It is very important to take good care of your gun stock. The best way is to cover the wood in either an oil or wax. The idea is to keep the stock moist and supple. The more dried out wood becomes, the risk of cracking increases. There are many incredible products on the market for stock care, including oils, waxes and polishes. 

How to choose the right product for your stock?

Choosing correct aftercare product is vital when your gun has an oil finish. Many gun cleaners and preservatives can be solvent based. Solvent and thinners can be harmful to an oil finish by eating away at the protective layers and creating a 'cloudy' effect. These should be avoided at all times.

Waxes are a very good way of applying protection to an oil finished gun without removing the shine. They are also ideal for shooting during the winter months or on rainy days, as they provide a 'skin' to the gun allowing rain water to run off. Many waxes are readily available and usually stocked at your local gun dealer. Two great waxes I use are Trade secret GP wax and beeswax polish. 

Oils are one of the best ways to maintain the finish. After cleaning down the mechanical parts of the gun, simply palm the oil into the stock avoiding the checkering. Most conditioning oil should stay wet until the next time you come to use the gun. This will keep the wood supple and protected. There are lots of great brands of oil on the market to choose from. Some of my personal favourites are CCL stock conditioning oil and TS-95 oil from trade secret. 

Things to avoid on the woodwork.

Most products will be fine on an oil finished stock, however as mentioned before there are a few solvent based products that have shown to damage the finish. 

Spray on gun oils are usually not harmful to the finish in general however can contain chemicals that may affect the finish. 

Gun cleaners and bore cleaners can have heavy solvent content or thinners that are harmful to the finish. Although theses are great for cleaning the action and barrels, I would highly recommend not using them on the wood. 

If you have any questions or queries regarding gun stock maintenance please don't hesitate to send a message via the contact us page.