You know this already, but
You asked earlier about cleaning the cosmoline from your upcoming new prize. I think that I've read posts from Okiecruffler and others that had good recommendations about
gloves. You'll want good gloves that are impervious to the solvents you'll be using, and of course to work outdoors. If I were smart, I'd have kept notes about which gloves resisted which solvents. Of course, it's nice to use the cheapest gloves that will do the job. Boxed latex exam gloves work for some things (I don't like the vinyl ones, but that's just personal preference). Other solvents seem to require butyl or nitrile gloves, which cost more. Dishwashing gloves work for some things, too. It became even more important to me when I read (rumor only; I don't have a link) that Soviet "cosmoline" contained heavy metals (like arsenic) to make it a more effective preservative. I don't know if that's true, but I'm conservative about it. I've used brake cleaner (Like Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber, at less than half the price), mineral spirits, acetone and other solvents on metal, then Ed's Red for the final pass (link below). I bet Okiecruffler has a lot more experience than I do at selecting the right solvents for removing cosmoline.
Everybody needs Ed's Red, though. It's at:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/4653/edsred.htm
I've used a LOT of solvent on some cleaning jobs. A big, cheap, aluminum foil roasting pan from the grocery store makes a good drip pan. When you're cleaning the metal, you can collect and re-use solvent for getting the chunks out. I've used oven cleaner on the wood, too, then a hot-water soak, let it dry & sand the whiskers. Get the Heavy Duty kind of oven cleaner. Masking tape over any stamped letters or acceptance marks on the stock before sanding.
Here's a link from a Lee-Enfield guy about cleaning and refinishing.
http://www.geocities.com/lee_enfield_rifles/CareandCleaning.html
Full disclosure: I like to play around with wood. I enjoy the process of refinishing. You might not want, and will not need, to put as many coats on a stock as I'll describe below. More is prettier, though. Boiled linseed oil is a good stock finish, but it isn't the very best route to follow, except for historical accuracy when you're restoring an original linseed oil finish. It can take weeks to become fully dry, and you'll find out either that the pervasive smell of linseed oil doesn't bother you or that it does.
I like tung oil, which dries faster. My routine, once the stock is cleaned and whiskered, is to start with a mixture of 20% tung oil in 80% mineral spirits. Just paint on a thin coat; it penetrates well and dries fast. The next day (or even sooner), I do it again. After that, I continue with a little more tung oil in the mix for each coat. After about 5 coats, I'm using 50-50 tung oil and min. spirits. It goes on more easily than straight oil, and the early coats penetrate the wood well. Paint the action-bedding area with straight tung oil at least once or twice in addition to the other coats, for a little more waterproofing of this area.
Final finish: a 1:1:1 mixture of tung oil, turpentine and beeswax (I get beeswax at a local hobby store). First, you'll make sure that there are no open flames or other ignition sources nearby (like no closer than the next county). You're right: don't do this on a gas stove. Rule 1, adapted to refinishing, reads: "All flammable and combustible liquids are always about to burn your house down." Next, warm the oil & turpentine mixture in a saucepan that you will
never use for food again. I got mine at a yard sale for 25¢; thrift stores work, too. It helps to set it up as a double boiler: the saucepan goes inside a larger one with some water in it. This keeps the temp. of your mixture from going over 212F; there's less chance of getting it really, really hot and you won't breathe as much turpentine. Grate the beeswax into the saucepan and stir it with an old (again, never for food) spoon. You can keep the mixture indefinitely once it's mixed. Rub it on the stock, then rub it in. A
little heat, from rubbing with the heel of your hand or an old cork, makes it easier to work in. The beeswax gives the whole thing a nice, soft glow. I've happily used this finish on rile stocks and on desks. It sheds water well, and it's easy to repair.
Important note: I DID NOT INVENT THIS FINISH! I'd give credit where credit is most assuredly due, but I haven't been able to locate the link as I've been writing this. I got it from a Garand enthusiast's site, I believe. The author of that page wrote, IIRC, that he got it at Camp Perry in the 1950's from an old fella (paraphrasing now), "who looked like he had probably used it on his issue Trapdoor Springfield."
I can confirm that it works well for me.
(Well, I'd trade it for a Barrett but who wouldn't?!)
Stinger
