CCL Gunstock Conditioning Oil for hunting rifles

I never begrudge maintaining my hunting gear. For me, it is a pleasant meditative activity, not a chore. All my gear is well used. I don’t abuse my gear but, by the same token, I am not afraid of some wear and tear through robust, unprotected usage. A good example of that is my stalking rifle, a Merkel K3 in .243 Winchester. That rifle goes out on multiple hunting trips in any week when I am home, sometimes a couple of times per day. Hunting at dawn and dusk I am often caught in light, misty drizzle and sometimes downright downpours. When I get home, I strip, dry and oil all the rifle’s metal components. The woodwork gets a wipe over and is left to dry out. The stock is walnut and seems to have a good factory oil finish to resist such exposure to moisture.

I did give it a refresher oil treatment, but that was some years ago. Looking at old photos I realised that the wood was now a few shades paler than when it was new. I guess that a lot of sun exposure and regular wet dewy mornings were the culprits there. There were also a myriad of scratches and dings, the result of many a passage through thick scrub and barbed wire fences. The time had come to give the woodwork some TLC, which led me to CCL Gunstock Conditioning Oil. I called around and found a gunshop with it in stock, at $35 for a 50ml bottle, and had it posted to me for less than $50 all up. There were detailed instructions in the box the bottle came in and I found a few variations on that in different YouTube videos.

First, I gently rubbed over the wood with superfine steel wool, avoiding the chequered areas. After that, I wiped the wood down with a damp cloth and let it dry in strong morning sunlight. After shaking the oil bottle, I wetted my fingertip with oil and began applying that to the wood. The dabs of oil were spread and worked into the surface with my bare fingers. You could use a bit of soft cloth, but I like the control bare fingers gave, especially in avoiding the areas of chequering. I have to say, a few dabs of oil went a long way. The rifle was let to stand in the shade for about 45 minutes, by which time the oiled surface had become tacky. Using a soft piece of flannel material, I buffed the surface oil. The transition was remarkable. The timber was immediately darker, with beautiful depth highlights and a rich dull gleam. Most of the scratches had disappeared or were barely visible. The photos show the results of the first application.

I will continue with such applications, as needed, and am keen to see just how good a finish I can work into the stock with the CCL Gunstock Conditioning Oil. I hope to replicate the rich, deep glow of classic old English custom gunstocks, while comprehensively protecting my rifle from the rigours of hard use and weather.