Thread: 9.5x57 Mannlicher Schonauer

I actually had the bead at the bottom of the V and struggled to get my eye line low. I have a long neck and the stock is a bit too straight, though it helps tame the recoil.

I am really glad you are enjoying it and making improvements and will hunt with it. I took it goat shooting and fired twenty or so shots but never hit anything! LOL!

For those interested in the oil finish on the stock, below is what I did.

* Sanded stock down to 400 grit.
* Used boiled Linseed oil mixed with Danish oil as Danish oil has the drying agent as well as some Carbauna wax for making it waterproof. Linseed oil is not waterproof.
* I got some Alkanet root for the red colour of the classic old English stock finish (available on Trademe for $12 at that time and used for colouring craft soaps, candles etc.)
* Just infused the oil with the Alkanet root chunks - 1 tablespoon for 100 ml is way more than needed. Internet research will give different methods including grinding the root to very fine powder
* I also tried infusion of the Alkanet root in Mineral spirits and IPA.
* All of them worked and in the end I just mixed the whole lot so that the linseed oil was diluted thin and easy to sand into the wood.
* I then put a few drops of the oil on the stock and sanded into the grain- 240, 400, 600 and finally 1000 grit. The first couple of coats used 1 teaspoon+ of oil for the whole stock. Just use finger dipped in oil and rub on the stock and then sand in. Sand the oil with the grain and make a slurry of the sawdust and keep it wet. Allow to dry and wipe off the excess across the grains. The early coats were dried for a day or two. After 10 coats I allowed it to dry for up to a week or more. Once in a while I would add another coat and switch to 600 grit. Finally 1000 grit for about 3 coats. Total about 20 to 25 coats.

The wood just glows in your hand and the light colours flash like dull gold. The oil finish is in the wood and not on the wood like polyurethane. I then gave it a coat of furniture wax and buffed it. Not sure if it helped.

I am a sucker for nostalgia and the classic finish of great walnut grain really pulls at my heart strings. I'm going to cry. LOL!

I bought the walnut blank form a guy in Waihi and it is from a real old tree and he still has some blanks left after 15+ years. I spoke to him a couple of years ago.