Yearly BLO treatment

[Cdn303]

Hey guys,

I am coming to the time when I have to do the yearly BLO on my rifles.

Last year I just did 1 coat on each. Is this enough, or should I be doing enough coats so that it no longer soaks into the stock?

Also, are you guys disassembling them when you do this, or doing them assembled and just wiping the excess BLO off?

Thanks

 

[plinker 777]

To answer your question it would kind of depend on the condition of your stocks. You've stated that you oiled them last year and if your stocks are in excellent condition that's enough. From new, the military stocks back then were oiled once a day for a month; once a month for a year; and once a year from then on. This was done in the field or at least out of the armory and was externally wiped on care given not to get any linseed oil on any metal parts.
At the armory, before the rifle was assembled the stocks were "dunked" into a warm-hot linseed oil solution and hung dried.
Having said this, once a year I like to take the rifles apart and oil the internals of the furniture...dare I say that I believe my rifles like it too.

 

[Claven2]

FWIW, I have brand new amusers put away before WW1 in South America that had never been so much as disassembled until the last few years, and they were perfect and the stocks were not overly dry.

Much depends on how a rifle is stored. Mine are stored in my basement in a climate and humidity-controlled wood. When I oil them down, I just do it by hand, and generally only every few years, or after a day of heavy range use.

Never had a problem yet.

 

[camster]

I certainly don't/haven't done it annually,

I'll BLO(3coats weeks between coats) then buff with beeswax, but so far only once.

 

[Coyote Ugly]

An old finishers' adage concerning the application schedule for oil
finishes went as follows:


Once a day for a week
Once a week for a month
Once a month for a year
Once a year forever after.

 

[plinker 777]

This^^^ once a week for a month. I am corrected.

 

[bigedp51]

RAW linseed oil not BLO

 

[BCRider]

A rifle in service sees far harder use than a rifle owned by any of us. A service rifle is rubbed around in the dirt while belly crawling, sees more than its share of sun and rain, and generally a goodly amount of dirty hands during "normal" use.

Under such circumstances a liberal oil rub followed by buffing it with a dry rag once a month is hardly too much or too little. It replenishes the oil, which is actually a pretty poor wood protectant, and flushes out dirt from the wood to be buffed away.

But for our needs where the rifle may only see the light of day once or twice a month and seldom or never is exposed to rain, mud or seriously dirty hands once a year is going to be just fine.

For my own part I will be doing a full strip so I can oil both the inside of the furniture and wipe it down as well as inspecting and using some gun oil on the parts of the barrel and action I don't normally have access to simply for corrosion inspection and protection.

 

[bigedp51]

Prior to WWII the Enfield rifle was torn down once per year and if needed the stock was re-dipped in tank of hot raw linseed oil by the armourers. After Dunkirk it was decided to paint the metal beneath the wood and let the troops apply the raw linseed once per month and only tear down the rifles as needed for repairs.

 

[bigedp51]

Again only RAW linseed oil was applied and NOT BLO