Picked up and older 1933 rifle stock that is in need of a cleaning. What methods are working on this type of finish and checkering? I've seen comments about mineral spirits, murphys oil, turpentine etc. Any suggestions?

Try raw linseed oil.

There’s a thread from Michael Petrov about his process for cleaning rifles that’s worked well for me in the past. Similar to Steve’s post above, it calls for raw linseed oil.

From MP’s Cleaning the classics post:

“I'm kind of jumping ahead but every stock I have had to clean in the last decade I have used nothing but raw linseed oil, a tooth brush for the checkering and in some cases 0000 steel wool.

Some have been very dirty and a good coat, lather it on until the stock is wet allover. This will do wonders for cleaning the wood and not removing the underlying stock finish. Let it soak and take your time, wipe with a clean cloth or paper towel.”

Link to post:

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=351571&page=3

-Tom

Thanks.

This method produced outstanding results, I was able to get all the surface grime off the rifle stock and cleaned out the nearly 100 years of dirt out of the checkering.

Before/after pictures?

Before


After

That is an absolutely beautiful stock. Thank you for posting before and after pics. I was inspired and tried the same treatment on the 1910 pre-war Oberndorf sporter I just received. Raw linseed oil took care of the mottled spots on the stock but the checkering is no where near as nice as yours. I took pictures and will start a thread on this rifle soon.

I used a toothbrush for the checkering after i let it the linseed oil sit in the checkering for a few minutes to loosen the old dirt. For the rest of the stock i just brushed on linseed oil and wiped clean with a soft cloth. That took off all the old dirt without messing up the original finish. I just finished up cleaning a 1937 mauser 98 rifle and will try to get some pics of it later to post. I didnt find steel wool necessary but these rifle stocks were in very nice shape other than alot of built up dirt and grime from years of use then sitting in someones closet for the last 20-40 years.

Here’s my 1937 FN 98

Before




After