[I don't like BC Truoil. I can't get it on before it starts getting tacky, and it looks like crap. I'm looking for something that can be applied with your fingers, but doesn't take a month to dry.]
No disrespect, but that sounds like you might not be applying the Tru-Oil correctly. I'll expand on that in a bit.
But, I'll start with a finish remover.
Since I found Formby's Furniture Refinisher, at WallyWorld about four years ago, I haven't touched sandpaper to a stock I was refinishing - just OOOO steel wool - except on an area that I might have repaired.
I even use the Formby's in any checkering the stock may have, cleaning it out with an old toothbrush.
It's super EZ, by simply following the directions on the can - then letting it dry overnight B4 staining/finishing.
Formby's doesn't work on an epoxy finish (I don't but guns with epoxy finishes anymore) - so a paint stripper like Strip-eeze or Citristrip would most likely be better.
If I want to stain a gunstock, I use a (or a mixture of two) Min-Wax stain. I use either Dark Walnut, or Red Mahogany (which adds a nice "Winchester" tone to a black walnut stock), or sometimes mix a little of them together first to make a third tone.
Again, I let it really soak in & dry overnight before applying any finish.
I've used Tru-Oil for over thirty years, and have changed the method I use from the jar directions to what works wonderfully for me.
First prepare a place to hang the oiled stock for drying/curing, where it'll be out of the way and preferably where no airborbe lint, etc, will contaminate the oil - I use a straightened, then rebent wire coathanger, hung from a cellar floor joist.
Lighty rub the wood down with a new, clean pad of OOOO steel wool (you're gonna need to buy a box of it from WW), to remove any dreck & leave the stock surface dead smooth.
Put the tip of one bare finger into the oil bottle to pick up a coating of Tru-Oil, and place that one drop at one end/corner of the stock to start.
Rub that single drop into the stock wood, expanding the area as you rub from the initial quarter-coin size to an area no more than the size of a one dollar bill.
Continue rubbing in the oil in that dollar-sized area until it starts to dry under your fingertip - the fingertip will start to "drag" and/or "squeak".
Stop, pick up another drop on the finger, and start a second area, adjacent to the one your just coated.
Repeat the rubout to dollar bill size, etc, til tacky-dry & repeat until the entire stock is oiled.
Hang the stock overnight to fully dry ! Don't be impatient - no wine before it's time.
For every subsequent coat, before applying the oil as posted above, rub the stock down bare (not "hard") with a pad of the OOOO steel wool and de-lint with a magnet & a clean cloth.
Again, let each coat dry a minimum of 8 hours before rubbing down/out & applying the next coat.
Stop oiling when the finish is where you like it and/or the wood pores are filled.
Oil the checkering and brush it in smooth with another old toothbrush (don't use the same one - it has remover on it) - and don't forget to oil inside the stock (inletting, under buttplate, PG cap, etc) too (I do the "hidden" areas first).
To cut a shine down to a satin finish, lightly go over the dried topcoat with a used pad of the OOOO steel wool.
I also optionally wax the stock with a good paste wax, like Johnson's.
A full stock strip/refinish will usually take me about 3-4 days, total, but the finish doesn't fully cure/harden for much, much longer - so be gentle with it for the first few weeks.
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