Cleaning a milsurp

I would think that letting it sit in the sun would bring oil and dirt to the surface. Then you could simply wipe it off and repeat it desired. My stocks are not too dirty so I simply wipe the wood down once a year with BLO and a clean rag. Kinda "less is better" type thing. Nice looking Mklll btw.

I like your idea of letting the sun do the work!!

Out here in the adjoining zipcode to hell I wipe down the wood on rifles whenever they get dirty. And oil the wood maybe once every other year.

I have a few of the Turk rifles from the good old days of $59 Turkish mausers.
They've sat in a black trash bag on the concrete on a °118 day after a many hour kerosene scrubbing and soak.
20 years later they are are still oozing oil in places.

I should of sunk a well in them and retired on the oil money.

Keep it in your car trunk, wrapped in newspaper, on a hot sunny day. That’s what I did with my SKS and it worked like a charm.

I don't like to use newspaper.
Sometimes the ink will run onto the wood.
I'm more likely to put the stock in a trash bag filled with wood chips and sawdust and put it in the back of my SUV.
I used to wrap the stocks in blank newsprint or butcher paper, but I like sawdust better.

theotherwaldo said:

I don't like to use newspaper.
Sometimes the ink will run onto the wood.
I'm more likely to put the stock in a trash bag filled with wood chips and sawdust and put it in the back of my SUV.
I used to wrap the stocks in blank newsprint or butcher paper, but I like sawdust better.

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Use paper towels then

I have heard of people soaking wood milsurp stocks in mineral spirits in a planting box.

Rub with turpentine and burlap. After you lose the "sticky" feeling, add 25% BLO to the turpentine and let it cure for 2 days. You should end up with a very soft, velvety, non-greasy finish after a few treatments. No need to heat them up. Sunlight will darken a BLO finish, turpentine will lighten and bring out more wood grain. After you've gotten the wood/oil ratio decent, give it a light rub with cotton rag and BLO 75% turpentine 25% whenever the stock feels dry.

Wrap in paper towels, place in a black trash bag in the sun. The heat will drive a lot of the soaked in oils to the surface. Wipe with a solvent such as mineral spirits.
When the wood is clean to your standard, a light coat of Linseed oil rubbed in and allowed to dry a couple of days before re-oiling.


http://old.thecmp.org/training-tech/armorers-corner/wood-cleaning-article/

These are the directions I followed to clean my M1s.

Nice SMLE!

Here are some preservation guidelines published by the NRA Museums:
http://www.nramuseum.org/media/1007361/caring for your collectible firearms by doug wicklund.pdf

I live in a very dry climate and prefer using something like Brichwood Casey Gun Stock Wax on the surface of my finished rifle wood rather than BLO. Not expert advice, but it has worked well for me.


BTW, there was a real horror story on Anvil Gunsmithing recently involving a badly warped Mauser sporter stock and the measures needed to make it functional once more -- interesting if grim watching:

Dave DeLaurant said:

...prefer using something like Brichwood Casey Gun Stock Wax

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The new formula of that stuff is absolutely awesome!!

We had a gunsmith that used to put oven cleaner on the stock. It was very effective.

wrap it in a black plastic trash bag and hang it in the sun with the opening at the bottom.

I would avoid applying just about anything sold today as "Boiled Linseed Oil". Most of it has a varnish or poly mixed in and it's not pure oil. If you can get pure oil then by all means use that, but the modern product often marketed as "BLO" starts to edge into refinishing rather than just "cleaning and preserving".

mgmorden said:

I would avoid applying just about anything sold today as "Boiled Linseed Oil". Most of it has a varnish or poly mixed in and it's not pure oil. If you can get pure oil then by all means use that, but the modern product often marketed as "BLO" starts to edge into refinishing rather than just "cleaning and preserving".

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I have found that the products sold as "Tung Oil Finish" include varnish/poly additives, but I have never come across any BLO product with a like issue.

Often, suggestions in forums like these to use "Boiled Linseed Oil" attract one or two folks who decry the driers added, not any varnish and/or poly.

GBExpat said:

I have found that the products sold as "Tung Oil Finish" include varnish/poly additives, but I have never come across any BLO product with a like issue.

Often, suggestions in forums like these to use "Boiled Linseed Oil" attract one or two folks who decry the driers added, not any varnish and/or poly.

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I'll have to check my can of Klean-strip BLO when I get home. I could have sworn it had some type of finish added but I may indeed be mistaken.

mgmorden said:

I'll have to check my can of Klean-strip BLO when I get home. I could have sworn it had some type of finish added but I may indeed be mistaken.

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I really hope that you are mistaken. After the multiple-brand Tung Oil Finish crap, I have always found some comfort in the fact that no one had decided (yet?) to screw up our BLO alternative, y'know?

O'course, some of those RLO-only boys (Raw Linseed Oil) would argue that all marketed BLO is equally ruined. <chuckle>

By the way, years ago I think that I figured out the logic behind the Tung Oil Finish name. Tung Oil Finish is targeting folks who want to (re)finish a dinner table, hutch, sideboard, etc as a product with which they can recreate the warm look of a true Tung Oil finish with some additional, protective sealers.

There's a guy in a YouTube video who suggests using OLIVE OIL to restore milsurp rifle stocks. Any comments on that from the knowledgeable shooters in this thread would be appreciated. I'm thinking of trying it on my next rifle.

Never mind ...

wiscoaster said:

There's a guy in a YouTube video who suggests using OLIVE OIL to restore milsurp rifle stocks. Any comments on that from the knowledgeable shooters in this thread would be appreciated. I'm thinking of trying it on my next rifle.

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https://usvintagewood.com/olive-oil...le some people think that,it act as a varnish.

Sounds suspiciously like a vegan conspiracy to me, but who knows!

I have an old M-1 Garand from CMP that I let sit out in the hot afternoon sun. It worked terrifically at bringing the oil and crap to the surface of the stock. Some paper towels to mop it up. Several days out in the heat worked like a charm.

Dave DeLaurant said:

Nice SMLE!

Here are some preservation guidelines published by the NRA Museums:
http://www.nramuseum.org/media/1007361/caring for your collectible firearms by doug wicklund.pdf

I live in a very dry climate and prefer using something like Brichwood Casey Gun Stock Wax on the surface of my finished rifle wood rather than BLO. Not expert advice, but it has worked well for me.


BTW, there was a real horror story on Anvil Gunsmithing recently involving a badly warped Mauser sporter stock and the measures needed to make it functional once more -- interesting if grim watching:

Click to expand...

What about bees wax? I have a ton of that.