stains/sealers

[NateK]

I am planning to  order a Kibler SMR kit in the near future and am planning to get a walnut stock as they seem to have been more common in rifles my family used and worked on in days gone by (per my granddad who admittedly has more answers than evidence). In the mean time I am trying to work out finishes to use on the wood and metal and while there is a lot of info out there for maple it is a little harder to come by on walnut. My goal is for the gun to not look new but well used and yet cared for and period accurate. I am not trying to make it look like it is 150 years old and left outside for 149 of them. If anyone has input (or pictures of your own project) please feel free to share.

I do know walnut soaks up a bit of sealer and plan to practice on my old thompson center stock before the Kibler...

[rich pierce]

Do a search in the gunmaking forum for “stain walnut”.  Smart Dog covers it well.

Here is a search https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?action=search2

[BillF/TRF]

Rich I can't seem to locate your search reference?

[Bob McBride]

Look for Smart Dog’s English Fowler tutorial. One of the first ones goes over staining walnut.

[Bob McBride]

Look for Smart Dog’s English Fowler tutorial. One of the first ones goes over staining walnut.

It’s this one:


Miscellaneous Tutorials / Making an Historically Correct Mid-18th Century English Fowler Part 7

It came up 4th when I searched “stain walnut”.

[FALout]

Look at top of page, just below where your name will be, and there is also a box at top right of page. 

[canadianml1]

On my Kibler walnut smr I used Truoil and bone black .........no stain. I like the way it turned out. All my walnut stocks were unstained and look good.

[Scota4570]

On my Kibler walnut smr I used Truoil and bone black .........no stain. I like the way it turned out. All my walnut stocks were unstained and look good.

Ditto.  Walnut may not need stain.  It depends on the stock you have. It is different to work than maple.  It is will have open pores.    You will want to fill the grain. Do that by making a slurry of sanding dust and dilute finish right on the stock.  You could add bone black as mentioned.  Once it is filled assess what you have.  IF it is still to light, unlikely, use a dye stain like Laurel Mountain Forge.  Hardware store stains are junk for stock work.  Staining before you fill the grain will end up uneven.  It may also end up obscuring the grain.

[NateK]

Thanks for all the input guys. The search function has yielded several threads that either show fancier stocks or pictures will not load (may be an issue on my end). I had completely missed the tutorials section which is where I should have started...

Maybe a better way to state my question is what are a few options for stock treatment (pore filling/sealing etc.) that would resemble the process and finished result of a poor boy smr in east TN. I honestly don't really care what it looks like as long as it looks decently accurate for the period and will hold up to frequent hunting. Maybe a book recommendation two that describes the original process (preferable not one of the $2,000 out of print ones...)?

Thanks again guys.   

[Terry Reynolds]

Would a gunmaker in the early 1800's building a SMR with walnut stock took the time to fill in the grain?

[smallpatch]

SMR were very simple, and I doubt much time was spent for purty. You want something durable for hunting, not for display.  I’d suspect an oil based varnish.

[T*O*F]

Would a gunmaker in the early 1800's building a SMR with walnut stock took the time to fill in the grain?

Likewise, why would he stain a piece of walnut?  That's a modern idea.

[Jim Kibler]

I've not built too many rifles in walnut, but all of them have been stained or tinted with dyes, shellac, nitric acid etc.  In my view about any piece of walnut can be helped.  Some need more help than others.  I see an awful lot of pale, bland nasty looking walnut stocks, simply finished with oil.

Jim

[NateK]

Herein is my delima. I want something historically accurate but we all have an idea of what that is whether or not we have any basis for that idea. I don't think it is unreasonable to believe even the most crude of gunsmiths would take an extra couple hours to achieve a look he liked in a gunstock. I have a hand full of old tools my family made and even on the most utilitarian of items it is amazing how they took the time to add little finishing details. I know it would be premature to make a final decision prior to seeing the actual piece of wood I will be working with but would like to start playing around with options to see for myself what they turn out like. 

[Terry Reynolds]

Would a gunmaker in the early 1800's building a SMR with walnut stock took the time to fill in the grain?

Likewise, why would he stain a piece of walnut?  That's a modern idea.

T*O*F good point. I just finished a Kibler SMR in walnut and didn't fill the grain thinking a gunbuilder back then might not take the time to to do so, but must confess I did stain it in red mahogany to get a very lite red cast to it.......turned out great. 

[ed lundquist]

Vinegar will turn walnut black. I doused this stock with the vinegar from my file sharpening jug. Then I wet sanded back with linseed, steel wool and shoe polish. I was trying to reproduce the color of an original I had pass through my shop. It is difficult to see the brown tones in the pictures, do test pieces and proceed with caution. Vinegar is powerful stuff.

[MikeW]

Interesting thread. I have also ordered a Kibler SMR in walnut and there isn't a lot of info on finishing. Thanks for the suggestions offered

[Scota4570]

Vinegar that had iron items, files, stored in it is now black harness dye for leather. 

An old time  gunmaker who took any care would probably bone the stock after scraping it?  You can also fill the grain with modern tinted paste grain filler.  I bet they had similar substances, maybe clay, or boneblack in linseed oil with a dryer?  Over time the wood ought to attract dirt, get polished by handling, get waxed and so on.  I have not seen old stocks with grain that looks like a sponge.  Maybe the more experienced members can set me straight. 

[Leatherbark]

Here's my bland and nasty looking Kibler SMR with walnut stock  . Just used 7 or 8 coats of Tru-oil.  I am hard on a rifle stock.  I shoot this thing in competition at least once a month and at Friendship.  I just wanted a durable finish. I didn't stain it......Sure is a shooter though

[Mountaingoat]

Here's how I finished mine, maybe it's the look you're after, or maybe not. Anyway..

Step 1: lightly sand or scrape stock.
Step 2: smear Tried and True oil finish all over it.

[Craig Wilcox]

Finished quite a few walnut stocks with some French Red filler from Brownell's, then multiple very thin coats of linseed oil, applied with the hand, rubbing in till it feels warm.  Then 0000 steel wool, then do it all again.  Gives a pretty good finish.  Then I started using Tung Oil - much better than BOL!  Still the same process, but the finish is much tougher and more resistant to water.

Mr. Hatfield, above, has a very nice firearm.  He proves it by bagging (literally) two turkeys and a side of pork.  BUT - always a fly in the ointment - he has a McCoy sneaking through the woods behind him!

[flinchrocket]

Wonder where he got that pork. 
Nice rifle.

[Hungry Horse]

Something to remember is SMR’s were called black rifles long before modern man started making gunstocks out of milk jugs,and old tires, and calling them “Black Rifles” . A likely grain filler would be asphalt, or tar, devolved in turpentine, to a consistency of grandma’s gravy. I’d wipe it on a final sanded stock, and then wipe it off. It will likely take a couple of applications to fill the pores of the wood. The process will no double color the stock to some degree. So, you will have to decide to either stop there, and apply a finish. Or, go over it with a stain to even it out, and give it a bit of a tint, and then apply a finish. A tinted varnish could do the evening out, and the finish in one step. I would rub any varnish back a little to cut the shine, and then wax it good with paste floor wax.

  Hungry Horse

[Leatherbark]

I scared everyone in the frozen food department when I "harvested" both those turkeys and pork loin!

[flinchrocket]

I scared everyone in the frozen food department when I "harvested" both those turkeys and pork loin!

Hahahahaha, maybe they were in a hurry to get to the donuts before you started shooting out the holes.