doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Parker stock cleaning

It is a hammerless 1891 fishtail lever "Parker Brothers, #2 frame, very tight Damascus in darn good shape outside with some pitting inside. I bought it as a shooter. It was off face and Mike Orlen repaired it with a .003 shim. The Toe of the stock was missing and rounded off also doing that to the bakelite? butt plate. I straightened the bottom with a rasp and plan on putting a 1" pad on it. It is the original stock and Mike bent it to my measurements. I did not realize how beautiful the stock wood is until I bleached the whole stock. Funny, I have used the Oxalic acid before on a stock but I just did not think of using it in this case. This board has been quite an education.

Will the acetone soaking have any impact on the bending of the stock?

Not to my knowledge.

Lookin good Milt. Can you briefly describe the oxalic acid process and where you buy it?

Thanks, Chuck.

Oxalic acid's main use in my experience was bleaching wood floors in old homes. It is relatively inexpensive and widely available. Most paint and hardware stores carry it. I think I paid about $8 for a pound of it in a plastic bag inside of a cardboard box. It is usually found in small crystals that look similar to salt. I have a life long supply now.

I put a pea size amount in an ounce of warm water in a paper coffee cup and mixed it until the crystals dissolve. I took the advice above and used a Q-tip and dabbed it on the black area. I renewed it to keep it wet (Watch out it will bleach other things, like carpets) and it took 2 to 3 minutes to lighten and then completely bleach the dark grey area. I noticed the wood grain coming through so I took a chance and did the rest of the stock using an 1 1/2" paint brush. You saw the result. I would have never guessed it would be that nice.

The whole process took about ten minutes total from start to finsih including rinsing the stock, brush and even the cup in warm water. I let the stock air dry which does not take long during heating season here.

I used it on an old Birmingham shotgun stock and it worked great. I tried it on the Husky I am working on and it did nothing at all. I am guessing that the Husky stock was not stained but had nitric acid applied to get the brown color. I was able to sand the color off and apply my own. I am pretty sure the Husky stock is not walnut but that has nothing to do with the coloring.

Best,
Milt

BTW, the stock is original and has the correct serial number on it. Although it was damaged at the toe, I am doing my best to make it look original. It has the original bakelite butt plate with the recessed dog and it has the widow peak on top. Since the bottom has been shortend (and ruined) around a half inch and sanded into the new shape, I intend to grind it down to make it a spacer, leaving the widows peak intact and leaving the slight curve to the original butt end. I will not cut the wood. I will then add the new recoil pad to make the length of pull appropriate for me.