I got this new rifle, like to keep it that way. Nice looking wood stock on it--want to know if there is anything I can do to keep it looking and feeling new. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I don't mean to be a wise guy but this is too good to pass up. Don't use it!
Seriouly, if a gun is used and hunted with it will get dings. Some guys take better care of their equiptment then others. I feel one of the real advantages of glass stocks are you either don't care if they get scratched or their too tough to ding and scratch up. Enjoy your gun, that means use it.

I agree with Pete. A wood stock just gets better with time & use. It will develop character. And by that I'm not saying go out & abuse it. At the end of the day, lightly wipe it off with a clean cloth to keep "grit" off of it. Keep it dry. Use care about hitting something with it, or letting other things hit it. Don't put easily avoidable scratches on it, but don't sweat about the ones that "naturally" happen from using it.

FarRight,
There is nothing that looks better than a rifle with nice wood except for a rifle with nice wood that has been well used and well cared for!
Good Hunting,

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Andy Cooper

Sure, there's some easy things you can do to help maintain your stock. Give it a coat of good carnauba paste wax once in a while for a start. Leave it unpolished for hunting, shine it up for display. Seal the interior of the stock with a good finish. Remove the butt plate or recoil pad and seal the end grain of the butt. This prevents gun oils from crawling into the wood from the inside and causing discoloration and breakdown of the wood fibre. Also reduces water absorption that can affect your sight-in. Once a year take some thinned boiled linseed oil and brush it into the checkering. Use a toothbrush and a bit of mineral spirits to clean the checkering out first. It's no more effort than cleaning the action and barrel to do a bit of preventive.

Try johnson's paste wax on all wood and metal surfaces (not inside barrel or chamber.) You'll still get the above-mentioned character builders but the wood/metal will not rust/warp/asorb water. I disassemble working rifles at the end of each season and give them the johnsons treatment. Play guns get the treatment whenever they are appart. New guns get the treatment first thing. On metal-to-wood areas, I paint on johnsons with a acid brush and don't buff it off before reassembly. Use a very soft bristle brush to gently work it into the checkering. It will clean and protect it at the same time.

If you plan on finising the interiors of the wood like Stocker mentioned, do it before applying the wax. In addition to what Stocker mentioned, another excellent interior wood sealer is 5-minute epoxy thinned with a little acetone to make it easy to paint on. THis is thin runny stuff so use it carefully. It will damage your exterior stock finish if it runs.

This is just one of the many ways to resonably protect a firearm...

[This message has been edited by cgdavid (edited 05-20-2002).]