I am posting this up here on the forum as the Lefever project post is getting rather lengthy.

Now on to staining and oil finish for the wood. I ask your indulgence for the straight up reason that, not being a stock maker or woodsmith with loads of experience, I am going slow. Once I have decided on the course of action then the finish I select is the one I live with for a long time. This, and.. my Brits hate an unsightly finish on a gun.

Any suggestions on commercial product? I have used Brownell's Pilkington Spirit Pre-64 Stain a few times. LinSpeed over Tungseal (Roy Dunlap). What about Napier's London Oil Stain? I have read about this and watched a YouTube video but I have not experience with this product. Any thoughts on products with a mixture of oil and varnish such as MinWax Antique Oil Finish (I have read about this and it appears to be a good choice) or Watco Danish Oil Natural (I have lots of this as I use it to seal my Damascus barrels). I would like to get a stain color close to the Lefever original if possible. As you can see from the photos of the stock in the original post it is a good straight grain walnut with not a lot of figure in the grain. Again, thanks for the many replies to my many questions.

YOu might try this:
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools...738-140981.aspx

It may be what Jim used on this Fraser he just posted up above. You should as. No one does gunstocks as nice as Jim.
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=565091#Post565091

There was recently a lengthy discussion on various wood finishes in the "Timberlux" thread.

Some here persist in the thought that Timberluxe is the greatest finish ever... which is ridiculous on so many levels.

It is rather difficult to imagine what an original Lefever stock finish would have looked like because of what over 100 years of oxidation and exposure to UV light, etc. would have done to even a gun in excellent original condition. There was a stock finish recipe on the old Lefever forum that I think was mostly conjecture about the original factory finish. I suspect they probably used some copal varnish or varnish/oil mix that was much different than commercial varnish made today.

As far as stains go, I have used alkanet root soaked in BLO, but have moved on to Behlen's SolarLuxe. It is always a concern about how evenly stain or finish will penetrate where glue or epoxy squeezed out of a repair, and may act as a sealer. This is one reason why I prefer Titebond II over epoxy for repairs that are on exposed surfaces. Clean up with a wet cloth before clamping along with minimal sanding seems to prevent glue joint marks under the finish.

I picked up a copy of Bob Flexner's 'Understanding Wood Finishes: How to select and apply the right finish'. Spent the weekend reading it from cover to cover. Fantastic. Get it and cut through all the nonsense on stock finishes and finishing out there. I thought my other resources on finishes were complete, but not so. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for that LetFly. I have a copy coming my way. Can't read too much on the "mystery" of wood finishes. I enjoy trying different methods advocated by various people. The best instructions I've found yet, came with a bottle of Pilkington's stock finish. It will work with any oil-based finish, even if it has some poly (like LMF Permalyn) and I don't think Pilk's is worth the premium that they charge, except for that set of instructions...

I just looked at Brownells and Midway for Pilk's stock finish . Midway says discontinued, Brownells says out of stock.

Craigster, I vaguely remember hearing that Pilkingtons may be done, out of business, I'm not sure. Can anybody confirm that?

Second that on Flexner’s book. Covers a lot and well worth the few bucks.

I believe it is OOB. I talked to Brownells tech guy and they could not find a contact number for me.

In that case, how do I post a PDF? Hmmm. I'll figure that out after class. Or send me your email via may email, in my profile.

Is this the one you're speaking of ?

http://media.midwayusa.com/pdf/reference/pilkington_stock_finish.pdf

Spot on, Craigster. That is what I was referring too. It is not rocket science, but doesn't present a short cut either.

You might also look for two older (2002) articles by Stephen Dodd Hughes in Precision Shooting (I can't swear to that being the proper source). It is very informative and mentions staining as well, iirc.

Wet sand oil/varnish to fill in grain? Flexner's opinion is that it is not effective and a waste of time (page 73 Myth:Fact). Many others do not agree and use this process. Velvit Oil include this in their instructions. Could this difference of opinion be due to the scale of the application? Flexner is concerned with table tops and such, while stock finishers work on a much smaller surface area? Opinions?

The method is clearly effective if somewhat tedious. My problem with it has been that the oils shrink very slowly over time and what were filled pores may become not quite filled pores after a few years.

I used to use rottenstone in the slurry to help with this problem. But I quit that for some reason and just refinish if shrinkage issues bother me down the road. The wood I have been using more recently has much smaller pores and that may help.