Tikka finish...

[Ron/Pa.]

  I read in the owners manual that you should put a coat of Tru-Oil, or something like it , on the Wood stocked Tikka`s. I did this and what a difference in the appearance ! Really brought out the grain structure. Just wondering why Tikka doesn`t put a durable finish on their guns? Surely wouldn`t add that much to the cost! By the way I put a new Sightron on my Tikka .243 and it sure is a shooter, very satisfied .

[Brithunter]

Now this is just a guess as I don't have a new Tikka or Sako. However an oiled finish takes time to build up and with modern production schedules they don't have the time to build up the oil finish so they do the basic and a few layers then tell the owner to continue applying the oil. If you buy a top grade hand built gun for instance it will have an oil finish and the owner will be told to rub a small amount of oil into the stock and given a timescale. A traditional oiled finish is robust and easy to care for.

Of course they could have sprayed it with polyurethane so you don't have to do anything despite it not being as good a finish. Any gun I get with a polyurethane finish I will strip it off and do a proper oil finish.