Cleaning old grease off

[shawnhoag]

What can i use to clean the old dried up grease off my Spencer Carbine without hurting the finish?

[Two Flints]

You might want to try . . . BALLISTOL . . . I use it for cleaning old guns.

Two Flints

[Shotgun Franklin]

I use carb cleaner, the spray stuff. It has not hurt the finish of any gun, including the wood, that I've used it on.

[Shenandoah]

I use Easy Off Oven Cleaner. The lye in the stuff draws out the grease from the wood. But wear gloves and eye protection.

[Shotgun Franklin]

I do suggest that to reassure yourself about any product you might use on or near wood, get an old stock or piece of stock that is really nasty and try different things. I was really leery about carb cleaner until I tried it. If nothing else it'll keep you from taking that deep breath as you apply your choice of products to your prize.

[Herbert]

Be very carful using oven cleaners it can break dowm celulose in wood compleatly rouining a stock if left on for long,there are some very good antique wood restores available ,a very good one is Kramers available from IMA,if there is a antique shop handy they may have some or know of another simular product.It is best to go slow with cleaning antique gun stocks,most times the best results come by repeated cleaning with boiled linceed oil over a couple of week it slowly forces the old dirty oil out of the wood and at the same time conditions the wood,slow but by far the best ,you will need to do this any way even after you have used a cleaner

[Shenandoah]

I agree about leavng the lye on the wood too long. Put it on, let st set for about 15 minutes, wipe it off with a synthetic scrubbie. Repeat until all the grease is removed.


Wear gloves and eye protection.

[Deadeye Will]

I spent a long time learning how to get grease off a stock when I received an MI Garand from CMP with a stock that was absolutely black with dried grease.  The CMP website has an excellent, long article on the subject.  I started off with mineral spirits and cheesecloth, that took a winter, tried acetone occasionally and eventually got down to wood.  For wood, I made another amazing discovery on Brownells, a combination of TCE solvent and their old fashioned whiting.  You make a paste, brush it on, let it dry and the whiting draws oil and grease out of the wood.  It seems to take a long time to get it all out from places where gun oil has soaked at the wood-metal contact points, but it works.  None of the risks of Lye.

For metal, I've become a convert to TCE spray to clean off hardened grease, with help from Kroil or Ballistol, though Brownells also has a metal cleaner that does not affect the finish and washes grime off well.  I've stocked up on TCE because I'm expecting it to be banned like every other good solvent, or insect spray for that matter, that I grew up with.

Good luck

Deadeye Will