I like it too! But I also completely understand being a perfectionist when it comes to your own work. I drive my wife and friends nuts when I work on something.
Last one I did was a 10-22 laminate stock. For two weeks I put a coat of tung oil cut 50-50 with turpentine every day, and knocked it down with 0000 steel wool before the next coat. You have to fill the pores and build it up. Tung oil is not a coating like laquer or poly, but, a way to bring up the grain of the wood and fill the pores.It is not for a high gloss finish, but a nice satin, smooth finish and seal. If you want a Browning or Weatherby type high gloss, you have to use some type of poly or laquer product. The only way I have ever been able to get a high gloss,deep finish is with an airbrush, very light , multiple coats. Then again I am not a pro, I only play one on TV. Good Luck To You
I used to do this back in the 60s. 3 coats of stain (flavor of your choice), sanded with 1200 grit paper inbetween coats. 3 coats of tung oil cut 50/50 with mineral spirits, steel wool 0000 grade in between coats. Use a powerful magnet to pick up all the steel wool left on the stock. Then one or two coats more of the Tung mixture but buffed with a electric buffing wheel with a plain cotton wheel. Use the wheel only for this purpose. You would be amazed at the results. Try it on a scrap piece of walnut or cherry sometime.
I used Tru-Oil in the past on a gun stock and on a base for a turntable for my stereo. In general, it came out looking pretty good, but both pieces were walnut to begin with. I am not sure about how well it will work on stuff that is not walnut. I suspect that you would need a stronger stain on beech or some of the other woods used for gunstocks today, if you wanted a walnut color. It might take several coats of stain, and don't be cheap with it. Use a bunch. My experience has been that--the more time spent on preparation of the surface, getting old finish off, sanding, etc.--the better the final finish will be.
For the finish itself, Tru-Oil is linseed oil based with a drying agent added to make it dry faster. What I have done has been to put on about 6-8 coats of Tru-Oil with a 24-hour drying time between coats. After the first coat, many light coats, where as little oil as possible is applied at one time, works better than two or three heavy coats, which will tend to gum up. Go over the piece with 4-0 steel wool between coats, and use a tack cloth (a sticky cloth with a special adhesive impregnated into it) very thououghly after each buffing with steel wool. The key to getting a good finish with almost anything is that many very thin coats normally give a much better result than a few coats that are too heavy.
I wish I had pics of the stock I refinished on Dad's 12ga. I used Birchwood Casey's stock refinishing kit (with walnut stain, Tru-oil, and sheen & conditioner) and that thing came out just wonderful. Woodworking is not my forte but if you take your time with the sand paper, the solutions will do the rest beautifully.