19 December 2021, 04:54
df06Weatherby salt wood
Did weatherby ever use any salt wood on stocks?
I have a 224 made in Germany that has a little pitting on the action, just below the wood.
19 December 2021, 05:05
df06Whoops
I shoulda googled it first.
They did use some salt wood.
The pitting on this one is not bad.
Can I seal the wood and prevent it from getting worse?
19 December 2021, 06:03
BobsterWash the inletting liberally with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Dry with a heat gun or hair dryer. Apply two coats of Kilz or Zinser shellac. Put two coats of Johnson's paste wax on the steel. You won't get every trace of it, but that can mitigate the corrosion.
19 December 2021, 23:41
JBrownquote:
Originally posted by df06:
Can I seal the wood and prevent it from getting worse?
15 or 20 years ago there was a webpage that a gunsmith put together detailing how to deal with salt wood. He seemed to be very experienced in refurbishing salt wood guns.
I think that he glass bedded the entire barreled action to keep the wood away from the metal.
It has been a long time, so I might be misremembering, but I seem to recall him stating that rebluing a saltwood gun would make the situation worse.
31 December 2021, 07:50
GunswizardI worked in the Browning Arms Co. gunsmithing shop so I am very familiar with salt wood having replaced 100's of salt wood stocks. Salt wood stocks went straight to the incinerator, there is no fixing them nor sealing them. At one point during my tenure the number of guns waiting for salt wood replacement exceeded Belgium's production capacity. The company contracted with Fajen and Bishop to produce replacement stocks.
31 December 2021, 10:23
Cougarzquote:
Originally posted by df06:
Did weatherby ever use any salt wood on stocks?
I have a 224 made in Germany that has a little pitting on the action, just below the wood.
I have never heard that before. Pitting below the wood on a Weatherby isn’t necessarily caused by salt wood, likely it’s just poor maintenance over the years.
31 December 2021, 18:38
LabmanNo actual experience with salt wood but I've read that the easiest way to check for such is to remove the screws holding the butt plate or recoil pad. The screws will be rusty if it's salt wood.
31 December 2021, 18:51
Uncle GrinchBack in the late 70’s Colt sold some rifles that also had salt stocks. I believe the were in cooperation with Sauer.