I am working on my 1895 Mannlicher project and was curious what the brits used for finish on the .256 rifles. I assume an oil finish but have gotten in trouble assuming before.

Yup - it would have been a good old fashioned oil finish with lots of elbow grease.

Yes, maybe pretty, but a very poor finish if you are serious about keeping water out. Much more effective finishes have been developed in the last 150 years.

English "oil" finishes were all additive in nature. Plain "oil" doesn't cut the need for weather rejection. Waxes of several kinds were melted into the oil and it is the waxes that we see most. Fillers of various materials were tried to close the pores. Spar Varnish concoctions were invented by this sea faring country and preferred by many. The Spar Varnish, Turpentine, and Mineral Spirits mixture, seen often in print, is still one of their best. Or you can buy a small bottle of Timberluxe and follow the directions...either will look correct IMO.

I'd reckon that most, if not all, the .256 rifles sold and used in the UK were "as they came" from the factory in Austria. So I'd think the authentic finish is what was used there?

I believe the Gibbs retailed rifles were at a minimum re-sighted and quite possibly re-barreled as well. At least all of the "B" pre-fix serial numbered barrels.

So DPCD . . .
What is your preferred/recommended finish?

You can fill the pores by wet sanding a commercial finish such as Tru Oil, Linspeed, varnish, PIlkingtons, sand to wood and then apply a Linsedd Oil with Japaneese dryers and get the look you are wanting, and decent protection..

much easier is to get Satin Gun-sav'R Custom Oil from Brownells, its fast and easy and will give you the look, and it fills the pores..and again a coat or two of a Linseed oil with dryers topping might be preferable to you, Ive done both, liked both..

Play with it, you can always sand it back and start over..

Thanks for all the info I will take a look at the Satin gun-savr have never heard of it. Have used Tru-oil on a number of stocks but wanted a more traditional oil finish.

Another name for GUNSAV'R Gunstock Finish is: Pro-Custom Oil Spay Can Version. As Ray says," it is fast, easy". You may make it look like any finish style you want using this product. I have been using it for 23 years now. Both liquid and spray can.

As I understood the question put to us: An English style finish is desired. That is why I did not use Pro Custom Oil as the go to finish answer. The desire for different colored lollipops are the reason we have discussions.

Dennis, I quit the can because it solidified between stocks built since I only build 3 or 4 a year if that..but I liked it as well as the spray, especially in the early stages..I finished pieces of walnut with about every finish known to man, stuck them on my shop roof for a Idaho winter and hot summer, rain, every thing mother nature could throw at the samples..Gun SavR won hands down, maybe not very scientific or controlled but the results satisfied me..I was also very surprised at how well the sample I did using gunsavR to fill and then Linseed Oil with dryers to finish on a sanded in finish..better than expected, it seemed that's what the Linseed needed..and it was a sanded in finish that was good enough for a hunting (using ) rifle, pretty and tough. I have it on a 30-06 and its been on for almost 12 years now been used in snow and heat and its held up..Wish Id added some alkanet root to it, but didn't..

dup

Ray; Dietrich Apel said that using
Alkanet was best for Walnut grown outside the USA. He and his uncle Paul Jaeger spend years trying to get American grown walnut (of any species) to get the same warm color. He finally gave up and used a alcohol stain and it was done. I use Pilkington Pre-64 stain over Pro Custom Oil. My can last about 6 months. It is the tips that give me fits. I solved that by putting them in a bottle of acetone. When I run out of tips, I take a brush to the frontside and clean off the tip with a paper towel. I have about 200 tips saved up and throw away about one in every 15 because it has gotten clogged up.

Behlen makes a Violin Varnish already for sale. I have been tempted to buy a can and try it too.

Ive never used Alkanet root on American walnut, I only use American walnut on perhaps Winchesters old lever actions as that's the original wood, not counting some early beech..

I mostly use Old World Walnut, from Russia..I get great wood and reasonable cost. the lighter colors are brown and take Alkanet well..I have some Pilkington finish and stain btw..I;ll try your method with a bottle of Acetone but first I need you to clearify "tips", not sure what your referring to. I suspect Violin finish is VARNISH AND Shellac, even today not a bad stock finish, I know Belk uses such a mix and his stocks turn out nice, I will try some, I love to try different stock finishes.....thanks.

I have not been ignoring any one, have been reading and gathering information. It will be awhile before I get to finish the stock. It is English Walnut if it makes any difference on finish

Ray, the "tips" are the spray can nozzles. They tend to clog up between usage. I have found if you remove the nozzle after you are done, it keeps the seal on the can flexible. Thereby prolonging the contents under pressure and extending the longevity of my purchase. The Acetone is a solvent to remove the residue from the nozzle so that I may re-use it.

It is possible to use the Pilkington stain directly to the gunstock after the finish has dried. I prefer to put it on just before the last 3 top coats. If I polish too hard during the rub out stage, the color will not be damaged. It also allows one to adjust the color to taste with an Acetone dampened cloth. NOT SOAKED. You only wish to lighten the color..not take off the finsih!

Rolland; English, French, Turkish, Albanian, Circausian.....etc. All stem from a common gene pool of long ago. The finishes used in the past were State of the Art then. Today there are better finishes that protect the wood and can be made to imitate the original finish as issued from the factory. No matter what finish you use. It is just work to do it right. There are usually very few short cuts which work well or look like the original desired look. But, each eye holds a different picture of what is desired. Only you may tell us when you have arrived at a stopping spot.

The one thing not mentioned is time. Years ago the stockmaker at Westley Richards told me he would rub in a few drops of finish and then not touch the stock for a month.

Having been an outworker to the company in question in the last post....their finish does take a long time to dry. The English trade finish was a very slow process. Linseed oil was the carrier agent for the added waxes and Japan Dryer additives. I have a little left over from those days, for those guns which require such. Most American's WON'T wait that long. Not that they CAN'T.

To really speed up the drying, try cobalt dryer..As with Japan dryer. there are health hazards to be aware of

But a couple drops in a puddle about the size of a silver dollar will dry linseed oil in a matter of a few hours.

Dennis no problem with the spray cans, its the bulk cans that dry up on top. I tried marbles to lift the liquid level as suggested by some but that just forms the same crug around the marbles...but I really like the GunSav-R spray can a sit lays on such a thin even coat..

Yes I like Japan dryer and Linseed for a final finish, LInseed is such a nice top finish..