Cleaning white mold inside revolver grips?

[Venom1956]

I bought some grips off ebay and when they arrived I noticed they had white mold growing on the inside I assume from storage. Anyone have this issue? Worth trying to save them or just toss them?

[Bill DeShivs]

Wipe it off with rubbing alcohol.

[T. O'Heir]

"...save them or just toss them..." Or send 'em back to the evil, anti-firearm, empire.
Kind of suspect it's not mold though. Mold isn't normally white.
Like Bill says, rubbing alcohol or any other wood cleaning product will fix it.

[Venom1956]

Already hit them with rubbing alcohol. have them out drying in the sun. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

I can't believe how much people are asking for old N frame Target grips. INSANE! I am running out of ideas on how to find some.

[DaleA]

I can't believe how much people are asking for old N frame Target grips. INSANE!

At least with the grips you've got something you can use. What really astounds me is the price folk pay for the CARDBOARD BOX the old S&W revolvers came in. I have a cartoon image of a guy with a time machine going back to the 1930's, buying up dozens of S&W revolvers. The cartoon would be him removing the guns from the boxes and tossing the guns in a trash can before returning to today, "The SKINS are the best part!!!"

Good luck with your grips. Any photos?

[Venom1956]

Well these were some cheap 'knock off' grips I decided to try on the cheap.

Unfortunately apparently my new puppy found them and ate them about five minutes ago. So I've got a collection of splinters now. I've been spending a crazy amount on trying to find comfy grips. I'll post some pictures of all of them a bit later.

[HighValleyRanch]

Unfortunately apparently my new puppy found them and ate them about five minutes ago.

Good thing you cleaned off the mold before the puppy chewed it up!LOL
My German Shepard pup is now almost 8 months old and can reach anything on top of my table. So some of my plastic holsters have love marks on them!

[DaleA]

So some of my plastic holsters have love marks on them!

Genius!

My box o' bad/cheap/uncomfortable holsters might finally get a purpose...doggy chew toys. (This really might not be that bad an idea.)

Holsters, IMhO, are way more frustrating to buy than the guns.

P.S. Sorry to hear about the grips, karma should balance this out by giving you something good real soon.

[Carmady]

my new puppy found them and ate them

Were they made from dogwood?

[Venom1956]

From my experience my twin terrors can eat just about anything upto soft metals. ive got a one year old rescue that will eat EVERYTHING and a 7 mo golden that loves to copy her.

Jaruwan.p was the eBay seller there are a few other grips he sells with the same kind if stuff on the inside in the pictures just to a lesser degree. Grips felt ok for the price.

Honestly the biggest heart break were the Altamont cokes. If those panels were about... if all their grips were1/4" inch thicker on each side they would be the perfect grips. I'm debating if I can get/or make some spacers made some how for them.

[Venom1956]

https://imgur.com/a/uAIdL

here is Photos of my grip shopping adventure. I've spent more then I care to admit on them so far.

Altamont cokes are my favorite (besides old grips) Like I said if they each had about another 1/4" of thickness they fill the hand nicely to absorb recoil. This surprises me because I don't have large hands in the first place I can only imagine what people with large hands deal with.

Worst by far are the VZ grips which are so small its laughable. Currently they both wear Hogue G10 they've been the best so far besides the old targets which are my favorite on anything.

[hdwhit]

For mold, isopropyl alcohol may succeed in removing the visible growth from the affected surface, but it will not kill the spores left behind and under the right conditions the mold will return. Use white vinegar instead on a q-tip or cotton cloth (depending on how big the area is).

[HighValleyRanch]

LOL, you can't see the thickness from the side view. Show them from the backstrap side!

[arquebus357]

Anytime I see a white powdery mold looking residue I think lead oxide. Very bad stuff.

[fourbore]

The mold you get as a result of old oil on wood stocks is WHITE. Ok, I know the grips are now dog toys, but; they would have been fine and it not unusual or a big deal.

here is an informed discussion. The solutions vary. White mold is common:

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthre...n-rifle-stocks

I guess I'll weigh in as a biochemist who studies fungi as a profession, for their beneficial properties. "Molds" are fungi, and most fungi are filamentous, they grow out as a network of branched filaments (known as hyphae), "looking" for food. Dilute bleach (sodium hypochlorite) sounds like the best treatment from what I've heard described above, although with the potential risk of some damage to the underlying material, since bleach is a general mild oxidizer. The dilute bleach followed by a rinse approach seems prudent and will actually kill the fungi if it reaches all of the fungal material. Vinegar (the mild acid, acetic acid) is an inhibitor of many molds and killer of some, and shouldn't damage most materials by brief contact followed by a wipe. 70% denatured alcohol is an effective killer of fungi and bacteria (and viruses for that matter) but just don't use it on your shellacked Mosins since alcohol (ethanol) is a solvent for shellac. The tars used in Finnish stock treatments, that were probably derived from mild pyrolysis of wood, are full of fungal and bacterial growth inhibitors (various aldehydes, phenolics, etc.), so they are very effective in preventing biodegradation of the stocks. The various petroleum oils mentioned are probably effective mostly by keeping moisture out but also by disrupting the membranes of the fungi (killing them) to some extent.

In the more than you wanted to know category: There are literally over 100,000 species of fungi (molds). Many look white but that doesn't mean they are the same species. Different species of fungi prefer different growth substrates, and grow best at different temperatures etc. Linseed and tung oil are, as was correctly stated, vegetable oils and will attract fungi capable of using that substrate. Leather slings are composed of protein, so will attract fungi that prefer to grow on proteins. Wood stocks without a linseed/tung oil treatment are probably attracting fungi that grow on wood (cellulose and/or hemicellulose). Keeping low humidity (below 80% relative humidity) will definitely prevent further growth of most fungi and the ultraviolet rays in sunlight will kill most fungi (especially the white ones described, but not black molds) that are on the surface of the material. Sunlight will not kill the fungal filaments (hyphae) that have grown into the wood in the stocks or leather in the slings simply because the light won't penetrate below the surface.

[Venom1956]

LOL, you can't see the thickness from the side view. Show them from the backstrap side!

It was for another thread on reddit. Thats what he requested. I can snap some pictures from the backstrap if you'd like? They are all muuuuch to thin.

[TailGator]

The mold you get as a result of old oil on wood stocks is WHITE.

As are some mold fungi on culture plates.

[Carmady]

If that stuff was growing on a guitar they would call it mojo.