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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Oven Cleaner For M91/30 Stock


NagantTAL

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Has anyone used oven cleaner to strip a Mosin Nagant stock.

I have a Russian 91/30 which I'm going to refinish.

I've seen YouTube videos using hot water and Krud Kutter, but I thought I remember hearing something about using oven cleaner to strip old milsurp rifle stocks.

Please let me know if this is something that you have used.

Thank you,

Tim

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I have used it. It works, but it's messy. You have to stay on top of it. It helps A LOT to heat the stock up first with a hair dryer or something similar. I assume your rifle is covered in cosmoline. If it is covered in shellac, I would NOT use oven cleaner as a stripper. Oven cleaner is best for 'drawing out' grease and oil. Not the best, or even a good choice for shellac'd or other finishes.

 

Paul

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i always liked dad's easy spray for stripping stocks but its getting harder to find.

i used the cheap oven cleaner a couple of times in the past but i don't think it done any better than the commercial wood strippers.

if its soaked with cosmo try washing it with mineral spirits

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i always liked dad's easy spray for stripping stocks but its getting harder to find.

i used the cheap oven cleaner a couple of times in the past but i don't think it done any better than the commercial wood strippers.

if its soaked with cosmo try washing it with mineral spirits

 

dirtyjim,

That looks like good stuff!

I'm going to check the local hardware to see if they can get some for me.

Thanks for the advice.

Tim

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  • 2 weeks later...

As a woodworker I cringe at the thought of oven cleaner on wood! If it's greasy, and you don't value wood that much, I suppose it will do the job. Zip Strip and Citristrip will work with less harshness.

 

I actually made custom furniture for a living for a few years, and it doesn't bother me at all. "Strippers" aren't designed, and therefore don't, penetrate like oven cleaners do. Strippers are for 'surfaces' - good choice for shellac - but they were not designed as "degreasers". Many military stocks were literally soaked (dipped in) hot cosmoline baths with the intent of soaking the cosmoline into the thickest parts of the stock. I have cut for-ends off of Turk stocks that were completely penetrated. I'm not particularly arguing, Tony, just pointing out that "strippers" are not "degreasers", and therefore do not work as effectively on soaked-in cosmoline. Just plain heat will "work", but it takes longer.

 

Paul

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[quote name=gitano' date='25 Oct

 

ober 2011 - 08:40 PM' timestamp='1319593212' post='52313]

I actually made custom furniture for a living for a few years, and it doesn't bother me at all. "Strippers" aren't designed, and therefore don't, penetrate like oven cleaners do. Strippers are for 'surfaces' - good choice for shellac - but they were not designed as "degreasers". Many military stocks were literally soaked (dipped in) hot cosmoline baths with the intent of soaking the cosmoline into the thickest parts of the stock. I have cut for-ends off of Turk stocks that were completely penetrated. I'm not particularly arguing, Tony, just pointing out that "strippers" are not "degreasers", and therefore do not work as effectively on soaked-in cosmoline. Just plain heat will "work", but it takes longer.

 

Paul

 

Paul,

I guess that makes sense. It just brings to mind how terrible some wood looked when I was told it was dipped in a cat to strip it. Personally, I sand stocks, then refining them.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There is a purple cleaner that Walmart has for removing grease and oil in garages.

I have used it with a heat gun and water to good effect.

 

karl

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of my 91-30s are Russian capture. They have been soaking in cosmoline for 50yrs. The Russians "finished" the stocks with shellac which comes off easily with just denatured alcohol. I have found the cosmoline to be almost impossible to remove completely. I have cleaned stocks until they looked like raw unfinished wood and after just a few hours in the sun or a heated room the cosmoline has bled to the surface again. After the shellac has been removed heat is the best method I've found for removing the cosmoline but it's slow. I have found that after I get a stock to look like raw wood an alcohol based stain (leather stain) seems to stop the cosmoline from rising to the surface.

I use an oil after the stain has dried. I haven't tried poly but it would probably work. The Finnish M39s I have are not coated with cosmoline.

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