Advice Needed for Finishing a French Musket Stock

[Tacksman45]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has any advice for an appropriate finish for a French 1728 musket? My question is; would they more likely have simply applied multiple coats of oil until the stocks were sealed, or would they have done something to "fill" the pores before they were finished? I know that linseed oil is the old go to for things like this, and I am leaning towards using it, but does anyone have any advice for applying it so that it will completely dry? Should you ever apply a substantial amount and let it "soak in" and wipe off as much if the oil as you can, or should you only apply a very small amount at the time? And I do know to never leave rags soaked with linseed oil in a pile or waste bin. I am also thinking about using tru-oil which I have plenty of, but I am concerned the finish may be to glossy.

Thanks!

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Linseed oil alone was never considered a good finish for wood and that judgement goes back to the 12th century as described by Theophilus in his book "On Divers Arts". Linseed oil was mostly mixed with pigments to make paint. Then after the painting was done, the whole was painted over with "gluten", which was an old term for varnish. French and European guns were varnished usually with some sort of linseed oil copal resin mix. For your musket, very authentic finishes would include Tried and True linseed oil varnish, a mix of artist's grade linseed oil with spar varnish, polymerized linseed oil such as Tru-Oil. Substituting pure or polymerized tung oil for linseed oil will give you an authentic-looking but more weather resistant finish that does not darken with age.

dave

 

[Pete G]

I would think tru-oil is too highly finshed for a musket. Stay with tung oil.

 

[dave_person]

I would think tru-oil is too highly finshed for a musket. Stay with tung oil.

Hi Pete,
Tru-oil based on linseed oil and would be fine on a musket. There is a persistent notion that military muskets were painted or soaked in linseed oil. That may be true in more modern times, but during the 18th century, linseed oil varnishes ruled even for military guns. Linseed oil without added varnish, driers, or polymerization was considered a poor finish and perhaps a poor man's finish for centuries. Tru-oil will not make a musket look too refined rather how finely the wood underneath was finished is what makes the difference. I looked at scores of 18th and early 19th century French and British muskets, and restored several Besses, none had a straight oil finish and a few were still very shiny.

dave

 

[okawbow]

I think most of the better surviving examples of French muskets show a varnish finish. I like Epifanes gloss spar varnish.

 

[tenngun]

Varnish seem pretty common, as it could go on quicker then oil finishes. Pretty dark was common on French guns, after all ‘Brown Bess ‘ comes from the lighter color of English guns ( or named after good Queen Bess, or it picked up the name from German George, as a corruption of ‘bus’-gun, or from William of Orange who also called guns ‘bus’, or a force nickname invented after the muskets had fallen out of use)
Anyway dark and varnished. Some darking is known from age and oxidation, but old piano show them dark.