Minelli Stock is crazy light in color

[John L. Lucci]

Got the Minelli stock and began the process of Tung oiling and preparing it for use. When I received it it was dry and raw feeling and color wise it was on the light side.. It was nearly the same shade as my Springfield M1 and had a kind of translucent greenish cast to it. I thought it would darken after a couple of coats of Tung oil, but it's still pretty light. I came up with a hand guard that I thought would match and as you can see in the pic it seems to do so. However get it under artificial light the hand guard goes deep dark walnut (as expected) especially after I coated both with Tung oil. I'm not sure if I should sand it all back and then stain the stock so it matches or leave it .


31493

I'm kind of wondering what species of walnut Menilli is using. My handguard is USGI NOS and I'm not surprised it went walnut brown under artificial light, but I'm suprised the stock didn't do the same..

[chuckindenver]

Italian walnut is known to be lighter then American walnut..
they are going through some changes right now. im helping with them making a repro grasping groove stock..

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Try some different stains, use the inside of the barrel channel and test the colors to find what you like. Your picture shows some nice grain! How does the rifle fit?

[John L. Lucci]

Try some different stains, use the inside of the barrel channel and test the colors to find what you like. Your picture shows some nice grain! How does the rifle fit?

Haven't set the rifle in the stock yet. I wan to get the color right and get it sealed up with some tung oil.

[John L. Lucci]

Try some different stains, use the inside of the barrel channel and test the colors to find what you like. Your picture shows some nice grain! How does the rifle fit?

Tried chemically stripping the Tung and then hitting it with some dark walnut stain. I'm hoping it works . I've left the handgaurd alone after a couple coats of tung as it's dark enough..

[John L. Lucci]

Italian walnut is known to be lighter then American walnut..
they are going through some changes right now. im helping with them making a repro grasping groove stock..

Can you talk them into a different kind of walnut? A little late for me, but it might help the next guy..

[Liam]

31511

[chuckindenver]

not sure an Italian company would use anything but Italian walnut... most of what iv seen has been outstanding, however.
i strip, base stain, and finish..all they put is a light stain sealer on the wood.
some citra strip wood work great on that stock.. hot water and a SOS pad.. let dry in the shade. and stain with red based stain.

[chuckindenver]

FYI: your stock bolts and nuts are in backwards...

[John L. Lucci]

not sure an Italian company would use anything but Italian walnut... most of what iv seen has been outstanding, however.
i strip, base stain, and finish..all they put is a light stain sealer on the wood.
some citra strip wood work great on that stock.. hot water and a SOS pad.. let dry in the shade. and stain with red based stain.

Went with some Minwax Dark Walnut and it's now much improved.. Still a little light after two coats but I can live with it..31512

[John L. Lucci]

FYI: your stock bolts and nuts are in backwards...

Will it impede function other than looking off to an expert?? Getting them in without the proper spanner was a PITA and getting them out after being impacted with Tung oil isn't going to be pleasant.. Also, I seem to match many of the pictures of 1903A3s on Google. I Googled images of 1903s before I set the pins. The "new" production advertized by Aim Surplus has the bolts inserted left to right with the nuts screwed in on the bolt/right side of the rifle.

[John L. Lucci]

Went with some Minwax Dark Walnut and it's now much improved.. 31512

After this coat I hit it with a coat of red mahogany stain and it looked better yet.. going to give it one more coat in 5 hours and see how it stands then compared to the HG..

[John L. Lucci]

After this coat I hit it with a coat of red mahogany stain and it looked better yet.. going to give it one more coat in 5 hours and see how it stands then compared to the HG..

And here it is after the two coats of red Mahogany: 31514 Handgard is still darker, but is close enough..

[chuckindenver]

i would say,,,AIM surplus rifles are far from originals...
no it wont change the function...but anything worth doing, is worth doing right..

[Johnny P]

Several outfits off a "Military Stain" to give the wood a slightly red tint. This is an original finish 1916 vintage 1903 that probably had nothing but linseed oil finish.

http://i59.tinypic.com/1q4lt1.jpg

[louis]

I'm not an expert on staining but I would think that since you applied the Tung oil your stock would have difficulty absorbing any stain applied afterward. I use my own blend of red mahogany and dark walnut, let it soak in for awhile then rub it off. If necessary I apply a second coat after 12 hours or more. If I'm satisfied I use Tom's mix (a few coats) I left out all the sanding involved. I've read and seen photos of Garand stocks finished with Fieblings dark brown oil leather dye (alcohol based not water based), they look really good but haven't tried it myself. Just some very basic info

[John L. Lucci]

i would say,,,AIM surplus rifles are far from originals...
no it wont change the function...but anything worth doing, is worth doing right..

Except if you come across an unmolested original that is pinned similarly: 31517 Granted it's a Smith Corona.. :icon_salut:

[Punch the Clown]

Except if you come across an unmolested original that is pinned similarly: 31517 Granted it's a Smith Corona.. :icon_salut:

Those bolts are in correctly. They drive in from the left side and the nuts are on the right side-the bolt side.

[Major Tom]

Yeah, my stock bolts are exactly the same. Mine is a WW2 Remington.

[Southron]

When I worked for Euroarms of America in the 1970's, Euroarms in Brescia, Italy was getting the walnut for their gunstocks from Yugoslavia.

Regarding staining gunstocks....I found to get the best "dark walnut color" on a walnut stock when finishing it for the first time when I built a muzzleloader was to use a dark Mahogany stain!

The fella at this website says he has developed a military gunstock stain that works:

http://www.thegunstockdoctor.com/index.html

GOOD LUCK

[chuckindenver]

the OPS are correct.. i didnt see them right in the first picture.. everyone misses now and then...

[StockDoc]

http://www.rockler.com/transtintreg-dyes

are the way to go, water base and they have a nice color wheel that make mixing easy

[Phil McGrath]

I remember some time ago that Vulch used Logwood stain and BLO after on his stock.

[PhillipM]

I remember some time ago that Vulch used Logwood stain and BLO after on his stock.

Vulch? wasn't he the Aussie that had a job transfer and we never heard from him again?

I think Marine A5 sniper came up with some logwood stain too.

[barretcreek]

Alkanet Root is a plant which chemically reacts with Walnut to give a reddish tint. Pilkington (?) may have a product which contains it. Not sure where to get the raw stuff anymore.

[PhillipM]

Alkanet Root is a plant which chemically reacts with Walnut to give a reddish tint. Pilkington (?) may have a product which contains it. Not sure where to get the raw stuff anymore.

I thought the red tint came from decades of oxygen and uv ray exposure.

[Phil McGrath]

Vulch? wasn't he the Aussie that had a job transfer and we never heard from him again?

IDK, but I remember the stock he did and it looked like he used a time machine too back too get it.

[PhillipM]

I'm sure his discussion here are long lost, but I found him talking about the logwood on gunboards.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?268821-Logwood-stain

[jgaynor]

{snip}
I think Marine A5 sniper came up with some logwood stain too.

Thats my recollection too.

[PhillipM]

Chestnut ridge is my elixir of choice.

http://www.chestnutridge.com/images/inv/MAWAL1.asp

[Jan'42]

Natural logwood powder is readily available Down Under - mix it with boiling water, slather it on the stock. Bingo, beautiful deep colour. I did find an odd side effect though - it silvers as it dries, and you need to wipe it back after it is dry. Also, it accelerates rust, so NO metal in the stock before oiling. The colour comes out a bit with oiling, but not too much.

Personally, I prefer Jarrah stain - it's a natural Australian wood with a gorgeous red-brown colour. Put onto American walnut, it looks identical to the military colour - I just finished a Keystone C with it - will post pictures eventually. The Keystone was dry and needed some final finishing, and I had to match it to the deep red pre-war handguard anyway. Jarrah stain is solvent based, so penetrates DEEPLY. I won't use water based stain any more. Most stains available in Australia are solvent based - water based are getting harder to find, and I always found poor penetration, especially with oily woods. My C stock looks identical to Johnny P's illustrated rifle - it is the photo I have always used for colouring 03's :) I DROOL over that photo.

May I ask why go with a Minelli after-market when original unissued S and C stocks for the 03A3 are readily available? Last time I checked, Northridge was selling the original unissued S stock with handguard for $159 or somesuch.

[Embalmer]

How do I order a Minelli stock? Got a repro stock I got from dgr on the 1903 chuck in Denver built for me, but is missing a bit of wood that makes front band look huge, and can't feed 5th round (both issues fixed with an original stock that can't be shot with ). So Been looking for a good repro stock, especially if they will be making a finger groove stock.

[Phil McGrath]

Where did you find this Jarrah stain?

[Jackrabbitslim]

I've used Tandy's Leather Dye to good effect. Dark Brown comes out reddish. Not my original ideal, got it off Gus Fisher from the M14 Forums.32264