Question on finishing Turkish walnut

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum but felt it was the best place to post my question regarding refinishing the stock on my rifles. I'm an avid shooter but am new to wood finishing so am seeking your advice..

I have a rifle whose stock is Turkish walnut but I don't believe it looks as good as it could. The finish allows most of the pores in the grain to show through and it basically has a satin look to it. If it's possible, I'd like to get a smoother, glossier finish on this stock as well as being able to bring out more of the figure. I've heard that a hand rubbed oil finish can produce beautiful results and that tung oil is one of the most popular oils for this.

Since I have no experience with wood finishing, I wanted to ask you all if this method can produce the results I seek. Is it possible to get a smoother finish and hide the pores in this wood? Is tung oil the best choice for this? There are probably more things I need to know but I don't know what to ask.

I have a couple of other stocks, one walnut and one birch, that I want to refinish also and plan to use them for practice since they are not as valuable to me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

I once finished a walnut gunstock by using a product called Tru-Oil made by Birchwood/Casey.

Sand back the stock to bare timber then de-whisker it. Do this by rubbing a damp sponge onto the wood to raise the grain, leave for a minute or two then lightly sand again only to remove the lifted grain. Repeat this process until the grain doesnt lift after the damp sponge is rubbed onto it.
With mine i followed the de-whiskering with a coat of linseed oil. This brought out the color and figure of the walnut.

I then rubbed a coat of Tru-Oil into the stock with a rag. I wasnt concerned about finish because i used this stage to fill the grain. I used a circular motion to get into the pores. Lightly sand back again to bare timber so that the previous stage is removed except for the filled grain.

Follow the instructions on the bottle from here on.

When i did mine it was a new stock from a walnut blank. In your case, you may have things like checkering on the grip and forearm to complicate things.
Tru-Oil gives a hard, glossy and durable finish that you can rub back for a satin look.

Others may have different ideas but this worked ok for me.
Good luck.:)