Cleaning milsurp wood - how far is too far?

Book of Restoration - Chapter 8 - Verse 12

Thus sayeth the lord of musketry and his milsurp disciples as recounted by Riflechair - may he leafest up.

1. Using Soap and Water with an abrasive pad is too far
2. Using an angle grinder is too far
3. Having a cloud of airborne stock dust above you is too far
4. Staining your stock is too far
5. Sanding is too far
6. Finishing your stock in a manner that is not original is too far
 
The Less Dinking you do to a stock the better and same with the rest of the rifle, in other words, if you don't want to devalue the rifle, leave the stock alone.


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.
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Riflechair said:
Book of Restoration - Chapter 8 - Verse 12

Thus sayeth the lord of musketry and his milsurp disciples as recounted by Riflechair - may he leafest up.

1. Using Soap and Water with an abrasive pad is too far
2. Using an angle grinder is too far
3. Having a cloud of airborne stock dust above you is too far
4. Staining your stock is too far
5. Sanding is too far
6. Finishing your stock in a manner that is not original is too far
Click to expand...

I totally understand where you are coming from, "originality pays the bills", so to say. Reciprocally, a milsurp stock that is completely dried out in need of a drink because the wood is so dried out it's almost splitting.....what do we do then? Leave it to split and therefore reduce the value or give it a drink to save the wood and change the original state!!!! I'm confused...."_ucked if you do and _ucked if you don't".
I'm certainly not a expert in the field, and have been in the same dilemma and not sure what to do....... I'm willing to learn as long as it doesn't detract from the value.
 
bros said:
I totally understand where you are coming from, "originality pays the bills", so to say. Reciprocally, a milsurp stock that is completely dried out in need of a drink because the wood is so dried out it's almost splitting.....what do we do then? Leave it to split and therefore reduce the value or give it a drink to save the wood and change the original state!!!! I'm confused...."_ucked if you do and _ucked if you don't".
I'm certainly not a expert in the field, and have been in the same dilemma and not sure what to do....... I'm willing to learn as long as it doesn't detract from the value.
Click to expand...

If your piece is at risk of damage due to neglect like drying out and splitting, you're in a situation where stabilization is the goal if you want to preserve the historicity of the item. Doing the research and taking every step to secure the condition of the piece from further degradation in a manner that suits the piece is paramount. The old line "Boy I'll tell you what, that stock is so dried out in just needs FEEDING! Better slap some BLO on it till you feel better" is simply laziness if the research hasn't been done to ensure that is the correct method.
 
I just got my "new" rifle in the mail yesterday and the stock is in very good shape for a 1917. No significant cleaning efforts will be needed on this one, but the thoughts in this thread have been a great read.
 
Butcherbill said:
If it can’t be removed with a soft bristled brush or a soft rag I might use something like Murphy’s oil soap and water and a rag, or Balistoil.
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like Butcherbill said .. Murphy's Oil soap with a soft cloth .. leaves a nice lemon smell for a couple weeks (it goes away). My daughter was over once and I was showing off my latest milsurp, she shoulders it and says "I just love the way all these old guns smell". She'll be so disappointed when she inherits her share and none of them are lemon fresh.
 
I find BLO to stay smelly and take ages to dry fully. When i get a rifle with a stock a bit to dry i wipe them with raw linseed oil and let them sit for like 15min so the dry wood can soak the oil it need and them i fully wipe it. That usually is dry to the touch a bit faster and doesnt stink for months. Dirt and grimes usually come off as the same time i remove the oil so im left with a clean stock without destroying any finish which was usually already linseed oil. That is for oil finished gunstock obviously
 
OK, crucify me now, but here's what I do with all milsurps;
I strip them to the bare wood using Mek (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) and 4-0 steel wool (don't scrub the wood. Let the materials do the work). After it's dry (about 5 minutes) I saturate it with linseed oil until it will absorb no more. Then I wipe off the excess. Next, it is held over a flame (the kitchen stoves works wonders as long as the Mrs is gone) at a height of about 12 inches and kept moving so as to not set it on fire. As the woods heats up, the excess bleeds out and is hand-rubbed, then the excess is wiped off with a clean cotton cloth. Then it is set aside to cool. As it cools, the oil is absorbed back into the wood. After it is cooled, the stock is buffed with a cotton cloth to a dull sheen. That's the way I like 'em. I can add my own sweat, dirt and grime to them as I use them. This process does not ruin any of the cartouches and will make faint or ghost cartouches really pop. The 4-0 steel wool does not sand the wood.
Jon
 
Personally, and I have no collector grade rifles of any kind (all shooter grade), originality would be how the SNCO inspecting the particular firearm would expect it to be turned back in to the weapons vault. CLEAN. No dirt, no rust. When cleaning the C1A1 & A2s, the CLP came out, and a jug of BLO. The rifles were stripped down as far as allowable, sometimes further, in order to get that proper military style clean.
Not sure how LEs were cleaned, i`m not old enough. When I get one, I strip them down completely, clean out all the dirt, rust and crap that it has acquired over it`s civilian life. They are almost always rusty under the fore end at the knox. It never would have gotten that way during service life. Even if recovered after a battle, Private In####ski invariably got tasked to clean all those muddy rifles. Maybe after it was surplused, but not while in use.
They are like old soldiers, after they retire, some let their hair grow and so on.
Sporter or not, all the wood gets a good coating in BLO. When cleaned to a proper military standard, I reassemble and inspect.

The only ones that I would not touch would be ones with some sort of historical significance, ones I would not shoot
 
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