Deoil a gun stock?

penguin1

How is this done?

mark christian

Wait until Summer. At dawn, wrap the stock in several layers of paper towels and then put it inside of a black plastic trash bag. Now place the trash bag on the dash of your car. Keep the windows rolled up and leave the car parked in direct sunlight all day. By the time that evening rolls around the oil or cosmoline will have bled out of the wood as if by magic.

PS- Do not leave a small child inside the car to monitor progress- the neighbors will call the police.

charliemeyer007

Depends on the oil and the saturation level. I have seen wood at the back of an action that was saturated with gun oil for years to the point of becoming spongy - I don't know that you can fix that issue. Replacement back to good wood can work.

Less soaked in oil could be leached with say acetone. Sweating it can work too. Maybe block big openings a little, like tang cutouts to help prevent warping.

Quick&Dead

I have wiped down an oily stock with acetone on a rag.

Sometimes it takes 4-6 times but it does pull out the oil.

penguin1

Thank you.

Ricci Wright

I thought I remembered Brownells selling a product to de oil a stock and after a few minutes I found it. I have never used it but here it is.
It is called "WHITING" and their part # is 083-032-100WB for 1 lb. Here is their description: Quickly Draws Excess Oil Out Of Gun Stocks
Simple ?paint-it-on, brush-it-off? process literally draws soaked-in grease and oils out of any oil-finished or oil-soaked gun stock. Especially useful on military stocks. Same method as described in the traditional gunsmithing books and just as effective now as then. Just make a thin paste of Whiting and methanol or TCE, acetone, or toluene and paint it onto the stock, then brush if off after it dries and darkens with oil. Warming gently speeds process. Repeat if needed; raise dents, sand and finish as usual.
Their phone # is 800-741-0015. They have great tech folks too.

navc130

WHITING is nothing more than ground up Calcium Carbonate. Should be available at a good hardware or paint store. Seems like there are three ways to remove excess oil and grease from a stock: heat, chemical (acetone and others) and absorption (Whiting).

nunn

I have used dishwashing gel as a substitute for whiting.

Not a liquid like Dawn or Palmolive but a thick gel in a squeeze bottle, made for use in an automatic dishwasher. I just slathered it on the stock, and it being thick and sticky, it stayed put. I left it alone for a day or two, and then hosed it off with hot water. Usually, it took no more than two applications to achieve good results.

Let it dry, sand off the "whiskers" raised by the water, and refinish.

I have only done this on cheap surplus rifles, like a Type 53 Chinese or a No. 4 Enfield.

Mark G

mark christian wrote:

Wait until Summer. At dawn, wrap the stock in several layers of paper towels and then put it inside of a black plastic trash bag. Now place the trash bag on the dash of your car. Keep the windows rolled up and leave the car parked in direct sunlight all day. By the time that evening rolls around the oil or cosmoline will have bled out of the wood as if by magic.

PS- Do not leave a small child inside the car to monitor progress- the neighbors will call the police.

When I first heard about this years ago I thought it was the biggest load of malarkey that I had ever heard. I had an old Mosin-Nagant rifle that I needed to de-cosmoline and figured what the heck. Works like a charm. Just remember to wear gloves when you pull it out of the bag.

11b6r

Have a pre WW 1 SMLE that the stock could end the world oil shortage. Wrapped the stock in multiple layers of brown paper grocery bags, placed in the black plastic trash bag, in the sun on my back deck. Turn over every couple of hours. Took 5 days, changing brown paper bags daily. Did a decent job. I have used whiting and acetone- acetone soaks into wood, draws oil up into the whiting. It works- IMHO not as well as the brown paper bag- and is extremely flammable. Brown paper grocery bags are free.

Aztngundoc22

OK :

I have used several methods also :

The wrapped & in a black bag has worked well for me !!!

Good Luck !!!


Thanks !!!