Author Topic: New gun cleaning  (Read 2210 times)

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skin

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New gun cleaning
« on: October 30, 2019, 12:37:10 PM »
 I have read on the different forums about how to clean a new gun, but I have not seen anything about cleaning the wood on a rifle. I clean/polish the wood if it has good figure. I start by cleaning the shipping wax/ coating using windex or some other cleaner that has some amonia in it. I wipe it down really good with an old t-shirt. I follow up with ffff polishing compound. Clean again and polish again until I get the desired effect. Lastly, I use a good wax and buff to finish. You'd be surprised at the difference in looks.

Offline Rigidman

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2019, 11:04:50 PM »
Use wood cleaning products. Works a lot better. Not hard to refinish either. Just sand it down like anything. Start a little coarse. You'll have to decide by stock condition. Are there heavy scratches, light scratches, or no scratches? Light or no scratches you can start with finer sand paper. If you have some dings or some scratches that too much material would have to be removed to flatten it. Just use a wet towel with a hot iron (has to be in bare wood, not sure if this works on finished). might not be able to remove everything. After it dries may need to repeat. Once done just get some varnish and poly. They can polish up almost like mirrors. If you have a nice stock you just want to refinish just sand with medium grit to light grit then varnish and poly. But I use Orange Glow to clean. There's a lot of other stuff. Some cheap some expensive. Use what works for you. You may decide to refinish, or keep patina. YouTube will have all types of videos you can research. Almost forgot. On the metal use dawn. Some parts can be soaked 5-10 min. If need be leave longer. Chemical grease removers good damage finish on metal. After clean oil the metal really well and leave it to soak a couple days. Then wipe it down. If you're storing it you may want oil heavier in rusty places. If you're using it, oil normal. But YouTube can make it clearer than I am.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2019, 05:44:46 AM by Rigidman »

Offline Rigidman

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2019, 05:56:23 AM »
Wanted to add, he careful getting wood too wet. Can cause damage, even crack. Wood acts weird in different climates and humidity. If it dries to quickly from wet it can crack. If it gets too dry it can crack. What really happens is the grain separates. I'm sure you've seen one of the drinking straw demos. After cleaning wood you want it to dry before waxing. Don't want to lock wetness in. There are many wood cleaning products for wood. I think I saw on youtube this old guy made his own cleaner for removing cosmoline. Try this website: https://www.originalcosmoline.com/shop/how-to-properly-remove-cosmoline-from-military-surplus-firearms/##targetText=Cosmoline%20is%20used%20to%20protect,its%20eventual%20removal%20seemingly%20problematic.

Offline Arko

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2019, 07:46:36 PM »
https://www.heritagenaturalfinishes.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=81

For any wood on any gun this is the only finish you'll ever need. Just try it. This stuff is amazing. All of their products are. I've used them for about 12 years for alot of different projects from my furniture to components in my sailboat. It's extremely weatherproof and when used on gun grips or a gun stock it has an awesome feel in the hands.
  I have many of their products in the gallon size cans. Their endgrain sealer is better than anchorseal, if you know what that is.

Offline Rigidman

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2019, 11:30:18 PM »
Nice!! Yeah just wanted to add something that gave more info than I had. Did a friend's stock and he was surprised the dings were gone. Ironed them out.

Offline Arko

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2019, 07:03:52 PM »
Absolutely, dents are far easier to remove from wood than most people would believe. If the fibers are just compressed and not broken and frayed it's pretty basic.

Offline mrcabinet

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2019, 08:38:10 PM »
DO NOT use any cleaning products that contain ammonia on finished wood products. It will haze the finish - sometimes in as little as one or two applications. Items that have a conversion varnish finish, like many kitchen cabinets, are especially susceptible. On wood with an oil finish it can slowly degrade the wood fibers.
No matter where you're going, there you are.

Offline Rigidman

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Re: New gun cleaning
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2019, 08:25:06 PM »
Yeah, that's why I added the link for him. There's some good YouTube vids about it too. Theres a website where the guy works at a gun museum restoring old guns. Not sure if that was the link I added.

If the grain is damaged or cut, then your out of luck. Unless your finishing skills are at the expert level. You can take some wood putty and fill them, or glue with similar color wood dust. The dust works really well to fill actual damaged holes.

Break out the magnifier. Be certain of dent or damage.