In a previous post I said that I had to remove the top portion of the Boyds stained birch stock so my bolt won't hit it. I stripped the rest of the finish off since I couldn't match the existing color. I put 2 coats of Birchwood Casey walnut stain and one coat of their Tru-Oil applied with 1000 grit wet or dry sandpaper. At least now I can see the grain in the wood. I'm waiting for 24 hrs for it to dry.
I also am working on my factory Ruger stock. I saw on YouTube how someone filled the bottom of his barrel channel and his buttstock. I bought 1 quart of Famowood Glaze Coat Clear Epoxy Kit from Home Depot. I first had to roughen up the webbing in the barrel channel as well as the inside of the buttstock after removing the styrofoam. I mixed and poured the barrel channel yesterday evening and let it cure until this morning. I mixed some more of the epoxy this morning and poured the buttstock just shy of where the buttpad fits into the stock.
This should help stiffen the forend as well as a little add a little weight to it. By filling the buttstock full of the epoxy I stopped the hollow sound and added some much needed weight to the rear of the rifle. Will see how it feels tomorrow once the epoxy has cured.