The red oil I've used so far is raw linseed oil which takes a long time to dry and I use it in this stage to dye the stock and to serve as a moisture barrier, but it's time to start the real oil finish.
For that we need a drying (yes, I know, it doesn't "dry", it's polymerization by oxidation, so it "hardens" into some sort of organic "plastic", enough already, y'all know what i mean!) oil.
A good treaty on the old time London finish can be found here
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=415289
I find his use of talcum powder as a filler interesting, I might try that.
Basically you need Red oil, If that is made with raw linseed oil, then we need a siccative to make it dry, boiled linseed oil, turpentine and some sort of resin.
That's a lot of stuff to find and buy, and you only need a very small amount or you'll make enough of Ryden's Best London Red Oil Finish For Rigbyish Rifles to last even Connor McLeod a very long time.
So, a smallish amount of BLO, siccative, resin and turpentine to add to my Red oil.
Sounds vaguely familiar, anyone ever done some painting in oil?
https://www.royaltalens.com/brands/...lour/talens-painting-medium-quick-drying-084/
I picked up a bottle on my lunch break and I'll try to mix a few drops of each in various ratios to see what works.
For the small amount it's pricey as all get out, but still, I'd pay about five or six times as much for at least 500 times more volume than I need if I had bought each ingredient separately.
BTW, its cheaper than Tru-Oil and I bet that I can find a painters high gloss medium that matches it perfectly and can be had by the gallon.