Several months ago someone asked how to clean a stock with dirty old finish with no cracks or checks in the finish. I read that olive oil had some emulsifying properties, was used to moisturize skin and contained some sort of acid that was also used in some soaps. So, I thought this might work although I never tried it. I also found out that is could have a bleaching effect. Well, I finally tried it out. This is the stock as I bought from a WWII vets son who brought it home from WWII.



Here's the stock after extra virgin olive oil was rubbed on and left to sit for about 2 minutes. It was rubbed with a cotton swab in small circles then left for another minute and removed with paper towels. It doesn't look much different. But, the wood felt squeaky clean and would probably look a little better with some paste wax and a good rub. Nothing to write home about but it did get the dirt out. Like I said earlier, I wouldn't let it soak because of the bleaching properties. CB

10wt detergent motor oil will also work.

Olive oil can turn rancid. The classic cleaner is mineral oil mixed with mineral spirits 70:30 respectively.

I've had good luck with turpentine and linseed oil mixed half and half. Rub it on with a coarse cloth and wipe it off. IF really cruddy then dip the wet rag in a bit of 0000 powdered pumice. This has performed well on really old and dry stocks, removing the crud and not damaging the patina and helping to repair the dry areas. Might not be the best on a tacky really oil soaked stock though.

Taking the woodwork off the metal work and leaving in direct sunlight on a really hot day also opens the pores and gets the muck out too.

Try Ballsitol.

Olive and most vegetable oils have acid in them. This can corrode metal so be careful.

Ballistol is safe on wood, metal, leather, human skin...

I use it on all of the above, including human skin. Since I started using it on cuts, scrapes, insect bites, etc., I have not had any infections.

Excellent point about metal and the effects of acids. Oleic acid levels are low in olive oil when compared to other vegetable oils. But, acid is acid. One should take the action out of the stock to clean it thoroughly before re-assembly and avoid leaving any oil where the wood meets the metal and wipe the wood altogether dry to avoid residual traces that could have the bleaching effect on the wood. I've had excellent results re-sealing the pores of the finish using Minwax paste wax on stocks that are clean and dry.

quote:

Originally posted by srose:
Olive and most vegetable oils have acid in them. This can corrode metal so be careful.

Bobster Jerry Liles and Thirdbite:
Don't solvents like mineral spirits and turpentine remove some of the finish?
N E 450 No2: I guess it's time I got some of that Ballistol. Is it safe on soft rubber recoil pads?

The combination seems to remove the crud about as well as straight turpentine or mineral spirits which will evaporate and leave behind the linseed oil which will refresh or restore and even repair the finish. If you are careful it won't damage the patina or the original finish. Ballistol should be fine to clean a stock but it is a mineral oil and it won't repair or restore the finish and it won't dry (polymerize) like linseed or tung oil. As much as I use Ballistol and while it isn't supposed to damage wood I would just as soon not have it soaking into the wood.

What finish? What you consider finish is a combination of dried grease and embedded dirt.

I bought a bunch of military surplus rifles back in the Regan era, cleaned them up too. I am of the opinion that most military rifle stocks were simply dunked in a solution of linseed oil. I have read that the American solution had a bit of red dye, but, my experience is that raw linseed oil turns dark after a couple of decades.

I am certain a few countries actually used a “finish”. This Japanese Training rifle has a factory finish that is consistent with original Arisaka training rifles. I am not going touch this finish.





However, I cleaned off enough Mausers, Lee Enfields, Garands, after which the removal of all that grease and grim made the things look better.

This is a Long Branch Lee Enfield. I completely removed the buttstock, forend, handguards and all the metal I could. I went into the back yard, wearing rubber gloves and goggles and sprayed the stock with Oven Cleaner. I let sit for a while and then rubbed it in with a tooth brush. Before the oven cleaner dried, I washed it off with a hose pipe. If you let oven cleaner dry on a stock, it will leave a stain mark.
Afterwards, I steamed out dents with wet towels under a flat iron. Works great. I let the wood dry, went over with 00 and 000 steel wool. Then soaked for about a week with linseed oil.

This is what it looks like after 20 years. If I did not like light wood, I could have added some wood dye to darken. But, I think most of these military stocks were pretty light colored when they were new.

To each his own. All the US wood and steel military rifles I've had anything to do with had a finish from years of linseed oil and rubbing and use with a lot of dents and dings and grime. But under all that there is a "finish" of hardened linseed or tung oil. It isn't furniture quality but it usually actually looks pretty good with careful cleaning. It's part of the honest patina of age. Removing it with oven cleaner or stripper seems almost improper. My ancient trapdoor rifles have acquired a dark reddish brown color in their more than a century of existence with a smooth, tough surface of hardened linseed oil that emerged with careful cleaning. Same for my '03 that started life in 1916 and got overhauled and restocked in early WWII. The stock of my 1898 Krag is much the same. Under the accumulated grime was a really handsome rifle. Most of the time it just isn't necessary to strip and refinish even with steaming out major dents and dings, it isn't necessary. At least that has been my experience.

Jerry Liles

Thanks for sharing 'your' concoctions and photos gentlemen. Since I tested the olive oil theory on a junker stock, it seems safe to say it could be used in a pinch on a more expensive one.

custombolt

I would be hesitant to put any oil product on any kind of "rubber". Real or man made "rubber".

If you ever attend a chemistry course you will soon learn that like dissolves like. IOWords if your stock is grease and oil and dirt soaked, then dissolve it with a hydrocarbon solvent to remove.

why not use an organic wood stripper( like the orange based products) then re-oil the wood with whatever you prefer??

EVOO for gunstocks? Mama mia!

One again, fresh, no more than day old, cat piss, mixed with rendered to mustard yellow black bear fat, turpentine and carnauba will get it done.

But I have already told too much again. No proportions will be divulged. I have gone through too much turps, too much wax, too many cats and too many bears to share this valuable wisdom for bupkus on the Internet!

How can we be sure olive oil is virgin? I mean who stays up and watches them? Can these watchdogs be trusted? Extra virgin olive oil come from extra ugly olives? Hell I want slut olive oil. I want it to be experienced.

Be careful on Ballistol.

My father used it since the 60´s, so I KNOW it.

OK, it may be used on ticks in the skin.

It gave work to generations of gunsmith´s, who cleaned the gunked remnants out of fine Ferlacher lockworks.

It will lift off Fingerprints, it will defend against moisture - for some time.

I´ve heard good things about it with black powder guns.

BUT: it DOES attack bronze brushes, and PLASTIC containers, not specifically made for it! It´s much more aggressive on plastics than other solvents!

So clean your stock with it, but wipe it dry afterwards.

And don´t get it in the lockwork.

Hermann

I'll second Arminius regarding Ballistol. It's an excellent protective (wood, leather, even skin, etc.) and gun cleaning agent (it has some copper solvent qualities too and is effective on BP fouling). It is also bio-degradable BUT, do not use it as a lubricant as it may gum up trigger mechanisms in time.

BTW, Ballistol's manufacturer, the Klever Gmbh, also markets a true copper solvent, labeled as ROBLA SOLO and which is fully comparable to Sweets 7.62.

I'm surprised someone hasn't mentioned bacon grease, and when your through you can use it for flour tortillas! All kidding aside, why use all that kitchen stuff on a gun stock or a saddle.

Brownells sells cleaner and it works well, so do the furniture companies and you can buy it at the grocery store. called furniture cleaner and follow it up with furniture polish or Johnsons wax.

I personally would strip it and refinish it if its that dirty.

If you use Linseed oil I suggest you get the Linseed oil with dryers in it from Brownells, it dries hard, or add Jap dryers to your boiled Linseed oil.