Best wood stock care in Alaska (wet)

[ray12515]

What’s everyone using(wax etc.) to protect a wood stock in extended wet hunting? I’m heading to Alaska in a couple of months, I’m planning to take a .300wsm that has a walnut stock with an oil rubbed finish and a matte blued barrel. Very accurate and lightweight gun but I’m a little concerned about how it will handle the elements

 

[Castle Rock]

If you seriously are hunting in really wet conditions for more than a couple of days buy a synthetic stock, your oil finished timber stock will be ruined

 

[Hunter270Win]

Ignore what the guy above said lol there have been more hunts with wood stocks than not in Alaska.

 

[Koda_]

Wood stocks and blued guns are fine in the rain. Go hunt and dont worry about it. When you get home take the stock off and let dry out... same as you should for a synthetic stock.

I use tung oil on my walnut stock for years, every couple yearsI add a layer.

 

[North River]

I hunt with wood stocks about 50% of the time and I do so in some of the wettest, saltiest parts of Alaska. That said, there is a reason folks prefer synthetic. If your stock is nice and you care you might think twice. Then again, I have had clients come on goat, moose, bear hunts with fine custom rifles and they survived. Wood quality, finish quality, and your care of the rifle all matter. I have a 1914 Swedish Mauser that never shifts zero and never swells. The wood is like iron and weeps whatever oil finish they used over 100yrs ago.

You could wax your stock but I suspect that may make it more difficult to properly treat later. Better might be an extra coat of oil, whatever type it is finished with or a Tung oil if unknown. If it is a rather plain stock, which most of my working guns are, I like to treat them with an oil based marine spar varnish. The oil based ones are preferable to urethane ones as they soak in and last longer. Properly done this type of finish is nearly as impervious as synthetics. If the stock has a shiny finish then just leave it as is, it’ll probably be fine and if not it could use a better finish anyways….

Regardless, it is worth removing the stock and treating the inside. Most stocks are only treated externally, all of the unseen bits are untreated. This is where most of the water soaks in and the swelling begins.

As for the metal - I have heard good things about wax but never personally used it. I treat my rifles more like marine boat parts. A little surface rust doesn’t hurt much and is easy to remove but the unseen corrosion internally needs to be kept at bay. Marine grease and Corrosion X are applied as necessary. Non stainless barrels should have a thin layer applied to the bore after cleaning. The inside of bolts and triggers also. Anything applied to the outside will eventually wear off with use but can be easily wiped down each night if appearance are important.

Either way, no need to go buy a stainless synthetic rifle. They are great but not necessary. Even many commercial fishing boats have old blued wooden guns in good working order. A little wear adds character.

 

[Castle Rock]

Ignore what the guy above said lol there have been more hunts with wood stocks than not in Alaska.

There is a huge difference between a varnished timber stock and a rubbed oil finish, that implies it is something special
Couple of hundred for plastic is cheap insurance

 

[Wrench]

I'd pay attention to the barrel channel clearance. If it is skinny on clearance.....it may be an issue when it gets soaked.

 

[ray12515]

I appreciate the feedback everyone, it sounds like there may be problems or everything may work out ok but some good insurance would be to get a fresh coat of oil on the stock and metal right before heading out. It's a kimber 8400 classic and my nicest rifle so I hate to take it out in the weather but it's the right caliber for the job and I strongly believe in using my guns even if it means some dings and scratches

 

[Macintosh]

@ray12515 you will get different legit answers because there is such a wide variety in wood and finishes. Even a "rubbed oil finish" means totally different things to different people, and the "oil" used handles and behaves completely differently in water depending on how it is applied and exactly what type of finish it is. Also lots of riflesmiths live in the arid west and dont have experience dealing with really wet environments, and if you get someone with a "furniture" eye for finish you can get a really non-functional finish on some very high-$$ guns. They look great but they can be really worthless as far as dealing with much weather--but it doesnt have to be that way.

To a lot of people a "hand rubbed oil finish" implies a very thin layer of finish that is in the wood, but not built up on the surface of the wood at all, ie you can still see the physical indentations of the pores on the surface of the wood. Lot of top quality hand-rubbed finishes arent like this, but it's a common misperception that a hand-rubbed finish is thin like this and doesnt have filled pores on the wood or any buildup on the surface. If this is your gun, this will almost certainly create a problem before long, especially with any abrasion from use mixed in--what happens is the abrasion from clothing, etc pushes some water through the finish (which , if its a natural oil without a poly component isnt truly water proof) or it gets sucked in through the thin spots in the finish, the wood swells, and squeezes out more finish, it then absorbs even more water, and you have yourself a downward spiral--what tends to happen is it handles water well for a bit, then as the finish wears it very quickly goes to shit. If you have a polymerizing finish (which 99% of "oil" finishes actually are at this point), it will withstand water penetration far better especially if its built-up much, but if water gets into the wood via the inletting or behind the recoil pad, etc it can start to work at it from behind. Especially be aware of this in the barrel and action inlet where water absorption will create a meaningful pressure point on the barrel and have it shooting differently than it did.

Definitely dont be afraid to use the gun, the best thing about a wood finish is that you can put a new finish on it, so worst case you get your self a refinish. Make sure the inlets are sealed, bring it, use it, and if you need a refinish, at that point make sure whoever does it floats the barrel sufficiently to deal with some water absorption, uber-thoroughly seals ALL surfaces including behind the recoil pad, inside any screw holes, inside the action inlet and the barrel channel, and get them to use a polymerized finish of some sort with at least some small degree of surface buildup, and the finish will last a lot better. If you talk to the right person you can get a finish like this that looks really good too--maybe not quite a real linseed oil finish kind of good, but close-enough to keep just about any wood-snob happy.

Edit: I see its a kimber. Thats a thin finish that is easy to duplicate, and its not well sealed, at least my wife’s wasnt. You could pull the action, pull the recoil pad, and seal any unfinished wood in the inlets well. Use a good quality oil-modified urethane finish, but thin it with mineral spirits by 50% (so half spirits/half finish). Keep it in the inlets, you can use a paper towel or a foam brush, but go heavy and let it soak in until it wont absorb any more, wipe off all excess, let it cure, repeat 3 or 4 more times giving the barrel channel a light sanding with 220-ish grit between coats so it smoothes out any grain you raise, and it wont get water in it from the inside. The outside will wear the finish off if you use it much and absorb water after some time, but you or a smith can refinish that easily.

 

[Koda_]

It's a kimber 8400 classic and my nicest rifle so I hate to take it out in the weather but it's the right caliber for the job and I strongly believe in using my guns even if it means some dings and scratches

Use it and dont worry about it. Blued steel wood stock rifle with patina have stories to tell and are beautiful, you wint regret hunting with it full time in any weather. Using a wood stock gun in bad weather is not the same abusing a gun, a little more maintenance to dry it out after the hunt, add another layer of tung oil as needed.
Water beads off tung oil easily.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

In the barrel inlet, and all over the metal, you can use liquid carnuba wax for cars. Get it warm in the sun, and apply, let dry, and wipe off the excess. It fills in any voids, and leaves a nice water resistant layer.

 

[Macintosh]

Yes, wax will work on wood, but two caveats. 1, the wax never hardens and will quickly rub off from abrasion against your clothing leaving the wood unprotected; and when that happens and the wood swells from being wet, the expanding wood squeezes the remaining wax out of the pores very quickly, accelerating the process. Its a quick and dirty short-term application, but its anything but a solution. Also 2, some waxes have a silicone component, which can wreak havok on any future refinishes, so if you do this make sure there is no silicone in whatever product you are using.

The only real solution I am aware of is a polymerizing finish soaked into all surfaces (inside and outside) the wood as much as possible, and fully cured, ideally with the action area fully pillared and epoxy bedded.
For what its worth Ive had to refinish my wifes kimber 84 classic twice in the 15 or so years she’s had it, all from wet weather use. Looking at it as we speak, its probably due for another topcoat or two before next fall, as the finish is thinning where it rubs against her wool jacket when carrying it. Still looks great though.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Just wax the stock up well and take a few of those individual clp or rem oil towelettes.

 

[SDHNTR]

Pull the stock. Sand extra clearance out of the barrel channel with progressively finer grit wrapped around a deep socket. Seal all wood back up with tung oil. Tru Oil is easier to find, but not as water proof. Still better than nothing tho.

Then Johnsons Paste Wax everything. Wood and metal. Bring a portable cleaning kit and run an oil patch and then a dry one thru the bore.

 

[Decker9]

If I’m in super soggy weather with my walnuts, often I’ll have a thin rifle cover on them. Generally though, treat them right and things will be fine. I’d 100% roll with your kimber without hesitation.