The key to finishing a small job like a gun stock is to take your time and don't rush it. Preparation prior to the finish is most important. Remove any kick plate and Sand the stock to a minimum of 320 sandpaper for an ultra smooth stock.
This can be very difficult if the stock is checkered.
Step 2 is to apply the stain.
Walnut stains can vary greatly. (light walnut to dark walnut.)
The stain you choose will set your color. Apply the stain with a small lint free cloth. The toe of a white sock can work well.
Allow the stain to dry 24 hours before the next step.
If the color is right, you're ready to apply the finish. If too light, you can stain again. If too dark, you can wipe with mineral spirits and re-sand if necessary.
If you choose poly, I suggest 3 or more coats of high gloss. Allow to dry between each coat and scuff sand (lightly) with 320 sand paper between coats.
After the last coat has dried for two days, you can buff it to the gloss you prefer. Low gloss or high gloss is determined by your final buff.
You can use an automotive low abrasive rubbing compound for the buff.
Good luck.

 

Get into Brownell's, on line. If they sell it, might also reveal the mayor components.

 

I would not use a film finish on a gunstock

Film finishes like poly or other varnishes are easily scratched and are not readily repaired ... if you need or want to. An oil finish is much easier to blend in with some steel wool and and few more coats.

My rifles have been retrofitted with laminated or synthetic stocks for the most part. The RWS pellet guns have wooden stocks, an old Marlin .22 and a few others, but I really like the maintenance free aspects of the sythetics. It's just my preference, however.

 

With the muzzle loaders I make, I generally use a Tung oil finish as I want to have a finish like those in the 1800's. There are as many finishes for gun stocks as there are types of wood and in the end it depends on how the gun will be used. If you hunt and shoot with it a lot then oil is the way to go and the nice thing is every few months take a few drops and massage it into all the wood with your fingers and the gun will feel happy!

I use a website named http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ and like this one is free to register and use. They have lots of various sections and there are several that cover stock finishes and what to use, etc. If you do much sanding, as noted, the checkering will get flattened out and a company in the Los Angeles area: http://www.gunline.com/ sells checkering tools so you can easily sharpen the points. Checkering sounds scary but it sounds like you can do that with some practice, just go slowly.

 

Thanks for all of these good comments.

I just completed refinishing my main shotgun with Pure Tung oil. I used 1:1 ratio of mineral spirits to pure Tung oil for the first coat. After that I used the uncut pure Tung oil for 9 more coats (a total of 10). I waited 48 hours between a few coats, but for most of them, I waited 72 hours. After the 4th coat, however, I waited a week before the 5th coat. It took me around 5 - 6 weeks.

After 30 days, I planned to coat it with a wax, likely Rennaisance wax. It has been suggested, however, that I did not wait long enough between coats & that I should wait longer before waxing.

Any comments?

 

The guys on my banjo building forum talk about using Tru-Oil gunstock finish on banjo necks. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to. It gets high marks for feel and durability.