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By: Bob Brownell
I was digging through some stuff
here at Brownells
the other day, some old things of my granddad’s and a wide
variety of
old and outdated gun type gear that have been hanging
around in dusty
boxes and forgotten corners for years. Over the decades as
the company
grew from grandpa’s back porch corner in the 1930’s on to
several different,
and always slightly larger locations around the square in
Montezuma, and
finally to our current location on Highway 63 here in
Montezuma, a lot
of things were moved around many times and some really
cool items were
kind of left alone in the dark. All of you know the best theory
to house
cleaning: out of sight out of mind! I have done a lot of
research and
digging into all kinds of history, especially the history of
Brownells
ever since I was a kid. I’m one of those lost souls who loves
studying
the past (especially military history from the 19th and 20th
centuries)
and what certain artifacts from the past can actually mean to
those who
take the time to really look at them. When I finally hitched up
my britches,
got my skull out of the proverbial butt (as grandpa loved to
say and dad
still does) and went to college at age 29, there was no doubt
where my
educational career would lead: History major. I also majored
in English
because I really love to write and besides, English and
American Lit are
in pieces of history from the perspective of a writer who lived
in those
times.
Anyway, while I was going through the bottom shelf of a
dusty, and decidedly
interesting smelling shelf, I came across some old gun stocks
that had
been the victims of some sporterizing, parts stripping, and
perhaps a
little curiosity on grandpa’s part. There was a pile of them
covered in
dust and sticky black crud and I really didn’t have any idea
what most
of them had once been a part of. However, way in the back in
the hardest
to reach place was a complete, one-piece stock. Not sure of
what it was,
I pulled it out. It was definitely military from the looks of it; it
was
short, heavy, and appeared to have been massed produced
at one time or
another because there was no real “finish” evident. It was
clearly a good
piece of walnut with just some kind of stain or even a linseed
oil rub.
Very basic, simple, but effective. It also had a cut milled out of
the
right side that indicated a bolt rifle of some kind. The shape
reminded
me of the Springfield and Enfield rifles that the U.S. military
used during
the Spanish-American War and throughout World War I. It
has three distinct
metal loops holding the entire stock together and there are
three sling
loops also. In addition, the front of the stock where the barrel
would
end is covered by another piece of wood on the top.
Definitely military
looking by my amateur standards and very interesting. I was
certain I
had stumbled upon a piece of history.
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I thought that
cleaning up this neat little
stock would
make a great subject for a Beginner’s
Bench article. We’ve
all seen, and owned some of those old
“truck” guns that
are just dirty as heck both inside and out (Steve Schmidt
wrote a
great Cleaning Clinic article about one such gun)
and they can be
saved. I’ve had friends ask me the best way to
clean up a gunstock
that has years of dirt and grime on it without damaging the
finish.
This stock definitely qualified as being dirty. With years of
dirt,
dust, linseed oil, Cosmo line, and even a little mold, this
thing
was almost black. And, it was sticky which reminded me of
what the
doorknobs in my house felt like after the kids got Popsicles.
After
pulling it out I trudged up the stairs to ask dad and some
of our
tech guys about its past, and most importantly, if it was a
historical
relic that should be left “as is” to preserve
it’s
value. |
I spoke with Dave Bennett’s, one
of our Tech guys
who is very knowledgeable about stocks and their care. After
carefully
examining the stock he determined that was for a 1917
Enfield and wasn’t
in good enough shape to be considered a collectors item. He
suggested
several different cleaning agents as well as the procedures
involved.
Originally, we discussed using Brownells
Tank Solvent, which is a very powerful cleaning agent
and is best
used in a tank for cleaning up powder residue and rust. Dave
cautioned
me that it might damage or even take stock finishes right off.
I decided
against this because I wasn’t sure what kind of finish was
underneath
the grime and I just wanted something to clean up. Next we
talked about
Brownells
TCE Cleaner/Degreaser and this sounded like the
product to use. This
is a great product we carry, I’ve used it on several different
gun projects
recently and it really cuts through grease, wax, and gunk in
general.
However, it can damage some stock finishes but with the
amount of stuff
on this stock, I figured I would need something with a little
cutting
power to get the initial layers off. I also decided to try out
some d’Solve
on a section of the stock as well just to see how these
different products
work.
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After getting
some #00
Steel Wool and some soft absorbent paper towels I
headed for
the workbench ready to start cleaning. Laying the stock
down on
my Bench
Mat I tore off a handful of the steel wool and
sprayed some
Brownells TCE Cleaner/Degreaser directly on a small area
of the
stock. Rubbing this spot vigorously for a minute or so
didn’t really
have much of an effect, and all I was doing was just
smearing the
gunk around. Balling up the #00 Steel Wool a little
tighter, I sprayed
a little of the TCE directly onto it, grabbed a paper towel,
and
scrubbed some more. Once I had gone over a spot, I
quickly wiped
the mixture off with a paper towel while it was still liquid
(TCE
dries VERY quickly) and was amazed at the results. This
small 2”
by 6” area was a nice rich brown color, which was quite a
contrast
to the rest of the black covered stock. Clearly, I had a lot
of
work in front of me. |
Before I go much further, I should
also explain
that the inletted part of the stock where the bolt, receiver,
barrel,
and trigger once were was completely jammed full of
Cosmoline and grease.
I decided to clean this out before going much further on the
outside of
the stock just to save myself more work later on if I would
have stuck
a finger in while working. Taking some wooden tongue
depressors and scraping
worked well, and once most of the grease was removed,
some Q-tips allowed
me to clean out the smaller nooks and crannies. With this
done, I took
some of my paper towels and simply wiped out as much as I
could. Good
enough for now.
| Getting back to
the stock, I kept
spraying the TCE on the steel wool, rubbing outward from
the original
clean spot and wiping it down. The paper towels would get
dirty very
quickly so I kept having to grab a clean one from the pile
next to
me. This way, I could make certain that I was getting as
much of the
grime off as possible. The steel wool also needed to be
changed every
so often as well since it would get gummed up. With most
of the flatter
surfaces coming along nicely, it was time to get the TCE
into some
of the harder to reach spots. For this, I could mold some
steel wool
into the right shape to clean most of the dirt. On some of
the smaller
places, I used a nylon Super
Toothbrush with just a small amount of TCE and this
just worked
great. On the metal parts, the loops and the buttstock, I
simply wiped
them down with one of the paper towels I had been using
since they
were still a bit damp and they came out pretty clean. I
didn’t
want to use the steel wool on any of these parts because
I didn’t
want to scratch them up and ruin any bluing that was on
them. |
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At this point it was finally starting
to look like
a pretty nice stock without the black mess that had coated it.
However,
close examine revealed some smaller areas of dirt that
hadn’t come
off. Since I had used the TCE for the heavy-duty crud cutting,
Dave recommended
that I use something a little less aggressive so I
wouldn’t damage
the original finish or the wood. Brownells d’Solve was
my choice
here. This great cleaner comes pre-mixed in a handy little
spray bottle
so you can put it right where you want it. I’ve had
some of this
in my shop for years and it can be used on any part of a gun
you want
to clean really, really well. This stuff will cut through carbon
powder
inside a gun’s bore and action residue and you can
also spray it
directly onto a gunstock to brush and wipe off excess grime.
With a clean
nylon Super Toothbrush and some clean paper towels, I
sprayed a little
of the d’Solve right onto the stock and brushed
vigorously for about
a minute or so. After alternating between the brushing and
wiping for
about fifteen minutes I had gone over the entire stock. It
looked like
I was finally making progress on my project.
Wiping the stock down well with another clean paper towel, I
took a fresh
chunk of #00 Steel Wool and began to rub the stock with the
grain as though
I was sanding it with a piece of sandpaper. I was careful not
to rub to
hard and not too stay in the same spot for long either. What
you want
to do here is basically buff off any remaining dirt and residue
and I
was surprised at how much was still coming loose. But, this
was pretty
small considering what I had started with and wiping the
stock down with
a damp cloth removed the dust that was left
behind.
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The last
procedure was to
buff the stock with some Brownells
Stock Rubbing Compound just to make sure the
entire thing was
really clean. I carefully read the instructions on the jar
and shook
it for a few minutes to get it stirred up. Taking one of our
Sheet
Felt Pads and making it damp under a faucet, I
dipped one corner
into the compound and began rubbing it onto the stock
against the
grain. With a small area covered, I then rubbed with the
grain for
about a minute taking care to keep the compound moist
and malleable
by running some more water on the pad. This, way you
can continue
to rub it smoothly on the stock which will get every last
little
grain of dirt and gunk out. Once the compound had
turned gray and
began to dry out, I simply took a clean, soft rag and
wiped it off.
I thought I’d cleaned the stock up pretty well by
this time
but the Stock Rubbing Compound did an incredible job
getting the
whole thing clean and looking good. On the other side of
the stock
I used some Brownells
Triple F Stock Rubbing Compound which is a slightly
less gritty
than the regular Stock Rubbing Compound that I started
with. I wasn’t
disappointed with either product and both sides of the
stock came
out looking great. |
To finish the project I got a jar of
Lin-Speed
and a clean rag and simply rubbed the entire stock with it,
and set it
aside to dry. A couple hours later, the stock was finally done
and I was
pleased with the results. Now, I’d really like to find
some 1917
Enfield parts and try to put the entire rifle back together.
Who knows,
maybe I could do that for a future Beginners
Bench!
| While this stock
was very dirty,
and just plain nasty in places, it did eventually come
exceptionally
clean for me and I was amazed at the results. I hope that
most of
you out there with some crudded up gunstocks
won’t have anything
quite this bad, I wanted to find something that really
needed a good
scrubbing just to see how some of our products would
perform. I can’t
honestly say that I was disappointed with anything I used.
Some had
a pretty bad stench but they did the job that I set out to
do: they
cleaned up the stock without taking the original finish off.
The thing
to remember though is that no matter how dirty a stock
can get, it
can be cleaned without having to strip the whole works off
and then
try to completely restore it. That’s why our #00
Steel Wool
works so well in tandem with a few of the cleaning
compounds I tried
out. Everything here depends on the amount of crud and
how far a person
really wants to go with this type of project. Generally, you
can take
a stock that looks like the devil and just do a little rubbing,
a
little sweating, and get some pretty awesome results.
Again, it depends
on the layers of stuff involved. |
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If you have any questions about
cleaning, refinishing, or
even buying
a stock, give the guys in our Tech Group a call.
They’ve got a lot
of years of gunsmithing experience and they would be glad to
hear from
you. Until next time, have a great and safe holiday season
this year and
we hope to hear from you all soon. |