A buddy of mine uses lemon oil on his old wood stocks. My first thought was that there might be something harmful to the metal in the lemon oil, but apparently (at least according to the bottle's lable) there doesn't seem to be...

He says he's done this for years with no ill effects.

What say you folks?

Dan

An old world gunstock finish consisted of egg white, lemon juice and Linseed oil..the lemon and egg was the filler..It looks quite nice...

Lemon oil with not harm any finishes that I know off, but I would prefer something not quite so greasy on my stock..I prefer pledge or Johnsons wax or better yet Carnuba wax..but only rarly.

My wife uses lemon oil on all our wood furniture, doesn't seem to cause any harm and whe has been using it for many years.

Using Pledge is an old trick that works quite well. Not only does it protect the wood and help give it that extra little bit of luster, but it also helps keep the steel from rusting as well. Harry Lawson was the first one that I knew of that used this method. His shop was littered at one time with old cans of Lemon Pledge. The other benefit is that you end up with a good smelling gun.

If your stock finish has actually sealed the wood use a wax preferably paste but Pledge works. An 'oil finish that may not have been sealed will benefit from the 'lemon oil' but still the wax is a better idea as it will do what the oil finish did not, seal the stock.

With regard to metal, commercial lemon oils are formulated on a light petroleum base. The stuff serves as a solvent to remove finger prints and other human byproducts that can cause corrosion if left on the metal.