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I am wondering what everyone's go to method for cleaning grubby old surplus wood stocks is? I have used easy off oven cleaner a couple times and it seemed to have worked well but maybe there is a better way. Any thoughts?
I'm working my way to finishing up my k98 Israeli mauser and its stock is grubby to say the least.
I’ve heard Murphy oil soap works good.
LOL....Wow did I read this wrong
........................"cleaning grubby old surplus wood stocks"
Thought it said..."cleaning grubby old surplus "wood socks"
Gotta be grubby if they are like "wood"....LOL
Anyway....Linseed oil....or Lacquer thinner"?
Only one I ever cleaned was a '95 Spanish Mauser when I realized the stock was made from Spanish walnut.
That was a simple matter of scraping the crap off until I got to the walnut and rubbing linseed oil in.
Most I have left alone or painted over the crud. I have seen some that have been stripped using oven cleaner and carb cleaner and they always look strange.
Those rifles were never issued without a linseed or lacquer finish, they were all cruddy before they were ever used. That Mauser stock on your Israeli was probably original to the early 1940s, was rebarreled to .308 and now you have put what might be the third or forth barrel on it. I am not as old as it is and I have been referred to as cruddy myself.
My ROTC unit in college had 2000 M1Garands in the armory and every one of them was soaked down with linseed oil every time they were cleaned as part of normal maintainance.
The only rifles I ever saw that had nice/fancy stocks were used by ceremonial units. Some of those were real nice! M1 Garands with flame striped maple wood and charcoal blued metal.
From my understanding linseed oil was used before ww2 and tung oil after. I wouldn’t swear to that.
I fixed up an old Swedish Mauser, must have been 15 years ago, I used sandpaper and boiled lindsead oil.
I cleaned the stock up with a little Murphy's oil soap. I have some pure tung oil coming per a CMP article. The pure tung oil will clean the stock and pull the grime out of the wood.
I have an 03 Springfield that looks like it was dipped in cosomline. I haven't had the nerve to tackle it yet. It's not going to rust like it is, that's for sure.
Alan
Mineral spirits....for cleaning up cosmoline.......
At least that works inf Mosin Nagants and SKS's
One of these day when all the other ducks are in a row and quacking in unison, I'll tackle that 03. If I never get to it then I'll pick a son, and make it his problem.
Alan
Sons gotta learn and what better way than to give them something we don't want to work on. I have a couple of those projects laying around myself
Unfortunately, I have trained my three sons so well that they won't even answer their phones until they are out of town. I started just dropping things off at their houses. That'll teach them!
Alan
couple of choices - clean with murphey soap or strip it then follow this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDoXn0uM2gw