rifle stock

[Squatch]

I have a project rifle. It's a Stevens Favorite model 1915. Appears to have been made in the mid 1920's. I bought it in an antique store a couple of years ago. I looked at 3 they had and picked the nicest one. Got outside after buying it only to find out it was a 25 Stevens rimfire. Not a 22 like the other 2. Long obsolete cartridge.

Fast forward to this year. I read an article about a similar rifle on another board that a fellow had relined the barrel. I contacted the fellow and he is nearly finished with my rifle. He is a fan of these guns and has some serious skills and tools I don't have. He has rebuilt all the inside of the receiver to the point of adding metal back to the trigger and hammer that someone in the past had removed that didn't know what they were doing. Then re-case hardened the metal. I bought some new reproduction parts such as a new breech block with firing pin in the right location for a 22. He has hand fitted all the parts. Fixed a stripped out hole in the receiver. He has relined the barrel with a new target grade 22 LR liner. Added a target crown and a Bentz chamber. He is now finishing up the final fitting. If it turns out anything like his it will be better than new!

I'll probably rust blue the rifle myself once the weather gets hot here again next summer.

The wood is decent but has been refinished in the past.

Back to that antique store. I stop in there most every year as they often have some cool stuff. For a while he had a 38 cal Kentucky long rifle with the most beautiful tiger maple stock I have ever seen. Real prominent almost purpleish strips against a dark amber wood. After some research I'll bet the stripes were originally stained with Polk berry juice or similar.

I have bought a brand new unfinished stock set in tiger maple for my Stevens Favorite. I'd like to duplicate the look of the Long Rifle stock.

I'd appreciate any advice on making that grain stand out that anyone has. Overall finish will probably be Minwax Tung Oil. I've got a lot of practice with it.

I've read that the stripes in the maple are similar to end grain and hold stain and dye a bit better than the surrounding wood. So far my idea is to dye the stripes with a cherry dye. Then sand the stock down a bit to blend them some. Then wipe the whole stock with a light amberish stain or dye. Followed by several coats of the tung oil finish.

Any better idea's?

[Sir Henry]

I don't know much about the finishes you mentioned so I can't help you. Are you saying the stock is from quarter-cut wood?

[Squatch]

It's actually figuring in the wood itself. It's perpendicular to the grain. Different than quarter sawn oak. Depending on the appearance it's also called curly maple and flame maple. Like on a Les Paul guitar.
Do a web search for tiger maple gun stocks and you'll see plenty of images.

[clovishound]

Can you get a sample of some similar maple to experiment on? The common advice on staining/finishing is to play with a scrap piece. I would think a smallish piece of curly maple should give you a pretty good idea of what it will look like on the stock.

[Squatch]

That's exactly what I plan to do. Just trying to work out a game plan 1st.

I've got some ideas. But always open to more.

[BrokenolMarine]

I'll be watching for the pics. I have a couple old rifles I bought for the kids to learn on. I am about to pass them down. I thought I'd refinish the stock on the single shot for the granddaughter. I might even try and carve one, just to see if I can.

[mlrifleNY]

First don't use a oil based stain on maple. It will only let a small amount of stain in and even putting on more coats won't gain much in the way of color. Use a water or alcohol based stain. Much better results. You could even use an acid stain aqua fortis. It will make the stripes just pop. This is one I made a few years ago with aqua fortis.
Jim

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[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks for the tip. Never knew that.

[Squatch]

First don't use a oil based stain on maple. It will only let a small amount of stain in and even putting on more coats won't gain much in the way of color. Use a water or alcohol based stain. Much better results. You could even use an acid stain aqua fortis. It will make the stripes just pop. This is one I made a few years ago with aqua fortis.
Jim

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Thank you. That's exactly the kind of effect I'm looking to achieve.

I just did some quick looking on the Aqua Fortis. That's what I'm going to do to this. Thanks again you got me looking in the right direction.

[clovishound]

That looks a lot like the vintage stocks I've seen.