Rifle cleaning Oops!

MD

MD

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I got this old Remington Model 700 308 off my neighbour when he moved.

It hadn't been cleaned in years so I took the action out of the stock and sure enough, the trigger group and safety were thick with dust and fuzz and dirt and old oil. So I brushed away what I could with a toothbrush, then sprayed carb cleaner in there, brushed again, more cleaner, brushed again, then after it was dry I lightly oiled the moving parts and after putting a few layers of tung oil on the stock reassembled the rifle and put it the locker.

Took it out the next day and there was a thin dark black streak that came from the tang all the way across the cheekpiece. I guess not all the carb cleaner had evaporated (though it sure as hell smelled like it had the way it filled my work room) and blended with the oil and leaked out onto the stock.

Now it has a permanent dark streak about half the width of a pencil all the way across the butt.:bangHead:

Rats! It was a nice piece of wood too and looked pretty good with its first tung oiling in years.
 
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Well I suppose you could mix up some more carb cleaner and oil and brush the inside of the rest of the stock and make the streaks more uniform. Might look cool. Ya never know. Upside is that 700 stocks are lying around most places just waiting to be picked up by somebody.
 
I had a similar experience. My first gun, a store bought cosmo covered sks. After my first range trip I used this cleaner I got at the LGS. I asked them what I should use and he handed me this contact cleaner stuff. I should've have known better when I smelled it. Reeked just like carb cleaner.

So I cleaned my rifle after my first shoot with this stuff and got some on the stock. "Wow it really gets the cosmo out" I thought lol. nope. that was the finish. I almost let my buddy spray it all ovet his polymer vz58 but stopped him before anything melted.

The silver lining: My BLO refinish was stunning lol. Now they only get hot water (for corrosive ammo), oil and a bit soapy water to clean any paw prints off the stock if needed.
 
C.308 said:
I had a similar experience. My first gun, a store bought cosmo covered sks. After my first range trip I used this cleaner I got at the LGS. I asked them what I should use and he handed me this contact cleaner stuff. I should've have known better when I smelled it. Reeked just like carb cleaner.

So I cleaned my rifle after my first shoot with this stuff and got some on the stock. "Wow it really gets the cosmo out" I thought lol. nope. that was the finish. I almost let my buddy spray it all ovet his polymer vz58 but stopped him before anything melted.

The silver lining: My BLO refinish was stunning lol. Now they only get hot water (for corrosive ammo), oil and a bit soapy water to clean any paw prints off the stock if needed.
Click to expand...

Murphy's Oil Soap is the best cleaner I've found for removing grime from a wood stock. As for a chemical "burn" from harsh cleaners like Gunk and brake cleaner,wow,all bets are off. The most powerful stuff I've ever used is WD40. It cleans triggers and bolts without harming wood leaving a decent lube film on moving parts after thoroughly wiping off excess. Any extra that's missed simply evaporates.
 
Threw my sks gas tube (wood and all) into the simple green when cleaning off some rust due to a poor clean post corrosive ammo. Didn't realize you shouldn't use simple green on finished wood. Now it looks like hell. At least it was already a force matched piece...
 
After using the Carb Cleaner you should have blown it out with air.
Lighter fluid is another good cleaner with air.
You probably did not have to lube the trigger any further had you blown everything out.
 
C........A............R...............B............uh cleaner.

No ware awn that can duzz it state.............clean yer ker-pow with it.
 
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