Browning "Salt" Wood

Horney toad

I have heard of salt wood being used on the old Browning guns. What exactly is salt wood? Is it from logs that have been sunk in the ocean? I know that method is used to store logs in some countries.

What gun models did browning use this wood on? Did this cause a lot of rust on the guns?

Wehrmacht_45

I do believe these affected 1970's Brownings. Shotguns and rifles alike. Their traditional supplier could not meet their needs for some reason, and they ended up with wood from a new supplier that had been packed in salt to speed drying (is what I heard) anyways the salt leeched out of the wood and attacked the metal below and at the wood line. See a lot of Safari models with this, but also some A5 shotguns.

CapnMidnight

I've played around with Belgium Brownings for years, and that is the same story I've always heard. That Miroko built guns in the middle 70s had this problem with salt wood.
For what it's worth.
W.D.

HandgunHTR52

Here is a link to an article that I found while researching this about a week ago. It pretty much explains it all.

http://www.shotgunreport.com/TechTech/TechnoidArchive/8-Dec-02.html

Horney toad

Very Good information. Thank you for your help.

Mooseyard

The problem goes farther back than the 70's. I have a 66 T-Bolt that I beleive is salt wood. I think the years 66-73 are suspect for saltwood. It usually shows up on the T-Bolt rifles, and the superposed shotguns. The wood was cured in salt mines to help the drying process. To check for it on a gun you are looking at buying, try to remove one of the butt plate screws. They are often rusted in. Don't try too hard because if you break the screw off, you are going to have a very upset seller. I've also found that using an LED style pen light like the Streamlight Stylus will show wavy discoloration in the bluing near the wood line. I hope this helped.

littlegun

I saw a Ruger #1 at a gun show that was said to have salt treated lumber on it. It had deep deep pit every where the wood contacted the metal.

dogtown tom

From "Browning Sporting Arms of Distinction" by Matt Eastman:

"Salt wood resulted from a process used on Brownings to speed up the curing time of wood...the salt would draw out the moisture and speed up the drying process, unfortunately the salt residue remained in the wood grain and caused metal corrosion where the metal and wood made contact. This was not a Browning problem, but a supplier problem.

About 1965, a large wood supplier sent wood not only to Browning for FN's use but also to Bishop, Fajen, Winchester, Ruger and to the US Military for M-14 stocks. This company was drying their walnut using granulated salt, by covering the wood with salt and placing it in quonset huts.

The wood dried so quickly that the workers said they could actually see a steady drip of moisture coming from the wood. The wood was already cut into the appropriate size planks and no one thought that any salt residue would remain on or in the wood after final shaping, sanding, and finshing.The US Government stopped using walnut for the M-14 rifles and went to other types of wood because properly cured wood was so scarce at the time.

In Brownings case, the problem first showed up starting in 1966 and ends on their guns about 1973. Superposes and T-Bolts made between 1967-1973 should be looked at; Safari, Medallion or Olympian made between 1967-1976; and any A5's 2,000,000 edition Commemoratives should be looked at.

Inspect any place the metal touches the wood. Take out the butt plate screws and look them over carefully. If you find no rust, the gun is probably OK. Sometimes you can test the wood with silver nitrate. Place a drop or two on a hidden spot on the wood, if it bubbles you have a problem"

CapnMidnight

I just took my A-5 commemortive apart in a panic,...praise the lord and pass the Jamesons, it's ok. Thanks for the good info.
W.D.