Dark vs Light stock

[Dale Lilly]

Good evening. I read many posts that say most of the 1800s mountain/plains rifles were stained dark.. However in looking at pictures of early Hawken and Leman rifles, many are quite light. Can someone fill me in? Polecat

 

[Notchy Bob]

Polecat, that's a really good question.

It is my understanding that many of the old-time gunmakers used varnish as a finish. I've read what I could find on the topic and I've discussed it with a couple of pretty knowledgeable gunmakers.

The old timers appreciated nicely figured wood as much as we do, and they were skilled in finishing the wood to enhance the figure. The final finish might be oil, laboriously rubbed in. However, plainer "working" rifles were often varnished, or even painted. Doc White posted a nice article about original Hawkens on his website. He stated that the typical Hawken was stocked in straight-grained maple or walnut and finished with a very dark, almost black varnish. With the color in the varnish, stain would not have been necessary. Baird's book shows a few original Hawkens with fancy maple, but I understand these were the exceptions. Anyway, a possible answer to your question might be that the dark varnish wore off the surface, exposing the lighter, unstained wood. There are photos on the web, including on this forum, of the original "Liver Eating Johnson" Hawken. The wood has areas that are still almost black, while parts of the stock subjected to more wear and abrasion are very light.

I ordered a Hawken fullstock from John Bergmann two years ago, and discussed stock woods and finish. He acknowledged the straight-grained wood and dark varnish on the originals, but said straight grained maple stock wood was harder to get than fancy wood. Apparently, there is a very limited market for it among stockmakers and the straighter grained wood goes to other uses. He also talked me out of the varnish finish, as rubbed oil is easier to "touch up" if the wood gets scratched or dinged. So, I went with a conventional curly maple stock with a warm, deep stain and rubbed oil finish. I have no regrets, either. The rifle is a beauty. However, even a lot of traditionalists in today's muzzleloading fraternity have drifted away from some of the real traditional practices. I think it would be an unusually courageous gunmaker today who would build a Hawken and finish it with a dark, almost black varnish. He would be worried about his reputation!

When I get on my "real" computer, I'll try to post the link to Doc White's article, and the photo of the John Johnston Hawken. I'm using a dadgum little touch-screen unit right now and have a devil of a time with copy/paste operations and posting pictures.

Incidentally, I have enjoyed reading your hunting stories and tales. Keep 'em coming!

Notchy Bob

 

[Notchy Bob]

Polecat,

Here is a link to Doc White's article discussing original Hawken rifles: The Truly Traditional Hawken

...and here is a photo of the original "Liver Eating Johnson" Hawken:

Note the dark and light areas on the stock. However, there appears to be a bit of shine in the finish, and I'm guessing somebody polished the rifle with some sort of wax or polish. I don't think that would have necessarily changed the colors, though. Here is another view of the same rifle:

Some areas of the stock appear quite dark, especially down near the buttplate. This rifle appears to be in remarkably good condition overall.

Notchy Bob

 

[Dale Lilly]

Thank you for the great lesson. I have seen quite a few Hawkens and some were dark, others not, I have a Uberti, Log Cabin Shop, Hawken built from a kit I think, well done and finished light. I just changed a Pedersoli made Kentucky from the sprayed/dipped/fakey finish to light rubbed oil. My better half likes light, I guess that's one excuse for making 'em that way, Thanks Notchy Bob. Watch for another story this morning. Polecat

 

[plmeek]

The final finish might be oil, laboriously rubbed in. However, plainer "working" rifles were often varnished, or even painted. Doc White posted a nice article about original Hawkens on his website. He stated that the typical Hawken was stocked in straight-grained maple or walnut and finished with a very dark, almost black varnish. With the color in the varnish, stain would not have been necessary.

Notchy, I think you misquoted Doc White with the statement, "finished with a very dark, almost black varnish."

Doc wrote:

Most Hawken rifles were plain maple, some few walnut, both woods obviously chosen for strength over figure and were painted with a dark varnish. (Or the original varnish has faded to dark, almost blackish, over the years.) [emphasis added]

The black finish we see on antique rifles is not likely the original finish. It is the result of oxidation of the finish and the build-up of dust and grime over the many decades.

What Doc is writing about is that color was added to the varnish used on the plain woods to give the finish a red or brown tint. It made the wood look darker, but not opaque.

There aren't many antique rifles that still exhibit much of their original finish. That makes drawing general conclusions from such a small sampling dangerous.

That said, the Kit Carson Hawken has been protected in an indoor environment since 1868 and kept locked in a safe since the 1960's. As a result, it's in amazing condition for its age. I was fortunate enough to be able to examine it and photograph it last December.

Below is a photo of the forearm of the Carson Hawken where the original varnish has mostly been worn off showing the color of the plain hard maple.

This next photo is of the cheek piece and butt. I was trying to capture the lines of the cheek piece so much of the photo is out of focus, but it does show the current color of the varnish on the rifle.

The varnish appears to have been a reddish brown. Even though this rifle hasn't had as much exposure to the elements as most antiques, it still exhibits some oxidation of the varnish that makes it look darker today than when Carson was carrying it.

An obvious indication of the oxidation layer on the varnish is the reduction in the amount of light and color that is reflected back to the camera as the distance from the rifle increases.

In the day, if someone want a "dark" stock they would have used walnut.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Phil, thank you for the correction!

I think the take-home, the points on which I hope we can agree, are that many old rifles were varnished, and color was added to the varnish, as it is for violins. As the varnish wore off, the lighter, un-stained wood was exposed.

The close-up photos of the Carson rifle are remarkable, and much appreciated.

Notchy Bob