Cleaning milsurp wood - how far is too far?

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platnumbob

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So as a newb to milsurp rifles I am wondering how one should clean the stock on an old all original rifle (or if you should at all). This YouTube vid I was watching shows the fellow literally cleaning all of the grime out of the stock with lacquer thinner (which evidently removes the oil in the stock as well). He then re-oils the stock with linseed oil.

To me this almost seems like “refinishing” the stock- is that a no no on an old original gun? Thoughts? Would love to see some discussion on how far your can go before you are “refinishing” and “refurbishing” a classic. To me this seems too far.

h ttps://youtu.be/jfcUwMWxJ2U - copy paste and remove the space if you want to watch.
 
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If you have any type of collectors rifle like a matching K98 then any cleaning besides wiping dirt off is too much
 
Matching 1917 SMLE actually. Figured this might be a bit crazy and wanted the confirmation. Back to a damp rag and lemon pledge like my newer wood rifles.
 
In army service, the rifles were periodically wiped down with linseed oil and the soldier would rub and polish it in etc.
Depending on how the wood looks...the wood does need linseed oil. Dried out wood is not a good thing.

The hugest no no of them all is to ever touch your wood with sandpaper. Although...someone did do a lot of sanding on many of them at some point, we should never.

The most I've done, on ones that don't look so great, is wash the wood set by hand with soap and water (and you should see what comes off). Then, when it's dry, a new application of linseed oil, over and over till the wood is thoroughly saturated and polished. This process can take weeks. The wood needs protection from drying out.

I have heard that on collectible K98's...advanced collectors even value the dirt in the nooks and crannies. Never remove that.

With any antique, patina is a huge issue and many people would never touch any antique's patina.

The thing I have problems with is when you have an Enfield that is already beautiful. You really don't want to touch the finish even though you know it should have linseed oil.
 
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cantom said:
With any antique, patina is a huge issue and many people would never touch any antique's patina.
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That’s a fact for sure. I was on a US gun auction site recently and there was an antique that was exactly what I wanted but the seller scrubbed all the metal cartouches and filled them with white chalk to accent them. He totally ruined the value but he actually thought he enhanced the value. A shame really.
 
You often hear about cosmolene soaked wood, oil leeching out if wood, guys trying to limit that, etc.

Most if that is bunk. For starters, cosmolene isn't a penetrant. It sits on the surface and has insufficient viscosity to penetrate an oiled stock to any great extent.

What many if those guys are doing is drawing out the original linseed (usually) oil the stock was saturated with at the factory.

There are exceptions, I have seen wood that was clearly saturated with mineral oil, usually after hard service in Asia. Some of those stocks were likely immersed in motor oil at some point. In those cases, i will strip a stock to limit damage.

Any oil, even polymerized, will liquify and weep out of a stock if it gets hot. That does not mean the "cosmene is still weeping out".

For perspective, most rifle stocks were dipped multiple times into near-boiling raw linseed oil, drip dried, and then issued. The idea was total stock saturation so no pores in the wood could retain water and promote rot. In a perfect world, you would cut a stock in half and see total linseed saturation. Sometimes that was achieved, other times the very center will still be dry, which the military would have seen as less than ideal and a weak point for rot or warpage.

Bottom line - I usually coat a stock in turpentine-diluted linseed and let it sit a few hours in a warm place to loosen surface debris. I polish this off vigorously with a cotton rag (that I immediately burn before is spontaneously combusts), and then repeat if needed.

Usually that is all that is needed. I also hand rub new oil on the stock periodically, whenever it looks like it could use a rub.

You must accept that some oil will always weep out if a stock if you get it hot enough. That means it is properly oiled.
 
platnumbob said:
So as a newb to milsurp rifles I am wondering how one should clean the stock on an old all original rifle (or if you should at all). This YouTube vid I was watching shows the fellow literally cleaning all of the grime out of the stock with lacquer thinner (which evidently removes the oil in the stock as well). He then re-oils the stock with linseed oil.
To me this almost seems like “refinishing” the stock- is that a no no on an old original gun? Thoughts? Would love to see some discussion on how far your can go before you are “refinishing” and “refurbishing” a classic. To me this seems too far.
h ttps://youtu.be/jfcUwMWxJ2U - copy paste and remove the space if you want to watch.
Click to expand...

Clear the stock with Ballistol oil and wipe with a paper towel. I've been using it for years on all my milsurp. You will see how beautiful it looks after.
 
Claven2 said:
Bottom line - I usually coat a stock in turpentine-diluted linseed and let it sit a few hours in a warm place to loosen surface debris. I polish this off vigorously with a cotton rag (that I immediately burn before is spontaneously combusts), and then repeat if needed.
Click to expand...

Oh, Isn't that the truth..... One day we were sitting on my boat having a few brews and my next door dockmate was rubbing his teak rails with oil. When he was done he threw the oily rags into a bucket and placed the bucket in a cockpit locker and left for home. It was about 30 minutes later that smoke started coming out of the locker and we rushed over to investigate. On opening the locker (thankfully he didn't lock it) the bucket burst into flames and we threw it overboard. Luckey day for him.....

Oily rags go in my burn barrel in the back yard every time.
 
bush1 said:
Oh, Isn't that the truth..... One day we were sitting on my boat having a few brews and my next door dockmate was rubbing his teak rails with oil. When he was done he threw the oily rags into a bucket and placed the bucket in a cockpit locker and left for home. It was about 30 minutes later that smoke started coming out of the locker and we rushed over to investigate. On opening the locker (thankfully he didn't lock it) the bucket burst into flames and we threw it overboard. Luckey day for him.....

Oily rags go in my burn barrel in the back yard every time.
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Not all oils do that, but linseed does. DEFINITELY DO NOT ball up linseed-soaked rags and forget about them.
 
I prefer Tung oil over linseed. And it’s available at Home Depot. It makes the grain pop and it’s safer to use and less stinky.
 
Shake the chit owt a can awf Fluid Film and have atter.
Lewbs, oils, shines, and protects.
Take ahh wee bit'oh time to ackqwire a fawndnizz fur the smell.
 
kamlooky said:
Shake the chit owt a can awf Fluid Film and have atter.
Lewbs, oils, shines, and protects.
Take ahh wee bit'oh time to ackqwire a fawndnizz fur the smell.
Click to expand...

Fluid film is mineral oil, which will break down wood fibers over time. I can't recommend it in good conscience.
 
sledge said:
I prefer Tung oil over linseed. And it’s available at Home Depot. It makes the grain pop and it’s safer to use and less stinky.
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Tung oil is great stuff, but generally not authentic for military surplus rifles. It is almost all mixed with modern synthetic varnish as well, so once it dries, adding more oil doesn't do anything. FWIW.
 
Tung oil sits on the surface of the wood, Dries to fast. As Claven2 mentioned it got other additives in it. Tung oil also leaves a shine and military rifles are not shiny.
 
Pblatzz said:
Tung oil sits on the surface of the wood, Dries to fast. As Claven2 mentioned it got other additives in it. Tung oil also leaves a shine and military rifles are not shiny.
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How about refinishing the wood of k31,k11 ? There is no war time history in them. We are restoring old cars to look new.
 
I use raw linseed oil 50/50 with turpentine, cleans the grunge off and nourishes the wood. I use a old piece of denim to rub it down and burn it in the firepit after I'm done.
 
If you get really picky, an authentic finish for a rifle will depend on the rifle, period and country of origin or use.
For most, an authentic finish will be some sort of linseed oil, but other finishes including tung oil, lacquer, varnish or even no finish at all would have been authentic for some others.
 
cornelunc said:
How about refinishing the wood of k31,k11 ? There is no war time history in them. We are restoring old cars to look new.
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Agreed
This is all relative and each person has different ideas...none are wrong if you're happy with the results.
Don't want to open a can of worms here getting off track from the OP post.
First off. Ask yourself why do you want to do anything to the wood in the first place? What are your plans for the rifle?
Keep it, then sell it when it might be worth more. (locker queen)
Make sure it's shootable and us it as is?
Or keep it, restore it and enjoy many hours of fun shooting it at the range.
I treat a milsurp rifle the same as buying and antique car.
Buy it, fix it up back to OEM specs (within reason) and use it.
Collectors rifle...this gets me, I don't collect milsurp rifles like hockey cards.
A true collector wants even the dirt left on....Well good for them...I don't.
But then again...not interested in selling any gun...if I can help it....

I asked about Linseed oil BLO not drying in another post. Lots of good post on that thread.
Since then...I found Linseed oil (BLO) is the hardest to work with, but will produce the best look on milsurp stocks (Matt finish)
Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil is the easiest by far and gives a very high gloss finish the worst imo for a milsurp stock.
I did a couple of stocks with MiniWax Tung Oil... easy to work with...still lot of gloss.
I did a couple with MiniWax Antique Oil.. the second best to BLO...semi gloss.
Last stock I did was 1/3rd BLO, 2/3rd MiniWax Antique Oil.
Pretty happy with that!

Still looking for the perfect combo...
 
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