Original(?) finish on Lifter.....

[Mark Landskov]

......stock. My 1877 vintage lifter buttstock has a great deal of finish remaining. There are a couple of small spots where the wood is bare, though. The finish has the appearance of age with cracking all over. It is not really noticable without the aid of a magnifying glass. Is there something I can apply to preserve what finish remains? Unfortunately, the forend is completely bare of any finish. Cheers!

[Dean Romig]

If it is clean of built-up grime you cad apply a good furniture wax. I'm sure there are several opinions of what brand and type of wax will do a good job of protecting the original finish remaining on your vintage lifter.

[Mark Landskov]

I have some Birchwood-Casey Gun Stock Wax and some reg'lar Johnson's Paste Wax I can try on the buttstock, but I am not too sure what to do with the forend.

[Dean Romig]

I would use the Birchwood-Casey on the forend unless you want to try applying an original French polish or shellac finish to the forend. It all depends on how far you want to go. You can do both the stock and the forend alike. Just don't do any harm to it. Stay away from solvents of any kind if you want to retain the remaining original finish.

[Austin W Hogan]

With a little practice, you can soak a cleaning patch with linseed oil, put the patch around your finger, dip it in orange shellac and rub away the bare spot. Sometimes it is necessary to blend the patch with 0000 steel wool. Clean the stock with mineral spirits before you try to patch with shellac, to remove old grime and wax.
You may occassionally find a Parker stock finished with oil or varnish but 95% plus are shellac, rubbed on with oil ie "french polish"

Best, Austin

[Mark Landskov]

Sounds interesting, Austin. I wonder if Galazan or Brownell has the shellac. I will check.