Watco Danish Oil is perfectly fine for finishing a gun stock Ted, if you aren't looking for a high gloss built up finish. I have other cans of it that are at least 5-10 years old that are still good, so I'm not concerned about shelf life at all. I liked the idea of buying pint cans because there will never be very much to possibly lose in an opened can. It has linseed oil, and other ingredients in it such as varnish resin and gilsonite that make it superior to Timberluxe for stock finishing and moisture resistance too, at a small fraction of the cost. And as Mike Hunter pointed out earlier, his research as President of the Winchester Arms Collectors Assn. led him to learn that the Winchester Custom Shop used Watco Danish Oil when a customer requested a hand rubbed oil finish. So there are a lot of Model 70's and Model 21's out there that suggest it is OK.
I have plenty of sealed cans of varnish, polyurethane, and various other finishes that have remained liquid for years. I still have most of that over 50 year old can of Sherwin Williams Spar Varnish that belonged to my late grandfather, and it is still fine. But when I put my cans of Watco Danish Oil on the shelf last night, I noticed that some Gillespie Tung Oil Varnish that I had put in an empty rubbing alcohol bottle had jelled. It may still be usable if I thin it, but I wouldn't use it on anything valuable. I mentioned earlier that you can keep opened cans fresh and good by using a product like BlOxygen or Argon-CO2 to displace the air in the can before resealing it.
