As soon as I finish up a few projects I am going to re-fit and re-finish the stock on my 1943 M1 Carbine that I inherited from my dad.
My question is what would you folks recommend I use to strip all of the old oils and grime off of the wood before I try to raise any dings and do any sanding?
Brian-

How bad is it Brian?
 
If its really grungy you will have to scrape.  It'll just gum up sandpaper.
Otherwise steel wool will do.
   Probably gum that up too, but oh well. You can use paint thinner or other solvent so it goes longer before solid, and change it out cheaply enough.  :)

    If you want to reshape it into something else???
Spokeshave!!!
  yours Scott
   

I'm not going to reshape the stock. It isn't grimy it just has 69 years of gun oil and oils from the hands soaked into. I would like to strip the oils off with minimal curling of the top grain.
Brian-

May not be in all cases, but most military gun stocks are just a finish of oil. I have seen many things used, but one of the best jobs I observed was a buddy of mine's work. He re-finished an old Enfield .303. He coated the stock liberally with Easy-Off oven cleaner and put it in his bath tub. He occasionally re-coated it with oven cleaner over a few hours. It just literally SUCKED the oil right out of the wood. After it had worked for some time, he then heated up a pot of water on the stove, and rinsed off the cleaner. He never let the oven cleaner dry completely, just kept it moist with it. Most all of the finish was removed. The hot water also served to help raise/swell out some of the small dings it had acquired over time. He then lightly sanded the stock after it dried out well. He mixed up some green fabric dye and water and applied it to the stock to bring out the grain and give it a nice green tint (in your case, I would use a nice wood stain!!). He finished off with about 8 coats of Tru-Oil over a course of several days. Once together, that was a fabulous looking rifle.

Just one way of doing it, but worked for him. He actually did it on several old military rifles, including an old Nagant.

YMMV.

Funny thing.... I went ahead and started to steam out the dents in the stock and to my surprise the oils and grime were being lifted off and soaked into the cotton rag. So I steamed the whole thing twice and was left with a nice clean stock. Now when I have the time I will sand the stock and hand rub several coats of Tru-Oil into the stock and scuffing it with fine steel wool between each coat.
Brian-

A '43 M1 Carbine (drool, drool!)

Pics, pics, we need pics!

I'll get some before pics tomorrow...

If you go on the Brownells.com  web site you will find a good selection of military stock stains.Truoil just came out with a Rusty Stain that's for military stocks.Sometimes the gun is worth more as it is rather than with a refinish.

Quote from: Ken W. on December 23, 2011, 09:31:09 PM
If you go on the Brownells.com  web site you will find a good selection of military stock stains.Truoil just came out with a Rusty Stain that's for military stocks.Sometimes the gun is worth more as it is rather than with a refinish.

This gun will never be sold...

This is the stock after cleaning and before sanding... I think it would be a great in justus to stain this Walnut stock... I'm just going to seal it with un-tinted true oil...

WHEN i WAS IN KOREA THEY WERE CALLED OFFICERS RIFLE CAUSE YOU COULD REST THEM ON YOUR SHOULDER FACING THE REAR AND FIRE THEM WHILE RUNNING   

Quote from: 64longstep on December 26, 2011, 04:22:41 AM
This is the stock after cleaning and before sanding... I think it would be a great in justus to stain this Walnut stock... I'm just going to seal it with un-tinted true oil...

I agree, no need to stain that nice of a stock. When I mentioned stain, I didn't realize the wood was that dark.

A few coats of Tru-Oil will make that treasure shine like the jewel that it is!!!

Good work!!

Gang,

I'm not familier with Tru-Oil.  What kind of oil/finish is it?  What is on the ingredient list?

http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/Finishing/FinishingDetails.aspx?ProductID=e9fc9501-7a61-46c5-8e93-c13b1036016d

It's made from boiled linseed oil and other natural oils. I love the stuff it really brings the grain out in the woods and makes for a nice durable finish that can almost look like glass. A little goes a long way...
Brian-