Tuning Think I’m going to do a oil rub finish on HW35e Walnut

Id think it could make appearance "better"? But id need to do a cheap wood gun or 2 . Or maybe find some scrap walnut wood scraps and see what turns out best to my liking in a finish product. That way you could stumble on somthing that turns out better then your first thought . Of course im no woodworker ..lol.. i do remember a guy telling me this on the sapwood using dye. ( Why id try practice wood and see what that can really bring out)

Ya, so many options.. i was kicking around blo or tung finish and was looking at some gun stock work with that just now for fun .. (blo- boiled lindseed oil)..
I guess it comes down to the woods grain appearance . Run of the mill or pretty nice lucky ..

If you do want to give it a coat of oil, just know that all oils are not the same. This Watco Teak oil can be gotten at Home Depot and most Hardware stores. It is much more watery than most oils and dries slow so it penetrates deeper. Shake well. Rub a coat on with a cloth and immediately wipe it as dry as possible. Let sit 24 hours. Repeat until the desired result is obtained. It will dry to a high gloss if left to dry without wiping it off completely. It will dry with a very rich low satin luster probably after one coat because you are going over a complete oil finish already. One coat and probably done. You can work around the checkering without taping it off. Minwax also makes a brand of Teak oil in a green can and it is pitiful. Very thick and starts drying before it’s applied. Do not use it.

I was thinking on that too... May turn one nice.

I did 2 military surplus guns with tung oil is about my extent of experance. But it's do have a hatsan 95 Ginny pig for a walnut try.

I degreased mine with mineral spirits and then over the course of 10-14 days applied several thin hand rubbed coats of Birchwood Casey Genuine Oil, one that is formulated to give more of a satin finish. I did not want to deal with a gloss as normally given with their Tru Oil.

Yes James,
My advice (for what it's worth) would be to sand off the OEM varnish w/dark stain and re-stain using lighter walnut + coat with Tru-Oil or similar type oil. Tape off your checkering when sanding; you can use a stripper on the checkering and then re-stain. The top two pics, I stripped the OEM finish off the checkering, bottom pic includes OEM finish on checkering.

I've recently used a poly spray and rubbed out with Mother's Mag Polish, but there's so many ways to get a result better than OEM.

Looks nice sprial....

IME most durable finish is polyurethane. I like semi gloss for rifle stocks. This finish does not react to mosquito spray. Oil finishes are not as durable but do look good. Polyurethanes and oil finishes cannot be touched up, they require total recoat to hide touch up spots. They do not blend into the surface already present. If you want touch up ability use varnish or lacquer. Both of these finishes will melt into the prior surface, if it too is varnish or lacquer.

If it was my stock I would use polyurethane, it is quick, looks nice, and durable.