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Old July 13, 2009, 08:15 PM   #1
bustoff
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cleaning & degreasing rifle stocks

I have a m1 stock that I would like to clean up. Ive read in brownells about using laundry detergent, dish soap, laquer thinner and a few other things. any suggestions about what to do or not to do are welcome. thanks
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Old July 13, 2009, 09:04 PM   #2
bhannah
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Easy Off

I have heard of easy off oven cleaner. I re-did a SMLE with it and it worked great sucked all the old oil right out..
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Old July 14, 2009, 01:24 AM   #3
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I would avoid oven cleaner, it contains lye. If it dries, it will turn the wood black.

There are a lot of options: mineral spirits, Dawn dish soap, Boraxo, solvent, boiling water, you name it, people have probably tried it. My favorite was always a generous amount of mineral spirits followed by Dawn, then let dry and finish with TruOil. If your stock is just black and grimy, you can use Scott's Liquid Gold and a fine ScotchBrite pad.
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Old July 14, 2009, 05:39 AM   #4
bustoff
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thanks for the suggestions. we use boraxo where i work, works good on our hands, might give that a try.
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Old July 14, 2009, 06:20 AM   #5
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Formbys finish remover, available at Lowes etc, works very well at removing grease gunk and old finish from military stocks. I just did my M1 Garand with it. Works quickly and effectively. Do it outdoors or in a VERY well ventilated area.


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Old July 14, 2009, 04:09 PM   #6
bhannah
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Midway

I was paging the midway catalog today and thought of your post. They have something called Bakers whiting made for this purpose...

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=185558

Or as the Midway site notes...

Notes:

This is powdered white chalk, intended for use with a chalk line or for other marking needs
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Old July 23, 2009, 09:12 PM   #7
Mike40-11
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Murphy's Oil Soap does a pretty good job, believe it or not. Doesn't dry it out either.
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Old July 24, 2009, 12:05 PM   #8
P5 Guy
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Paper towels and the hot summer sun.
I have done too many to count Cosmo soaked stocks with this method.
Wrap up the stock in paper towels, put this in a black trash bag in the sun for a few hours. Go shooting or clean up the metal parts of your new rifle. Repeat as needed until the stock stops weeping oil. Then I wipe the wood down with mineral spirits and a time or two during the sweating process. Finish with Tung oil or Boiled Linseed oil.
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Old July 28, 2009, 01:35 PM   #9
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Ditto on the hot sun process. I've cleaned up a couple of really nasty looking SKS stocks that way. It may take several days, but you avoid exposing your stock to potentially damaging chemicals.

It's really important to get all of the goop out of the stock before you apply any finish because if that stuff starts oozing out after you've done the work, it'll ruin all of your hard work.
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