for the millionth time... yes I ran a search... cleaning GI wood without stripping it

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This may sound crazy but the best and easiest method I've ever used....Wait till your wife is not around, and run it through the dishwasher on the High Temp water setting. My M1 carbine stocks came out clean as whistle, and with their cartouches intact.
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Have done this many times with AMAZING results.

But, regarding your stock, the CMP site states that the wood may not match. Judging by your pictures, you have either two types of wood, or two types of finish. Your choices are:
1) Live with it. After all it is a service grade rifle.
2) Strip all of the wood and hope it's similar enough to looks the same upon refinishing.
3) Buy a new stock set with matching wood.

Good luck,
35W
 
I like mineral spirits and I can't remember if I used a green brillo pad or soft nylon brush or something, but you rub the mineral spirits on and it thins and takes away the old oil and dirt, but first take a blow dryer and heat the wood to bring out any cosmoline and sweat away excess oil. Then after the mineral oil is wiped off and the wood is more or less dry, get some BLO or Tung oil and sparsely rub it in to evenly coat the wood. Let that dry and repeat if necessary. It will lighten the handguard some.
 
I think you've made the right choice to leave it. It looks correct to me. A perfect match looks like an obvious refinish sometimes on M1's.
 
Thanks. :cool:

Last night i noticed the handguards are 'leaking' oil. They were when I got it (I figured it was just residual from storage) and wiped it down. Then when I took it out of the case again the next day, there were a few drips again; I figured the case had some oil in the foam and re-deposited it. Wiped it off, cleaned the rifle up a bit, 2 coats of Tom's.

Left the rifle out in my man cave, next day, the handguards are leaking oil. Doesn't seem like cosmo; it's thin, but I suppose it could be the oil separating out... or the handguards were soaked in oil at one point.

In any case, I guess I'll have to 'sweat' them at least, possibly refinish. Or should I just wipe it down every day until it stops? I'll probably try the low oven/kitty litter or blow-drier method first.

The stock seems fine so far.
 
Last night i noticed the handguards are 'leaking' oil.
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Again, soak it in water w/ laundry soap for a few days. Then coat with laundry soap until dry to leach the rest of it out.

Old gun wood is soaked with not only oil, but cleaning solvents, powder residue, grease, cosmoline and anything else it's come in contact with in the last 60 years. A good soak and "fried chicken" laundry soap treatment as described earlier, will return your old stock to like new condition.

It has to sit in water a few days to get that deep stuff out of the wood. Cleaning the surface won't get that deep stuff out.
 
That explains the dark color. I was thinking that it looked kinda greasy. It sounds like you may have had a bad experience with water and are hesitant to try that method again. Well, my experience is that what you have there wouldn't be cured by anything but harsh cleaning/sanding. The color of the stock is permanantly changed on the surface and you will have to get to the wood under the surface to find the true color. I know that isn't what you would like to hear but I would be willing to bet that you could try everything possible aside from sanding and you would still end up with a dark hand guard.
 
Thanks again guys. I will take it under advisement. I'm less concerned about the color now than I am about the oil... but I suppose I can't remove the oil without removing the color completely and having to re-stain/re-oil. I'll try the methods above starting with what I consider least intrusive. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
You won't have to re-stain if you use my cold water/laundry detergent method. You will have to give it a quick sanding and re-oil it.

I prefer Tung oil mixed at least 4:1 with rubbing alcohol or thinner. It dries quicker than linseed oil and takes a half dozen or so coats to get a good authentic looking finish.
 
Just plain old Formby's Tung Oil. I usually cut it at least 4:1 with rubbing alcohol just because there's always some around the house. Any commercial thinner will work.

When I do real high end wood, I'll cut it about 10:1 and put about 20 coats on over a 5 or 6 day period. That gives you an eye-popping 3D finish that will rival anything you'll see on a custom rifle.

However, that won't look authentic on a military arm, so just cut it about 4:1 and give it several coats until it looks right.

Go back to the original post #13 for specific directions on removing the oil. This is easy stuff and you can't go wrong. The longer it soaks, the better, but usually about 2 to 3 days is all it takes. The "fried chicken" treatment at the end will leach out any remaining oil that wasn't "detergentized" (OK, I made that word up...) by the soaking.
 
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Cool. FYI Formby's tung oil finish contains driers/varnish resin and is different from pure tung oil. Not that it matters; just in case you were unaware. Sounds like it's pretty easy to work with. :cool:

SUBJECT: Formby's Tung Oil Finish

Thank you for your inquiry. Here is the definitive answer: The
Formby's Tung Oil Finish does contain tung oil but is not 100% pure tung
oil. The Tung Oil Finish is a blend of tung nut oil and an alkyd
varnish resin. Unfortunately the formula is proprietary and we are
unable to provide the material composition ratios.

Sincerely,
Todd
Formby's Technical Service
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Good info on various oils in case anyone's interested
http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/oil-finish.html
 
Despite any directions otherwise, it's best to cut it with something neutral when applying to guns.

The directions on the can are for furniture, where you want a lacquer type finish. Maybe such a finish would look correct on a Mosin Nagant, but not on most firearms. Anyway, if you cut it as I describe, it will look like a traditional oil finish, but be much harder.
 
DONT DO FROMBY'S!!! It won't look natural. It will have a laquered look to it. Just use BLO. Tung oil may be a harder finish but it is also much harder to get a good finish. BLO is the idiot's choice for finish. Trust me. I'm a professional idiot. Even I can't mess up a BLO finish.

1KPerDay,

you will find that if you get a vibratory sander and very fine paper you can sand down the stock to the point that the lighter color starts to show through but doesn't quite take over the darker color. If you do it right, you will be able to avoid having to restain it to match the other stock. Remember how black and oily my m1 carbine was when I first got it? After the dishwasher treatment I lightly sanded the top layer off to the point where it got to the red color and stopped there.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=442036&highlight=m1+carbine+restoration

Remember my left handed carbine?

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=448467&highlight=m1+carbine+restoration
 
KodiakBeer said:
Just plain old Formby's Tung Oil. I usually cut it at least 4:1 with rubbing alcohol just because there's always some around the house. Any commercial thinner will work.
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Is that 4 parts Tung Oil to 1 part thinner, or the other way around?
 
4 parts thinner (I use rubbing alcohol) to 1 part tung oil. That's for a military rifle. The number of coats is just "when it looks right", because it will depend on how porous the wood is. You want it to go into the wood, but not build up a layer on top of the wood. Typically, it might be 4 to 6 coats.

If you want to do a really fine rifle with high end wood, sand the wood up to about 1000 grit, then mix 10 parts thinner (alcohol) to 1 part tung oil and give it 20 or more coats over a weeks period. Doing it this way you will get a finish that will make the wood grain look 3 dimensional. It's just stunning!
 
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