Pinned barrels

[Captchee]

he grease the barrel and  wood of the butt . so basically  both parts get grease in some form .
as to finish .  brown or  etched .

 brown  and Black are rust , thats all it is . oils , wax and lubes of all kinds keep the  rust from continuing .
 Most certainly one could coat the barrel with lacquers and such , if they so wished .
 But persopnaly , myself I only do that on  barrels that have patterns that I want to stay

[tg]

"I was thinkin of a thin coat of spar varnish on the metal parts to keep the moisture. from attackin the metal. Sort of a sealant effect."

 I have used my stock finish on the entire barrel (in the white with patina) and it held for a couple of years before the finish started to get spotty on the top, the finish next to the stock looked good, 44" pinned longrifle, I have heard that grease on wood can be a problem with the softening/breakdown of the wood, I am not so sure I would go that route,unless all the wood had a thin layer of bedding on it, I feel better with wax/finish or a combo of both.

[Captchee]

where oil becomes an issue is when it put on time and time again . soaking deep into the wood . this can be an issue becouse  it softens the wood .
 the very same thing can happen if water is aloud to penitrate .

 whats the worst of the two .
  myself i would think a one time greasing would be more then enough to never have to worry about it again

[Shawnee Mike]

Osayo all,
Here a tip I have found.  I accidentally got a bit of "Tru-oil" on my barrel.  That stuff needs a jack hammer to get off.  I believe that if you was to clean the barrel really good and then apply tru-oil to the underside of the barrel, it will seal it forever and never get any moisture.
  Like others have said as well, I good stock fit will keep moisture from the channle as well.  I always wax the joint of the barrel and wood.  and a coat over the whole thing.  I use Sno-Seal as my wax.
  The combination of these things should be all that you need.  
  As far as condensation... I live in the mountains and frequently  take my rifle in and out in all weather.  Usually i leave it in the mud room for an hour or so to equalize the temps but not always.  If its really cold, It will get condensation on the outside of the barrel.  I have not however seen condensation on the inside of the barrel.  If its there is pretty sparse. i havent had any trouble with rust.  I believe that the static air inside the barrel prevents the condensation from building there.
  On my Bess with a bright bore, I have used candle wax on the outside of the barrel and thats stops it from rusting even in the rain.  I would imagine it would work the same on a finished barrel.