Deerfield Stock and Rain

[targshooter]

To those interested,
Yesterday the Deerfield and I spent a day soaking up the Minnesota weather. It rained fairly solidly all  10 hours I was in the woods. Upon getting the rifle out of the case for a wipedown and oiling last night, I noticed that the stock had absorbed some water at the butt plate area, especially around the lower portion. This morning things had dried and I removed the buttplate. There is no sealing on the wood at all. So I gave the stock some good quality furniture oil, and it literally drank it in. Thus, a note. Those of you having Deerfields may want to remove the buttplate and apply some sealer to the stock in this area.

[wink_man]

I doubt you'd find a rifle produced today, or way back in time for that matter, that had the wood behind the butt plate sealed. First thing I do on any rifle(or shotgun) I acquire, is take it down completely and seal all unsealed wood with tru oil. And I'm not talking just the butt, remove the stock from a remington 700, you'd be surprised at the amount of unsealed wood around the action. Seal it completely, then put it back together, and I've never had a point of impact change. Just my personal opinions and thoughts, unfortunately, gained from getting older & older.
Sincerely,
 Garry