[menacingsquirrel]

I see a lot of posts on keeping the metal work on a gun clean. What do you do to keep the stock and sling in good condition? I'm thinking wood and leather here. Most the leather care I see here is about holsters.

[LeLynn]

Wooden stock should be kept dry (From water) and either oiled with linseed or waxed (Depending on who you talk to) and the gun stored muzzle down in order to keep gun oil from seeping out of the action into the wood stock. Leather slings (Most are not made of leather but rather webbing) should be cleaned with a mild leather soap, much the same way you would care after a saddle of fine leather belt. As for any web type slings I'm not sure, they probably just get dusted off and left alone, or perhaps put in the wash on the delicate cycle (This is a guess on the web slings)

[dagger dog]

A good paste wax for the stock, all over even the parts of the stock that don't show,leather a good shoe polish, brush off any dirt then apply the wax, and polish.

[LaserSpot]

A modern varnished gun stock doesn't need anything to preserve it other than decent storage conditions; try to keep gun oil and solvents off of it. You could use paste wax if you want the stock to be shiny. Linseed oil is a wood finish; don't use it unless you're re-coating a gun that already has this type of finish.

I use Sno-Seal on my boots and rifle sling (plain leather strap); it's mostly beeswax. This will waterproof the leather, but also soften it and darken it considerably: http://www.atsko.com/products/waterproofing/sno-seal.html

[dak0ta]

Use Ballistol, cures metal, leather, and wood stocks. Look into it!

[The Bushmaster]

All my bare wood stocks Like my 60+ year old Winchester I rubbed tung oil into the wood. Finished. The rest of my rifle stocks are varnished. Finished. My leather slings are treated with a light coat of Neetsfoot oil just before hunting season (once a year). Done.

I own and use a 70 year old saddle and it has never seen saddle soap. Just neetsfoot oil.