Finish on Turkish Mauser Stock

[mrussel]

What kind of finish was on these. I just cleaned off some of the crud and cosmoline and there is pretty much no finish on the one I just got as well as a crack at the front of the stock where the spring is that releases the front ring. The rifle isnt matching (the bolt is has a different #) and with the condition of the stock and how common Turks are I figure I just want a nice shooter out of it. Even if they are common,I have a hard time making myself "fix" something with all matching numbers. I have a Mosin that I bought with a really nice bore that I was going to put a scope on,but I have trouble getting myself to drill a hole in it,since its in such nice shape. It doesn't have the original stock though (has a laminated one) so thats one thing thats pushing it through the drill press.

[Steve85569]

Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) was commonly used on military ( and home use) stocks for a lot of years. After years of neglect and a "good cleaning" there would be near nothing left of the BLO since it's organic and fairly easy to clean up. Dad had a 5 gallon can of the stuff because we had a lot of wood that didn't have varnish on it around the farm.

[Junior1942]

Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) was commonly used on military ( and home use) stocks for a lot of years. After years of neglect and a "good cleaning" there would be near nothing left of the BLO since it's organic and fairly easy to clean up. Dad had a 5 gallon can of the stuff because we had a lot of wood that didn't have varnish on it around the farm.

That's what I used on my Turk's stock.  I cleaned it with a highly flammable and dangerous liquid, then put several coats of BLO on it.  It makes a dull finish, so don't use BLO if you like shiny.  Me, I don't like packing a mirror when I'm hunting.