What do I use to clean an old buttstock

[Milkmaster]

My mother-in-law who is 76 asked me to clean a couple of antique family heirloom guns for her. One is a .22 cal model 67 rifle circa late 30's. Another is an old shotgun of similar if not older vintage. Both have leather tacked to the rear of the buttstock with what looks like small carpet tacks. The wood is solid, just really dirty. These weapons have been in her closet for probably the last 50 years. The rifle is usuable after cleaning. The shotgun is not. In any case, she wants them cleaned up because they belonged to her father. I am a good son-in-law who will do whatever I can to make her happy.

Let me say first that I DO NOT want to sand and refinish the wood. I don't think my mother-in-law would appreciate that at all.

Right now I have them disassembled and the metal sprayed down with BreakFree. Now my questions about the wood...

1. I want know what would be a good product to clean the stocks without ruining the original finish. Please include the product and the steps I would use.

2. What was the most likely original finish? Was it possibly linseed oil or was the manufacture late enough to use a type of varnish?

Thanks for all who share their info for me.

 

[CajunBass]

I think I'd start off with just some warm water and a wet rag, and some elbow grease. I think you'd be surprise what comes off, especially if it's just dirt.

 

[Sunray]

Wood is wood. Use the same products you'd use on mom's dining room table.
1. Murphy's Oil Soap comes to mind. Follow the directions on the bottle.
2. Could have been anything. Wouldn't be plain linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil(BLO) is possible. So is varnish, but not as likely.

 

[peterotte]

I have used ammonia cleaners, dishwashing liquid in warm water and boiled linseed mixed with organic turpentine (not mineral turpentine or turpentine substitute) as well as M.E.K. - M.E.K. will ruin any varnish finish that may exist but removes oil stains well. It does not require much drying but it does leave the wood looking pale and lifeless but linseed oil and turpentine brings it all back. Ammonia cleaners and dishwashing liquid in warm water will remove a lot of the soaked in oils from old and stained stocks but it is a bit radical. It works real well but is sure to ruin the leather and takes a lot of drying. It also leaves the wood rather pale and lifeless untill oiled.

Boiled linseed oil and organic turpentine, on the other hand, removes grime build up as well as bringing out the wood grain and colour. It is also safe to use over varnishes and even reduces the effects of scratches in a varnish finish. Apply it to the leather as well. The linseed oil and turpentine is applied with a hand-towel type cloth and gets rubbed until it hurts! The wood should be dry before applying the oil and turpentine. Just do a test on a small spot first! Furniture oils also clean stocks well, again followed by the boiled linseed oil and turpentine.

If you want a real fancy finish – keep applying linseed oil and turpentine and rubbing, day after day for many, many days, reducing to once a week for many, many weeks or until you get tired of it – whichever comes first. The boiled linseed oil does dry and leaves a fine deep, water proof lustre, which I am sure you are familiar with.

Hope this helps

 

[atomchaser]

Get one of those long plastic flower boxes and try Minwax antique furniture refinisher (use gloves and do it outside) and fine steel wool and a stiff nylon brush. It will take the dirt and grime off but not dry the wood out. You can then refinish. I like BLO on old guns, but it's not really waterproof so take that into consideration. If you want a shiner finish, try a tung oil product.

 

[brickeyee]

Plain old paint thinner.
It will not damage any finish and removes dirt and grease very well.
Murphy's oil soap s a disaster on any finish that is not perfect.

 

[peterotte]

Plain old paint thinner. Better than MEK. It will also ruin varnish - unless brickeyee was refering to oil paint thinner. Organic turpentine is in itself a solvent so if the wood is not oil stained (blackened from gun oil - especially at grain ends), then linseed oil and turpentine is good. Fine steel wool is good too, if you go the linseed oil and turpentine route. It is abrasive and has the effect of smoothing the wood (less work than sanding down - in fact, pretty much the same as rubbing down with a wet cloth). Some stockmakers use it for the final "sanding or wood polishing" before beginning the linseed oil and turpentine procedure.

BUT, if the stocks are varnished, it will take it off! Especially if the varnish is old and has lost some of its properties. On the downside - it may be difficult to find organic turpentine in the shops. Boiled linseed oil on its own still works.

Perhaps the simplest is to go with atomchaser's Minwax antique furniture refinisher suggestion. Lack of water proofness is probably not a concern.

Either way you do it - it is quite rewarding to see the wood beauty appear. Let us know which method you choose and how it works out.

Good luck!

For what it's worth - I am going to be using the fine steel wool / boiled linseed oil / organic turpentine to restore my Anschutz 1700 stock. It is varnished and has dings and sctratches in it. If I had a digital camera I would post some before and after pictures.

-Peter

 

[thexrayboy]

I recently cleaned up a Mosin M44 from Big 5 that I had bought. It still had a generous coating of Cosmoline. Getting that stuff of metal isn't all that hard but getting it off and out of the wood is a real PITA. For my last clean up job I had purchased one of those small steam cleaners from Wallyworld, the one that looks kind of like a teapot and holds about 6-8 oz of water. I disassembled the rifle, hung the wood on a line so it could drain and sprayed the whole thing generously with a mild degreaser like simple green or that orange cleaning spray. I then used the steam from the steamer machine to heat the cosmoline up. It came up out of the pores of the wood, was bound by the degreaser and ran right off the stock onto the ground. I then blasted the stock with the hose to rinse off the excess. Repeated this procedure and had a nice clean stock to restain and seal.

 

[KINGMAX]

Natchez Solution - look it up on that WWW dot thing.

 

[James T Thomas]

homemade method

If the stock has a varnish fininsh; that old of a piece will need refinished most likely anyway. If it is an oil finish,then..

I would make a paste of Murphy's Oil soap, and a non chlorinated cleanser powder like Bon Ami. Scrub it with a fine grade of steel wool.

Be sure to rinse with a sponge and wipe it down several times. Wait until dry.
My own personal touch is to coat with lemon or other wood oil to remoisturize the old wood. Wait again perhaps a week for the oil to be absorbed and dry.

Then apply a new oil finish with stain; if it requires the restaining.

Finish with a coat of wax if you prefer.

The older stocks take on a better appearance with this procedure.