Does anyone know the process used by Winchester in the early 1900s to finish the furniture on their rifles. Is the finish lacquer only or a mixture of lacquer and oil~?
If you know I would be really pleased if you would tell me.
Thanks to all~!

When they went to a spray application, they used
a lacquer with a very small amt of wax disolved into it. I was told carnuba wax.

That made for a softer look to the dried finish and it didn't chip and crack as easily.

Cheap varnish and lacquer.

That's a fairly broad question you're asking and I don't think there's an easy straightforward answer without more specific details. By early 20th century I'm guessing you could be inquiring about their Model 54 introduced in the 1920s or possibly pre-64 Model 70. If so, you can find a lot of specific information and how the techniques evolved from Roger Rule's book The Rifleman's Rifle. The book includes an extensive bibliography and those references probably could take you to earlier methods. If you are just trying to repair or match finishes, it looks like the timberluxe videos Jim posted could be very useful...

Good hunting,

Don't know how forthcoming Turnbull Restoration is but you might give them a call, you never know, https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/about/

Brownells sells the old Win pre 64 finish or a clone knock off and it works....

I should have noted that the rifle is a Model 1890 made in 1924~!

quote:

Originally posted by Jim@IMReps:
Don't know how forthcoming Turnbull Restoration is but you might give them a call, you never know, https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/about/

Turnbull reproduces that finish beautifully. It has a soft, deep, reddish look to it.