Care for wood stock after a rainy day

adrian44

New member
What is the procedure to look after a wood stock that has just been out in rain? Also, are there any recommended products to make these stocks more resistant to wet weather? Thx.
 
Unless you got it really soaked just whip it down. I would suggest that you remove the action to make sure no moisture becomes trapped. Tru-Oil is a quality sealer for gun stocks but it will leave a gloss finish.
 
Will find and order it first thing in the morning. I don't like gloss finish indeed but will sacrifice the look for performance in wet conditions. Thank you very much.
 
First off, I wax my wood stocks with Johnson's pastewax. I also wax the barrel and action. Then the first thing I do when I come out of the rain or snow is spray down my Savage 30-06 with WD-40. I spray it down, thoroughly to displace the water, wipe it down. Then, when I have time, I'll detail clean it, take the action out if it got really wet and dry it and re-wax the wood and metal. Never a spot of rust or any damage to the wood or finish.

I don't like to keep my hunting rifle coated with oil. It stinks, doesn't disburse water very well and is messy. The smell of Johnson's evaporates long before you you go hunting.
 
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Adrian, TruOil is good for refinishing stocks but for ordinary protection just do like Skans does and use a good paste wax. Remove the stock from the action and wax the inside of the stock too.
 
The stock should have a waterproof finish outside and inside !! You can always cut the gloss with some 0000 steel wool ! I had the problem when we got caught in extremely heavy rain on the way back to the camp. It was nice to have a M98 so it could completely be taken apart and dried .Add a light coating of oil and I was set for the next day ! My buddy had a Savage 99 - not very convenient to take apart !
 
When I get one of my rifles wet, I obviously dry it off as much as possible before I leave the woods, open the action, spray it down, and put it in its case, when I get home I will put it in a large tupperware style storage container with my mini dehumidifiers, for a night.. The next day Ill pull it apart and clean and oil it, then strip the stock with alcohol/vinegar and rewax it with Howard feed n wax {I have never seen something treat wood better than that stuff, I use it on speakers and juke boxes I spent 10's of thousands of dollars on...}

I try my hardest not to get my guns wet, but I remember drowning my browning citori in a duck pond, I was training one of my weims and I went a few feet in the pond to show him where to retrieve, he brought me the animal, I diverted his attention so I could throw it back out so I could command him to go get it again, and when I flung it I unhooked my sling and dropped my $5000 citori in the drink, they don't take long to hit the bottom!!! lol I was so ******... But after I dried it out it was like brand new, and you would never know it was full of dirty pond water at one point in time, although I needed a new sling, I was so worried about the gun I tossed the sling off to the side and didnt think to wash it until the next day, after that I couldn't get that smell out of it...
 
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