Finished 1903

In my last post I asked for direction on where to get a repro walnut C stock w/ pre-war curves. The actual ones, that are probably WWII vintage, from Northridge were too pricey. The Minelli from Brownells has a bolt notch which means it both A3 and A4. I verified this w/ Brownells. It is also the same as the 20+ Sarco repro C Stock that it wore. So my last resort was to strip, re-shape and refinish the stock that I had which did not match my hand guard (walnut) very well.

Using web images that I downloaded from here and other forums of pre-war stocks as a guide, I re-shaped the stock. Also by way of my research I used Fiebing's Dark Brown leather dye on what i believe was Europeon Beech wood. Using primarily a 50/50 BLO/Turp/ Japan Dryer mix I refinished it and I am quite pleased. The color match between the HG and Stock is REAL close. The reddish tint almost reminds me of an old Winchester. Overall it is right where I was aiming. Comments and/or feedback are welcome.
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t.../1903Spfld.jpg

It could be just camera angle and lighting, but it appears to me that you've missed the mark on grip angle (as well as color) - at least if you were trying to approximate a pre-war Type C. Perhaps this image will help show what I mean.

http://i61.tinypic.com/2kle79.jpg

Looks fine, but your bolt looks like a straight handle. If it's a C8, J5 or a select few of Rock Island ones it's ok, but I would change it otherwise.

Yeah, I probably could have gone w/ a sharper angle on the grip but I think that I got the top of the comb where it transitions into the top of the grip to appear good. As far as color goes, with walnut you just BLO but w/ others you just try to approximate. The dye reacts as red on both Birch and Beech (as I am told). It is a RIA and the bolt is original. This was a Turkish re-patriot from the early 90's. Either way this is my shooter. Definitely not trying to defraud.

Your rifle looks fine. The stock will darken up with age and handling.

I've had better luck using the Fiebing's "Medium" brown leather dye, and giving stocks at least two coats, letting the first dry overnight, then 'buffing' with 4-0 steel wool, and giving it a second and letting it dry overnight, and repeating lightly with the steel wool. After that, I applied BLO X2 coats, and 'buffed' heavily after application with a coarse rag, which removed a lot of the surplus stain without giving a 'splotchy' appearance. After that, I generally applied Tung oil, or one of the "oils" that have a drier added.
The Fiebing's medium brown seems to give a closer 'red tint' that approximates, at least to MY eye, the old pre-war logwood stain that SA and RIA used on GI stocks.
The grip angle on your stock looks a LOT like what I've seen on AB&B and Keystone stocks. Don't worry about it, it looks great! Enjoy!