Mini 14 Heavy Barrel Build

[Sheepdog1968]

Thanks for sharing. I have a preference for rifles that look like WW2 rifles. How did you finish your stock and what are you going to do differently? I am also a woodworker as well so refinishing a stock is the interesection of my skills.

 

[classicist]

Thanks for sharing. I have a preference for rifles that look like WW2 rifles. How did you finish your stock and what are you going to do differently? I am also a woodworker as well so refinishing a stock is the interesection of my skills.

Im no woodworker. I sanded down through the uniform reddish finish. For the refinish, I tried burning the wood a little to bring out the grain, then I used some walnut stain, and followed it with several coats of wax. The burnt wood grain looks super inconsistent and patchy. I think it was more a failure in my execution than in concept. But I still haven’t gotten around to redoing it, more than a year later.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Im no woodworker. I sanded down through the uniform reddish finish. For the refinish, I tried burning the wood a little to bring out the grain, then I used some walnut stain, and followed it with several coats of wax. The burnt wood grain looks super inconsistent and patchy. I think it was more a failure in my execution than in concept. But I still haven’t gotten around to redoing it, more than a year later.

I have a long list of projects myself so I understand. Do you happen to know what wood the stock is made of? If it is walnut, I’d sand it up to 600 grit (180, 240, 300, 400, 600) by hand. Then, I would just apply some Osmo PolyX (three coats) and finish off with a black wax. I’d do the same for cherry. That is the woodworker approach. You are not taking it into battle. It’s how I do a high end finish on my furniture. If it’s a whiter type of wood and you are going to stain it, I’d hand sand to 220ish grit by hand starting with 180. Then stain per directions then back to the Osmo PolyX.

 

[AR15barrels]

I have a long list of projects myself so I understand. Do you happen to know what wood the stock is made of?

Ruger's standard Mini-14 wood stock was walnut into the 1990's and began switching to birch or laminated maple in the 2000's.

 

[H. Bowman]

Awesome project, hope to see a lot more of this here!

 

[classicist]

Ruger's standard Mini-14 wood stock was walnut into the 1990's and began switching to birch or laminated maple in the 2000's.

With some Google searching, I came to the conclusion yesterday that my stock is likely birch. My failure to recognize this seems to be to blame for the uneven distribution of stain. I’m planning to read up on techniques for coloring and finishing birch.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

With some Google searching, I came to the conclusion yesterday that my stock is likely birch. My failure to recognize this seems to be to blame for the uneven distribution of stain. I’m planning to read up on techniques for coloring and finishing birch.

Thanks both of you. Birch doesn’t have the nice color of walnut. As a woodworker, I prefer to have wood be whatever it will naturally be rather than stain it. Wonder if Boyd makes a walnut stock for the mini-14. Might be an easier way to go than staining to get it to kind of look like a dark wood. My experience is rather limited when it comes to staining so I can’t help you much there.