Good morning chaps,

I have recently acquired a Tikka M690 30.06 in very good condition for a song. Yesterday at Bisley I gave it 60 rounds of some cheap fmj Privi-Partisan stuff at 200 and 600 yards.

At 200 it put 10 shots into an inch and half 3 times in a row and the best 600 yard group in a variable crosswind ascribed 3 inches of vertical and about 7-8 inches of horizontal dispersion. Not bad at all for a 22” barrelled hunting rifle with a 7x50 scope!

Needless to say, the gun is keeper.

Perhaps also understandably I am feeling what can only be described of the beginning of “feelings” for this rifle.

I would therefore like to re-oil the stock and deal with a few of the more obvious scratches to the stock.

I did a search on this subject but most of the hits concentrate on stripping the old finish and building up a new one.

My question is slightly different in that I would, if at all possible, like to avoid completely stripping the stock.

To this end I have a few questions that I should be most obliged to have your assistance with.

1. I have read about “steaming” the dents out, is this something to be attempted by the rank amateur? Will it necessitate stripping all of the finish and re-oiling to achieve an even tone?
2. If the above is too involved, in terms of skill rather than time that is, would a thorough re-oiling job help to a significant degree?
3. With regard to the existing oil finish on the stock, do I need to ascertain what type of oil went on in the first place or am I okay just going with boiled linseed like on my cricket bat? I looked at tru-oil but dislike a high gloss finish on a hunting rifle and don’t want to rub pumice powder into my stock.
4. Is there a better oil, apart from tru-oil, than linseed oil for stock oiling? Owing to a good few weeks of incapacity after a recent back operation time is not factor, protective capabilities and finish are more important to me.
5. Does the inside of the stock need oiling? If so how often and how liberally?
6. Would the oil on the inside of the stock affect potential future glass-bedding plans or should it be stripped off prior to bedding? I ask as I will not oil the inside if to glass bed the action would need the oil leeched out of the wood.

Thank you for your consideration

Regards,

GH

Hi there. I play around with stocks in New Zealand and have done a couple or twelve mainly oiled stocks. But this is dependant on what the owner wants as his finish.
Steaming out small dings and marks is very easy to do and one does not need to be a pro. I have a steam iron on the shed whcih I use and I would highly recommned not using the wifes as they do tend to become a tad grumpy.
Assuming that the original finish is an oil job then you do not need to strip the entire stock as the new oil will blend in.
I have a trick that I got out of an old english smithing book and it works for me. I mix in turps with the boiled linseed oil and heat it on a cooker until it is hot or very warm but not boiling. Do not let the mix boil or it can self ignite. I then wipe it onto the stock with a cloth tied to a peice of wooden doweling for around ten minutes, let it cool a bit and then wipe the excess off a rag or you can hand rub it.
Again I would suggest that this is done in the shed as the oil does tend to smell when heated.

I have tried tung oil but it did not make any great difference in the finish as compared to linseed.
Linseed will tend to clog the checkering so I would recommend that you use an old toothbrush to clean the excess oil out after each oiling session.

Do not oil the inside of the stock. If you intend to bed the action then do that first and then seal it with polyeurathane (spelling).

A lot of oil finished will tend to lose colour when the stock gets wet while hunting but you can stop this to some extent by buffing the finish. I have a double ended bench grinder and have a fitted a cloth polishing pad and work the stock on the pad. This heats up the stock quite a bit which then seals the finish. You can do the same by hand rubbing the stock but I do find the polishing method a lot quicker.

For those punters that want a true oil finish I mix linseed oil and finely ground pumice into a sludge and hand rub that on but carefully avoiding working over the checkering too much.

This is just a quick and dirty answer but if you have any more queries then start typing

I'll give you a few more details about steaming dents out. You want to use a clean white cloth, wet it down good and set it on the stock over the dent. Set a hot iron over the rag until it starts to steam. Let it set there until you see the steam starting to slow down, this indicates that your rag is getting dry and you do not want to scorch the wood. Stop at this point and look to see what you have.

If the dent is deep and not doing much, you can help it along by using a fine needle and poking a few holes down into the wood in the dent. Don't go wild with this as you can overdo it, leaving holes in the wood when finished. These can be burnished to remove but why add a step if not needed. The holes allow the steam to get down into the compressed wood faster.

You may have to re-do the first steps several times to get a larger dent out. If it is necessary to steam it a lot, it can raise the grain of the wood in that area. If so you will need to sand and refinish this area. You should wait for the area to dry out before putting on new finish.

Small dents usually come out without this issue but the large ones often cause it.

You now have a "A" in dent steaming 101. It isn't hard. It just takes patience.