We've talked about this before but here it is again. None of the oil finishes (tung, linseed, etc.) are water proof. They resist water to a greater or lesser extent but they will discolor and moisture will get through, Plastic read polyurethane, is water proof, It does not however penetrate wood worth a hoot.. It sets on top and if penetrated by a scratch will pop loose and flake off.. The advantage of oil is they are easy to repair and the tend to show case the wood a bit IMHO.. To keep the moisture out of oil type finishes.. the surface is best coated bu wax. Any good carnuba bearing wax will do just fine. Poly finishes are tough and provide a lot of protection but have to be repaired as one would an automobile finish.. and they will flake off.. I've been playing with a new technique for applying a material that I've used for years but just as an in the wood type finish for military type stocks. It's called 'OKENE' and contains linseed oil, tung oil and the pine oil. It's chief advantage is that it doesn't tend to wear shiny! I know that sounds weird but it is true, to an extent. The pine oil is new to me at least and applied to a hot piece of wood it does work.. It takes a bit more time but does produce a nice finish.. Also about boiled linseed oil.. In applying it to a stock you may have a long wait for it to dry. A lot depends on how much dryers were added which is what the boiled part refers to. Don't equate 'boiled' to the militaries practice of literally immersing wood stocks in a vat of heated oil to protect them from the rigors of the battlefield. Linseed oil will eventually oxidize to a very dark greasy feeling coat but will soften and feel sticky to the touch in hot weather.. TruOil, Lin-Speed etc. use one or more of the common oils and artificial dryers to force the oil to set up hard. Tung oil will set up hard on it's own but tends to check if applied alone and subjected to high heat situations..read trunk of a car.. TruOil is a great compromise.. but as all oils must be protected but wax to maintain high water repellent. In the period from the 60's thru current Remington used mostly a polyurethane they called RKW. It's propritory and was developed to protect bowling pins.. some notably Savage and some other cheaper firearms used a sprayed on lacquer finish. Lacquer was origianlly a natural material derived from insects but most modern versions are sybthetics. They are very hard and some what brittle. They also seem somewhat prone to checking and flaking. They're chief advantages are ease of application and low price.. Prior to 1964 Winchester used an oil based varnish (read TruOil-Lin-Speed) protected by wax.. After the 1964 debacle most Winchester carried lacquer or polyurethane finishes, depending on year and model..
