Gave the Lithgow No1 Mk3 a good clean today...

As part of my Kiwi collection, thought i had better start looking after them.
So instead of going to the Motorsport at Puke, or doing house work i decided to clean my rifle.

RIFLE:
Lithgow, 1942 No1 MkIII SMLE, 303 British.

It was a basic strip down, with wood off... the trigger and safety remained together.

WOOD:
For the wood i just used lots of elbow grease with thinner on clean rags, that removed most of the dirt.
I was amazed how much crap came off. After that i quick wipe down with Meths to give it a final clean.
The some raw linceed oil was used to bring it back.
I was going to use boiled linceed oil but there was still lots of colour letf in the wood, so did not need the extra depth boiled linceed offers...
After a bit i followed it up with another quick wipe, this time with thinned linceed oil, about 50/50 with turps.
Then left it a bit, and wiped it down.

STEEL:
For that was mostly oil soaked steel wool, some parts needed a good scrape, but nothing to drastic.
Again i was lucky that little corosion was there, just a lot of crap built up over the years, and what rust i found scraped off easily and disapeared under some lite oil...

All done.
Attachment 125035

Before the clean, 77 years of grease, oil and grim...
Attachment 125039
Attachment 125036
Attachment 125037
Attachment 125038

That came up nice.

Nice to see you using raw rather than boiled. Keep rubbing a few drops in for the next couple of weeks to rehydrate.
Nice rifle

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Originally Posted by grunzter

As part of my Kiwi collection, thought i had better ...............clean my rifle. RIFLE: Lithgow, 1942 No1 MkIII SMLE, 303 British..

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Very nice end result..........Now find and enlist in a N.Z.Home Guard unit.

Attachment 125042

Any particular thinners? My m17 looks like your before photo and could do with a clean

Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

I'll take a look tomorrow, but nothing special, just your regular thinners.
I watched a number of restoration videos online, and went for the simplest one. :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfcUwMWxJ2U

When I did the stock on my M82 (just kidding TX2000) I mixed acetone with lime to make a paste and spread that over the wood, when it was dry I brushed it into the bin. Takes a lot of the old oil out of the wood so it can actually be sanded without cloging the paper

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Sapper

Very nice end result..........Now find and enlist in a N.Z.Home Guard unit.

Attachment 125042

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I like his bino carrier... Must be standard issue 12x70s for guards stationed on the tops.

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Originally Posted by mimms2

I use acetone. But you'll have to do the whole thing because it will pull absolutely everything and look patchy otherwise. if you have a big enough drum you can drop the whole wood in.
Then time with a toothbrush to get any chequering.

Acetones nasty shit. no smoking. Avoid breathing. And if you don't already have chemical sensitivity you may develop it. Not somthing to do every day but odd jobs fine.

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I prefer acetone too. Old guns don't have plastic on them to be attacked by the acetone, just as well. It really degreases your fingers too, too much! But note that acetone is a unique solvent in that it is not a carcinogen.

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Originally Posted by Cordite

I like his bino carrier... Must be standard issue 12x70s for guards stationed on the tops.

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Nah, not bino's he's off for a quick bit of gas mask fetish S&M with the missus.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mimms2

I use acetone. But you'll have to do the whole thing because it will pull absolutely everything and look patchy otherwise. if you have a big enough drum you can drop the whole wood in.
Then time with a toothbrush to get any chequering.

Acetones nasty shit. no smoking. Avoid breathing. And if you don't already have chemical sensitivity you may develop it. Not somthing to do every day but odd jobs fine.

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I would have though acetone would be pretty aggressive on the wood. You are right though it's nasty shit. Wear gloves and proper charcoal breathing filters. Isopropyl alcohol would be easier on the wood.

Acetone wont affect the timber, it looks that way because its so efficent at getting crap out of and off it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cordite

I prefer acetone too. Old guns don't have plastic on them to be attacked by the acetone, just as well. It really degreases your fingers too, too much! But note that acetone is a unique solvent in that it is not a carcinogen.

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no it has isocyonates in it which are worse. It attacks your central nervous system and the body can't metabolise it so it stays here.

Hope you guys are joking when you say it degreases your hands. You DO NOT want to handle that shit, it will fuck you up big time. I use it at work a lot and I treat it like radioactive waste when handling it.

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Originally Posted by ROKTOY

That came up nice.

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What he said

Im in 2 minds weather to leave mine how it is or clean up the wood

Nice one.
My permit for the small parts for my No1 MKIII* has arrived, but now the US seller is sold out of some parts. :pissed off:
I'll wait until after New Years to order.
Still also waiting on my repro stock set.

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Sapper

Very nice end result..........Now find and enlist in a N.Z.Home Guard unit.

Attachment 125042

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Huh...trying to be sassy with ya helmet,aye? Here's a swift kick to ya goolie's mate!

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Originally Posted by Gordo

no it has isocyonates in it which are worse. It attacks your central nervous system and the body can't metabolise it so it stays here.

Hope you guys are joking when you say it degreases your hands. You DO NOT want to handle that shit, it will fuck you up big time. I use it at work a lot and I treat it like radioactive waste when handling it.

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@Gordo what's your source of this information? In my 20 years as an industrial chemist in paints plastics and adhesives acetone was considered as one of the least hazardous common solvents
The only connection to isocyanates was as a carrier solvent for specific foam making applications.
The mixture had to be used rapidly as any trace of water reacts with the isocyanate (usually TDI, or HMDI) to produce carbon dioxide and biuret.

Acetone is voc exempt in paints meaning that it is not included in the hydrocarbon total for emissions
Interestingly diabetics produce it in their bodies and a telltale diagnostic for someone who is low on insulin is the smell of paint thinners on their breath.
Sorry for the lecture but I have a passionate dislike of false facts brought on by the current climate.

That's a dramatic difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cordite

I like his bino carrier... Must be standard issue 12x70s for guards stationed on the tops.

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Ummmmmmmmm you are being facetious about his MK VII gas mask satchel...............are you not?

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Originally Posted by omark

Nice to see you using raw rather than boiled. Keep rubbing a few drops in for the next couple of weeks to rehydrate.
Nice rifle

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Hey @omark.
Can you expand on that please, the bit about raw rather than boiled,
thanks.

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Originally Posted by Mauser308

What bits are you looking for?

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@Mauser308 I just sourced them from a bloke in Huntly, so am pretty set.
It was pretty much the missing pieces from a bubbafied SMLE.
I just need replacement top wood now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gordo

no it has isocyonates in it which are worse. It attacks your central nervous system and the body can't metabolise it so it stays here.

Hope you guys are joking when you say it degreases your hands. You DO NOT want to handle that shit, it will fuck you up big time. I use it at work a lot and I treat it like radioactive waste when handling it.

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How come it's common for it to be used as a nail polish remover? Pretty concerning if it's as bad as you say.

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Originally Posted by omark

Nice to see you using raw rather than boiled. Keep rubbing a few drops in for the next couple of weeks to rehydrate.
Nice rifle

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The old adage for oiling a wooden rifle stock...
Once a day for a week,
Once a week for a month,
Once a month for a year,
Once a year forever.

Raw linseed is the correct stuff to use for timber. Originally stocks were soaked in a bath of warm linseed and then drip dried. Raw linseed is natural flax seed oil and dries naturally over a long period of time. It is slow drying and for this reason requires lots of very thin coats hand rubbed. The first few need to be thinned 50/50 with mineral turps to encourage impregnating into the timber.
Sometimes it can take up to 20 coats with hand rubbing to get the right lustre finish. NEVER wooly it as a thick coat as it will go like gum and never dry. A couple of drops on your hand is all that’s required

Wood needs hydrating and must be fed so you should do all stocks every month or so.

Boiled linseed is completely different....its not boiled at all but rather is refined and has dryers added so its faster acting however the results are not the same. Some of it has other “stuff” also added.

Hand rubbing of raw linseed over many days and nights brings out the best results and remember to use only a couple of drops as it goes a long way.

You can also draw out the black/grease with calcium carbonate (chalk dust) and acetone which you mix into a plaster of praise coating and then apply quickly to the wood. It dries rapidly and draws out the crap. You then brush it off when dry. It’s dries in a couple of minutes and works well

Thanks all, very informative.
I will pull out the No4 and do that next weekend.

Here are a few more pics of the No1.
Attachment 125086
Attachment 125087
Attachment 125088

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gordo

no it has isocyonates in it which are worse. It attacks your central nervous system and the body can't metabolise it so it stays here.

Hope you guys are joking when you say it degreases your hands. You DO NOT want to handle that shit, it will fuck you up big time. I use it at work a lot and I treat it like radioactive waste when handling it.

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I handle most shit like that with nitrile gloves if I can. Isn't acetone the primary ingredient in women's nail polish remover?

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Originally Posted by Marty Henry

@Gordo what's your source of this information? In my 20 years as an industrial chemist in paints plastics and adhesives acetone was considered as one of the least hazardous common solvents
The only connection to isocyanates was as a carrier solvent for specific foam making applications.
The mixture had to be used rapidly as any trace of water reacts with the isocyanate (usually TDI, or HMDI) to produce carbon dioxide and biuret.

Acetone is voc exempt in paints meaning that it is not included in the hydrocarbon total for emissions
Interestingly diabetics produce it in their bodies and a telltale diagnostic for someone who is low on insulin is the smell of paint thinners on their breath.
Sorry for the lecture but I have a passionate dislike of false facts brought on by the current climate.

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The warning labels on the bottles I use. It's a known thing in the industry I work in to keep it off your skin and don't breathe the fumes. you just need to look at what it does to epoxies and paints to realise handling it isn't going to be good for you. You just need to look at the average boat painter to know it's not good for you.

I have used Oven cleaner to clean up old gunsWorks really well on crusty bores too.

Linseed oil doesn't 'dry' - it oxidises. Contact with oxygen in air causes it to change chemically, becoming hard, like a varnish. That is why a thick coat of oil becomes gluey... It will harden over time.

Linseed oil is also a fire risk, as rags can catch fire - especially on hot days. Take extra care when throwing rags in the bin. It is best to wash them. Or throw them where there isn't a risk if they do start smouldering.

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Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

Linseed oil doesn't 'dry' - it oxidises. Contact with oxygen in air causes it to change chemically, becoming hard, like a varnish. That is why a thick coat of oil becomes gluey... It will harden over time.

Linseed oil is also a fire risk, as rags can catch fire - especially on hot days. Take extra care when throwing rags in the bin. It is best to wash them. Or throw them where there isn't a risk if they do start smouldering.

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Absolutely. Dry the rags opened out on the concrete. Never throw out wet.
Store brushes with oil on them in water.

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Originally Posted by norsk

I have used Oven cleaner to clean up old gunsWorks really well on crusty bores too.

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Preaching again I know but oven cleaner (caustic soda) will attack timber, dissolving the lignin if left more than a few minutes. The surfactants in it do the work of degunging the woodwork. On steel however it's superb will rip the crap off and stops rust from forming as it's alkali

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marty Henry

@Gordo what's your source of this information? In my 20 years as an industrial chemist in paints plastics and adhesives acetone was considered as one of the least hazardous common solvents
The only connection to isocyanates was as a carrier solvent for specific foam making applications.
The mixture had to be used rapidly as any trace of water reacts with the isocyanate (usually TDI, or HMDI) to produce carbon dioxide and biuret.

Acetone is voc exempt in paints meaning that it is not included in the hydrocarbon total for emissions
Interestingly diabetics produce it in their bodies and a telltale diagnostic for someone who is low on insulin is the smell of paint thinners on their breath.
Sorry for the lecture but I have a passionate dislike of false facts brought on by the current climate.

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The smell on the breath of someone low in glucose (or someone on a high fat, low carb diet) is ketones. Acetone is a ketone. Your stored fat is broken down into ketones which can travel through the body and then get burnt/metabolised into energy. If you are fat and you want to lose weight you HAVE TO have ketones in your system, or you'll stay fat. That is why ketones are not carcinogens, they occur naturally and frequently, and sometimes in high amounts in our bodies. Alcohol however is a known carcinogen so don't be laissez faire about cleaning things with alcohol.

Ok, the 1943 Longbranch No4 got the same treatment today.
Decided to stay with what i know, as it worked and was relatively fast...
Happy with the outcome.
Attachment 126783
Attachment 126784

Just need a nice No5 now...
Attachment 126854

Would anyone have any reservations applying the same treatment to a WW II K98k?

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Originally Posted by Ryan

Would anyone have any reservations applying the same treatment to a WW II K98k?

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That's actually quite an open-ended question. Because it depends on the type of stock i.e. laminate or solid elm, which nation captured the rifle and if its a early, mid or late war production rifle. I wouldn't be using a stripper on a laminate stock to prevent stripping out the laminate glue holding the layers together. I did my 1942 (laminate stock) which was thick in cosmoline by rubbing denatured alcohol after letting it leach out in a black trash bag in the car on a sunny day. I BLO mine in the end for convenience as I had more at hand but I did attempt some other finishes i.e. Danish Oil which would suit a Norwegian K98KF1 and Tung Oil. I didn't have raw linseed oil unfortunately. Bearing in mind too that late productions did not always have a finish and Russian captures do come with a shellac finish so more elbow grease might be necessary.

Long story short though, its your rifle so do whatever that pleases you.