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I got my Mk III Competition with the cocobolo wood grips. I like them. I have a much more "gun nut" than I friend who insists on immediately stripping the finish off of new wood grips and refinishing them with wax only.

This leaves me with three questions:
1. Does anyone know what Ruger uses for factory finish on these grips?
2. Assuming that I am a) going to remove the grips anytime I am slopping cleaning chemicals around, and b) am not going to have this gun out in the weather much if any, is there any reason to apply any other finish?
3. If the answer to 2 is yes, is wax really a good choice? If not, what? I have seen several articles (American Rifleman, I think) recommending polyurethane for hunters out in the weather. This ought to be pretty resistant to everything but might be really hard to get off if you ever change your mind. I have a Furniture Medic franchise friend who hates polyurethane almost as much as he hates silicone polishes when he has to refinish stuff.

Jack

If you like them, let the grips be as is - the factory finish is plenty tough enough for everyday use. If you're worried that the grips won't hold up, save yourself some time and money and buy a set of Hogue monogrips for about $20.

R,
Bullseye

I've got the cocobolo grips also, and they've stood up to everything I put them through (even accidentally).

The only thing would be the cross hatching, small points of the wood are easy to wear/break off, so you may want to keep an eye on that and refinish as they wear down some.

But with reasonable care, shouldn't be an issue. I looked at them, and they seem to have a pretty heavy coating of "whatever" on them.

I'm betting they'll last a long time as is.

Cocobolo is a tough, hard wood, and pretty to look at. Nothing like the looks of wood against gun metal.

And polyurethane is what I've used for years now on all the milsurp rifles stocks and pistol grips I've refinished. It holds up very-very well and cab be easily re-applied. Can't say enough about the merits of this stuff. BTW, there are two versions one can use, flat and gloss, depending on your personal taste. Wax and oil rubs are for wood working purists, and no doubt they both have their place on special projects but they are best left for indoor projects.

I have to agree on the merits of polyurethane finish. I have it on several of my stocks - even have a Garand stock finished with it. Its tough stuff and has held up over many years of match shooting and still looks pretty good too. I believe it is covered in a poly finish called Fullerplast. Don McCoy built that match service rifle for me over twenty years ago and the stock's finish still looks like its almost brand new. When I take it out of the case at a match, people ask what am I going to do with that display piece? I just smile and get down to business.

R,
Bullseye

I'm actually in the process of making anatomical grips for my Hunter. I had been planning to use boiled linseed oil. Anyone more adept at wood finishing mind giving me the pros and cons of linseed oil vs. polyurethane?

By the way, the wood I'm using is Walnut if that matters.

Thanks.

Just FYI, the Chinese used tongue oil as a finish on the Great Wall, and it's lasted quite a long time....

Tongue oil can also be used as a finish for wood. Does last a long time. Would be similar in looks to the wax..

My parents had a very old antique love seat they were refinishing, and once the got it stripped, somehow they put tongue oil on all the wood parts.

That love seat sat in paper bags for years, never going anywhere, never being put back together. I asked why one day, and was told about the tongue oil.

Turns out, once that oil was on there, you couldn't do anything else to it. I think they put on there to protect it, then do something else like paint it later. But with the oil on it, nothing would touch the wood. Paint wouldn't stick, varnishes wouldn't do any good, couldn't stain it, nothing.....

So if you have a pretty wood you want to keep "natural", but want to protect it, but without something like poly, then tongue oil may be a good choice. Easy to touch up nicks too.