Oil soaked gun stock problem

[oldhenry]

A very close friend has a CMP M1 .30 cal. carbine. He is in the 1st. stages of Parkinson disease. He is concerned about the stock leaving oil on his clothes every time he handles or shoots it.

I volunteered to refinish the stock. I stripped the original finish & have attempted to degrease with: 1. Greased Lightning 2. a citrus based product & 3. Purple Power. My best results so far are with Purple Power. I did try spot applications with acetone (outside use only). The acetone vaporizes very quickly.

I get the best results so far with Purple Power, but only if completely submerged. I tried a 5 gal bucket with PP + water solution which allowed submerging up to the lower part of the wrist (grip). The stock soaked in that overnight. I hosed it down with water & It looked good (slightly purple), but the purple color left as it began to dry in the morning sun (it get hot fast in Georgia). When I left it in the sun to make sure the core was dry, a slight oil residue rose to the top.

The end where the hand guard is secured was left overnight in a 303 can of full strength PP: same result.

I then considered letting the outside dry in the sun & let the core drying take place inside. This looked promising, but after a few days very slight oil residue appeared in several spots. 90% of the surface is OK: it's the other 10% that I'm trying to solve.

A son-in-law refinishes floors. I posed the question to him: if I sealed the stock with urethane before it rose to the surface, would the urethane keep the oil below the surface. He says not. He has that problem with heart pine floors. The leakage always appears by a window that allows direct sun light to shine on the floors. He always warns customers about this. After they wipe the residue with a clean cloth every time it appears, it eventually goes away.

I have Tru-Oil sealer & am thinking about trying it hoping it does a better sealing job & follow up with MINWAX Helmsman urethane.

I have an aluminum bluing tank & could submerge the entire stock in any solution that may completely remove the oil, but do not want to risk ruining the tank for bluing.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Henry

[Winger Ed.]

I wouldn't put anything on it that makes sort of a hard shell.
They chip too easily. Plus, it looks out of place on a military rifle.


I'd go with something that dries, but doesn't stay wet or sticky.
Heck, once you've got it dried out, even Pledge would probably do a good job.

[M-Tecs]

If you can still find real MEK that will do what you want without damaging your bluing tank during the soak. I use it for removing both oil and epoxy finishes. For just oil acetone should work also but I have not tried it.

I've done 30 or 40 heavily oiled stocks this way with excellent results. The really bad ones needed to soak for a couple of days.

[NyFirefighter357]

Soak it in a bath of acetone this will remove all grease and oil. If heavy you might need a day or more.

[Shawlerbrook]

I have used acetone, heat, whiting or oven cleaner and just the hot sun. It is a long, tedious, dirty job but can be done effectively.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

One hardly knows where to start.....first, I've never heard of an aluminum bluing tank. If the owner of the tank uses hot caustic salts they would immediately be ruined and the tank would begin to dissolve. Bluing tanks are commonly made from sheet steel. If you fire them up and inadvertently put in an aluminum part the part will completely dissolve and not be there when you seek to remove it from the tank, and the bluing salts will be of no further use. If a different bluing system other than hot salts is being used these comments may not apply--but I don't know what that system might be.

Next, yes, the oil will seep through almost any stock finish you care to use. What I would recommend is that you try Easy Off Oven Cleaner from a spray can. The stock must be completely stripped of all metal. Spray a coating of Easy Off on the stock. It will appear white, but after a couple of hours the white will have turned brown, which is the oil being pulled out of the wood. Wipe it off with damp paper towels, and repeat until the coating remains white. Even the most oily stocks usually require no more than four applications over two days. If you find that some areas are brown, like the wrist of the stock right behind the receiver or the sides of the stock just above the butt plate, and others aren't then you can just apply the oven cleaner where the problem persists. In other words, application can be spot or area specific. Be sure to spray the inside of the stock as well, and wipe the results out. Sometimes it looks like mud! After all the oil is out you may find that the color has bleached a bit, which is easily solved with an application of stain. Some claim that Easy Off, which contains lye, harms the wood, but I've never found that to be the case. Sanding to your satisfaction and application of TruOil should give you a very presentable stock. If, after several coats, the TruOil is too glossy for your taste you can rub it back with 4-0 steel wool, then sparingly apply a coat of carnauba paste wax.

DG

[36g]

For cosmolene soaked stocks I've used a couple of treatments with oven cleaner. Strip off all metal, spray on the oven cleaner (use PPE as its caustic and do so in a well-ventilated area!), let work for 30-45 minutes, and using a scrub brush rinse with water. Allow to air dry and repeat. The stock will come out very bleached looking and the feather raised. Knock down the feather, stain to your desire, and finish with your desired finish (I'm partial to boiled linseed oil). The oven cleaner is harsh but will degrease well.

[akajun]

been there done that, your gonna have to cook it out with low heat, it will take a long time.

If your kitchen oven is big enough and your wife leaves for long periods of time, stick it in the oven on an old pan at 200-225 deg, it will not damage the wood. take it out every few hours and wipe up the pooling oil. Also every time you have to stop cooking it, you should spray it with degreaser and rinse with water. What your doing is letting the clean outer shell pull the oil from deep in the stock out. Its a repetitive process.
A former co worker made a cooking oven. Had some sheet metal bent into a box just big enough for the stock, added an incandescent lightbulb inside, and stands it up. He just plugs it in and cleans it our until it stops dripping in a few days or weeks.

[LAGS]

On most of the mil surp stocks that I have done , or am planning to do.
I strip off the finish with paint stripper.
Then I use a heat gun to warm the stock and bring the oil to the surface of the wood.
Don't Overheat the wood with the heat gun.
It will burn the wood.
I then just wipe it off with a paper towel.
Then I keep repeating the process until the oil is mostly removed.
If the oil on the stock isn't too bad.
I put the stock in a black plastic bag , fill it up with Cat Litter or oil absorption powder from an Auto parts store.
If you leave the bag and stock out in the sun and move it around every so often , the powder will absorbed the oil when the stock gets warmed up out in the sun.

[oldhenry]

One hardly knows where to start.....first, I've never heard of an aluminum bluing tank. If the owner of the tank uses hot caustic salts they would immediately be ruined and the tank would begin to dissolve. Bluing tanks are commonly made from sheet steel. If you fire them up and inadvertently put in an aluminum part the part will completely dissolve and not be there when you seek to remove it from the tank, and the bluing salts will be of no further use. If a different bluing system other than hot salts is being used these comments may not apply--but I don't know what that system might be.

Next, yes, the oil will seep through almost any stock finish you care to use. What I would recommend is that you try Easy Off Oven Cleaner from a spray can. The stock must be completely stripped of all metal. Spray a coating of Easy Off on the stock. It will appear white, but after a couple of hours the white will have turned brown, which is the oil being pulled out of the wood. Wipe it off with damp paper towels, and repeat until the coating remains white. Even the most oily stocks usually require no more than four applications over two days. If you find that some areas are brown, like the wrist of the stock right behind the receiver or the sides of the stock just above the butt plate, and others aren't then you can just apply the oven cleaner where the problem persists. In other words, application can be spot or area specific. Be sure to spray the inside of the stock as well, and wipe the results out. Sometimes it looks like mud! After all the oil is out you may find that the color has bleached a bit, which is easily solved with an application of stain. Some claim that Easy Off, which contains lye, harms the wood, but I've never found that to be the case. Sanding to your satisfaction and application of TruOil should give you a very presentable stock. If, after several coats, the TruOil is too glossy for your taste you can rub it back with 4-0 steel wool, then sparingly apply a coat of carnauba paste wax.

DG

I should have explained: I only do the slow rust process. My tank only uses distilled water heated to change Fe3 into Fe4.

[Geezer in NH]

Soak it in a bath of acetone this will remove all grease and oil. If heavy you might need a day or more.
I use this method, using a 6 inch PVC pipe one end capped one end with screw fitting made up. Put stock in pour full of acetone from gallon cans. I wait a full 24 hours then drain the acetone out back into the cans it came from. I leave the wood hang outside under cover for another 24 hours. Not oil free another soak in the acetone repeat.

[oldhenry]

Thanks to everyone for the quick & valuable response. It is good to know that it's not a 1 shot process: perseverance is the key. I'll start the over cleaner process.

I love this forum........such a wealth of knowledge.

Henry

[Rapier]

Most folks look for an instant result, no such thing, slow and dirty, repeat and repeat again. Do not get oven cleaner in your eyes.

[schutzen-jager]

after stripping wrap it in absorbent paper towels , place it in large black trash bag , + tape it tightly - place it in hot sun [ car dashboards work well ] - every few days remove it , wipe down w/acetone + replace with new clean paper towels - might have to repeat several times if badly oil saturated - when no more oil seems to leech out ,wash with hot water + detergent , rinse + then let bare wood dry completely before refinishing -

[Gtek]

Similar to above for decades started back in the Mil-Surp glut, cosmo, oil, grease, whatever. Paint stripper a couple times then two wraps of paper towel tight in tight wrapped black bag in truck bed on bedliner, in Florida that is hot enough. Every day change wrap till seems to stop leaching. Acetone in spray gun with stock vertical flushing off to bottom. Stain to medium or dark walnut (Minwax) and then a couple coats store bought Tung oil (yes the commercial big box kind with polymers from the guy with glasses leaning over the table) as final. #0000 wool as needed throughout, NO SANDPAPER! Bunches done this way and as stated patience is a friend.

[TNsailorman]

If the oil/cosmoline is deep into the grain of the wood, it will take deep cleaning to get it out. Not just an overnight job. Once you have the stock pretty well done, wrap it in an old towel and put it in an oven for 8 to 12 hours with the heat no higher than 120 degrees. You will be surprised at how much oil/cosmoline will still come out. I have done several and some were stored for years in arsenals and the grease was deep into the wood. Perserverence is the key. BTW, you will probabaly never get it all out. james

[RickinTN]

Use vinegar in the hot sun to remove the oil coming to the surface. As mentioned it will probably be a slow process.
Rick

[skeet1]

I recently worked over an oil-soaked Enfield stock using a harbor freight heat gun. It cooked the oil out very well and I was impressed. Whenever I had a stock like this I had a hard time getting out all the oil and was never very satisfied with the results when I used various cleaners and solvents. The heat gun did the best.

Ken

[CastingFool]

I refinished an old NR Henry for my bil. It was his grandpa's gun. I kept wiping the stock with a rag soaked with alcohol. Kept repeating it, until the cloth did not pick up any more oil. Let it dry for a few days, then finished with Lin-speed.

[ulav8r]

Warm it up good, wipe off the surface oil, then spray on the oven cleaner. It you can, keep it warm after spraying the oven cleaner.

[405grain]

Oven cleaners contain lye which can damage the wood. Soap & hot water treatments can cause warpage. Chemicals might remove the surface oils, but not the oil that has saturated into the wood. The best method to remove cosmoline from a stock is the black bag treatment. Place the stripped stock in a black plastic bag with a absorbent material and leave it in direct sunlight all day. One of the best places to put it is on the dashboard of a car in the summertime with all the windows rolled up. The heat will cause the oil in the wood to melt, and then it gets absorbed by the media inside the bag. This wicks the oil out of the wood. Kitty litter or ordinary flour work good. After a day of treatment, take the stock out of the bag and use a brush to remove all the caked on absorbent media from the stock. Replace the media in the bag with new, and put the stock back in the bag. Repeat the process at least three times. This should remove almost all of the oil and grease from the stock without damaging it.

[uscra112]

I've dealt with this problem for over a decade by putting it in a dishwasher, filling the soap dish with straight tri-sodium phosphate (buy it in the paint section), set the temperature as hot as it will go, close up and let it cycle all the way through. You will be amazed at how clean the wood will come out.

Sometimes I've had to take one or both racks out.

This is the modern version of the old gunsmiths' technique of boiling the stock in a TSP solution that I read about long ago. Doesn't require any nasty solvents at all.

Save the TSP. Add a little to your next load of dishes and see how much cleaner they come out. Also add to laundry.

[Jeff Michel]

Whiting mixed with alcohol, paint it on the stock. It will draw all the oil out of the wood but it's a process. I used it many times on military stocks. Do it once a day for a week to start. Non toxic, and will not injure your stock. An example, not a business endorsement.

https://www.thepaintstore.com/Wel-Cote-Whiting-p/fwht-500.htm

[oldhenry]

Gentlemen,
You amaze me.

I started the oven cleaner application & have black HD garbage bags @ stand-by. Up until now I have been wishing for cooler weather, but now I'm hoping for the high 90's to stay a while.

Thanks to all.
Henry

[ulav8r]

I have not experienced wood damage from using Easyoff.

[waksupi]

Over cleaner is essentially lye, so the lye mixes with the oil to form soap.

[canyon-ghost]

I've used rubbing alcohol to do that. Just paint it on, or literally soak it down and keep drying it off. My Winchester Wildcat came packed in new cosmoline in a plastic bag. I washed it down for three days and finally got it dry. Then the carnuba.

[centershot]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?43989-Repairing-restoring-cleaning-up-or-refinishing-a-rifle-stock

[uscra112]

Over cleaner is essentially lye, so the lye mixes with the oil to form soap.

And the soap is water soluble, so flush with lots of water to carry it away. That's how the original Gunk engine degreaser worked. Many's the filthy BSA part that I Gunked and then ran thru the dishwasher.

[oldhenry]

I've used rubbing alcohol to do that. Just paint it on, or literally soak it down and keep drying it off. My Winchester Wildcat came packed in new cosmoline in a plastic bag. I washed it down for three days and finally got it dry. Then the carnuba.

Thanks for this tip. I've been using acetone (outside) during daylight hours & have transitioned to wrapping with old towel & heating in our oven (I have a very understanding wife). Sometimes the process extends past the daylight hours & the rubbing alcohol allows me to get that oil off indoors without dangerous fumes.

[quasi]

I have always used paint thinner instead of acetone.

[uscra112]

Yeah - acetone is what makes meth labs blow up.

[M-Tecs]

Fingernail polish remover is nothing more than acetone. Acetone is used as a medical cleaner for removing things like tar from road rash. It's also you in some medications. Yes acetone is flammable and needs to be handled like gasoline but less BTU's than gas. It is also widely used as a solvent for industry and home use.

Meth labs use lots of chemicals way nastier than acetone. Per a LE friend it's the cooking process of various nasty chemicals that creates the explosive fumes and coupled with the fact that lots of the meth labs are boobytrapped and operated by not the brightest they tend to blow up. If it was from acetone only you really think you could still purchase acetone at every cosmetics counter, drug store, grocery store and hardware store in the US?

[oldhenry]

And the soap is water soluble, so flush with lots of water to carry it away. That's how the original Gunk engine degreaser worked. Many's the filthy BSA part that I Gunked and then ran thru the dishwasher.

We are part of a brotherhood. I was introduced to Gunk in '58 at the tender age of 19. My 1st. bike was a '51 Matchless G80 (500 single). My riding buddy had a '56 BSA B33 (also a 500 single).

At the Barber Vintage Festival a few years ago the T-shirt concession had one: "BSA: makes master mechanics out of ordinary people" .

[uscra112]

We are part of a brotherhood. I was introduced to Gunk in '58 at the tender age of 19. My 1st. bike was a '51 Matchless G80 (500 single). My riding buddy had a '56 BSA B33 (also a 500 single).

At the Barber Vintage Festival a few years ago the T-shirt concession had one: "BSA: makes master mechanics out of ordinary people" .

True 'dat. We also both know the secret of how to start those big singles.

In the '80 I ran a 250 Bultaco and a DBD-34 in Vintage racing (hence my moniker) One of my BSA chums wanted me to advertise myself as "Beef-n-Taco Racing". Sold the Bultaco in the late '90s, still have the Goldie. I hope I'll live long enough to get it back together.

[john.k]

The go to for removing oil is tri chlor ethane........called "safe solvent" and used in dry cleaning and the vapor clean parts washers..........this stuff will remove every trace of oil......and I mean every trace ........when it was banned by the greenies ,the power company put out a tender to dispose of thousands of gallons of the stuff in drums ......I got the job,only I didnt dispose of it how they thought.......I sold it all to guys with parts washing machines who couldnt get the solvent.........cause the greenies had banned it!

[oldhenry]

True 'dat. We also both know the secret of how to start those big singles.

In the '80 I ran a 250 Bultaco and a DBD-34 in Vintage racing (hence my moniker) One of my BSA chums wanted me to advertise myself as "Beef-n-Taco Racing". Sold the Bultaco in the late '90s, still have the Goldie. I hope I'll live long enough to get it back together.
We have even more in common. In '74 my son raced the 175-200 MX Class. We wanted a Bultaco 200, but the only 200 they made was the Astro. As it turns out another youngster wanted a 125 Astro (they didn't make one). The dealer swapped engines & everyone was happy. That 200 Astro/Pursang was a running machine. He ran it in the Open class one time & it would pass Yamaha 360s on the straights. We eventually ended up with that 200 + a 250 & 360 Pursang. Some Sundays he ride all 3 classes. He sold the 200 to Billy Lyles who flat tracked it. As you know Billy Lyles ended up as a factory MX rider later on.

[nicholst55]

Fingernail polish remover is nothing more than acetone. Acetone is used as a medical cleaner for removing things like tar from road rash. It's also you in some medications. Yes acetone is flammable and needs to be handled like gasoline but less BTU's than gas. It is also widely used as a solvent for industry and home use.

Meth labs use lots of chemicals way nastier than acetone. Per a LE friend it's the cooking process of various nasty chemicals that creates the explosive fumes and coupled with the fact that lots of the meth labs are boobytrapped and operated by not the brightest they tend to blow up. If it was from acetone only you really think you could still purchase acetone at every cosmetics counter, drug store, grocery store and hardware store in the US?

Actually, acetone is labeled as 'highly flammable,' while gasoline is merely 'flammable.' Pro tip: never, ever substitute acetone for charcoal lighter fluid.

[abunaitoo]

Many years ago, I tried to bed a stock.
It was so oiled, and greased, that the bed goop didn't stick in some places.
Had to remove it and start over again.
Tried all kinds of ways to suck out the oil/grease.
Brownells has this thing called "Whiting"
Tried it, and it worked.
Had to apply a few times, but it got all the oil/grease out.
Mines was only a small area.
Not sure if it would work on a whole stock or not.
A while ago a friend soaked a oiled/greased stock in washing soda.
Came out really clean.
Never tried it myself.

[David2011]

I know someone that has restored a lot of the old pump .22 rifles. He uses K2R spot remover in the aerosol cans to get the oils out of the stocks. It takes several applications and cleanings but it does a beautiful job. It revealed the beautiful grain in stocks that had been turned dark by years of gun oil, body oils and sweat. It’s available through retailers; just do an Internet search. It’s not cheap but it is definitely worth the price.

[oldhenry]

Thanks to all that contributed to solve my problem. The stock project was completed & returned to the owner last Saturday. He is happy with the results.

[nicholst55]

I know someone that has restored a lot of the old pump .22 rifles. He uses K2R spot remover in the aerosol cans to get the oils out of the stocks. It takes several applications and cleanings but it does a beautiful job. It revealed the beautiful grain in stocks that had been turned dark by years of gun oil, body oils and sweat. It’s available through retailers; just do an Internet search. It’s not cheap but it is definitely worth the price.

The active ingredient in K2R is acetone. K2R sells for between $3-5 per ounce at Amazon, WalMart, Target, etc. I think I would just use regular acetone from the hardware store/big box store.

[uscra112]

Good to know, but I'm still advocating the dishwasher treatment I posted earlier. No toxic or flammable chemicals of any kind.