Nice rifle!
Orig finish was Lacquer. Winchesters formula for applying by spraying included a very small amy of Wax disolved in the Laq. I've been told it was Carnuba Wax, but other than that I don't know for sure.
This took the brittle nature of the Laq finish away and made for a better wearing surface.
Some have said that a color toner was added to the Laquer as well at times.
Winchester would stain the wood first. Different pieces needing different degrees of color to match them up and to bring them all into the same range of color. They would never all match one another of course, but it would avoid a wide range of shades on the dealer gun rack.
That type of finish is very easy to apply. I would use one of the Poly spray finishes these days instead of Lacquer itself.
Strip the wood of what little remains of the old finish. Sand very carefully to even up the surfaces. Be very careful at the edges so as not to round them over or cut the wood lower than the metal.
The less sanding the better.
Stain, they sell a 'Winchester Red' for restoration purposes, or you can just but a shade of MinWax that suits you.
Oil stain or Solvent stain, really doesn't matter here.
The solvent stain will look blah untill the finish is over the top of it. Solvent stain drys quickly. Oil stain takes a couple days to be sure.
Take your pick
Spray the finish on in very light coats. It can dry very quickly.
Decide if you want a built up finish and how 'deep' you want it.
When done, let that dry for a few days and then level it out with 600 or 800 grit paper.
Then polish with Pumice on a soft cloth.
Go one step further and polish again with Rottenstone, a finer polish still.
Then I rub the stock down with a very light touch of Refined Linseed Oil (it actually drys).
The amt you get on the end of your thumb when you cover the spout on the bottle and tip it up and back down is likely too much for the rub down.
Wipe any excess off. What's left on the wood that you can't see is enough.
Repeat if you want to.
That's the only use for Linseed Oil I have.
If you just want to do a rub-on Oil type finish,,after the wood prep,,use a Tung Oil as stated above.
It will dry and you can build up a finish in the wood with it.
Let each coat dry and do another till satisfied with the look. Do the same sanding with ultra fine paper if needed to level and then a rub down with pumice and a cloth. The same Refined Linseed after that.
There's always Tru-Oil,,,,but I haven't touched that stuff since about 1970.
...It's Evil.
It's actually a Linseed Oil Varnish with synthetic resins for fillers and some dryers added.
Nothing special,,Any Varnish MUST have Resins, or it's not a varnish. They are what does the filling and coating. Dryers for obvious reasons and with a Linseed Oil base, they are doubly needed as Linseed Oil does not like to dry.
Tung Oil drys quite nicely
So called 'Wipe-on-Varnishes' are simple any of the above that are diluted out with mineral spirits (usually by 50 to 70%).
That makes them much easier to apply with just a cloth dampened with the finish and you can quickly wipe down the entire project with the finish and not have any overlap issues. It drys quick too.
Each coating is very thin, but that's not a bad thing.
Shellac is a varnish as well. It's a Spirit (alcohol based) varnish. The resin in it is the dissolved Lac bug shell.
That was a popular stock finish as well up to about the late 1920's.
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