DeanDallas
I understand what you say about the Hard Core Purist. It seems they are always trying to tell people what they can and can't do with their weapons.
Those Collectors are the ones I put in with the (MHMTCC) McDonald Happy Meal Toy Collector Club.
Here is a link to the post I did on doing a Finnish Pine Tar Finish
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=85350
What is the correct thing to do? The answer to this question has changed over the years. Also depending on where you lived would have had something to do with it in the pass. Now days we have the internet. You can post something today and everyone can see it.
Back in the 60s and 70s making milsurps look pretty was common. People paid to have guns refinished. But then you had the guys that just bought things and stuck them in the closet. Most often not to save the history, but just because they liked old guns.
Now days some will tell you that if you do more then wipe your gun off with a dry paper towel, you are destroying history.
Can you tell what was done to your guns in the pass? If you have a refurbed Mosin the only thing you can tell for sure is that it was cleaned, refinished and put away by Russians. Just about all the history prior to refurbishment were destroyed by Ivan.
I hate the Collectors that come down on others that don't do the same as they do. Ask yourself, Who made them the experts? Some call themselves Purist and go about telling others how they are right and others or wrong. But who taught the Purist?
Here is something you can still do. Talk to the ones that used the history that you collect. Find that old Vet and ask what he did from day to day to care for the weapons he was issued. Ask him what he used to clean his rifle stock with and what he put on it to protect it from the rain, mud and day to day use. You will be amazed at the answers you get.
I have heard the Purist say, that is what it says in the manual. Ask that old Vet about the military manuals and what he thought of them. You may get a good laugh.
I was told once that any military stock that I applied BLO to, I was destroying, because I was applying a new finish to it. But the same person would clean a cosmoline soaked stock, removing the last finish applied by the military, and say that it's ok. Was even told that applying Howard's Feed-N-Wax was approved by Collectors for military stocks. As far as I know, the military never used Howard's.
Over the past 24 years I have cleaned, refinished and restored more surplus stocks then I can count. The best advise I can give is. Do your best to use the same things on your surplus weapons that would have been used when they were still in serves.
Remember, as a Collector, you should be an open book. A new Collector needs to fill his pages with information and the seasoned Collector needs to teach and shear information from his. But if you close your book, you can not add to it or give from it.
I was told on another forum that I did not know what I was talking about when it came to stocks. I was belittled, and made fun of. I did not lash out, I asked questions and the only answers I got was I was wrong and they were right. Some people can not see past their Egos.
A member there sent me a PM wanting to know how I was able to keep a cool head with the Ego Clowns. I told him to wait and watch.
I then opened my book and laid the information out for all to see. The ones with the Egos faded away because their books had been closed and had very little in them. Others started asking questions and I answered the ones I knew.
There are many ways to remove oil from stocks and to refurbish them. Some work better then others. Some are used with a heavy hand and others are gentle. What you do most often depends on what you are working on.
I was once told that Old Vets were wrong and that they really could not remember things. But this was coming from someone that had never been there or done that, hell he didn't even have the T-shirt. I can still close my eyes and see my friends sitting on the grinder cleaning our M16A1s and listing to a silly song called Swinging for the first time.
