Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Black spots on wooden stock

Looking at possibley purchasing an older wood and blued rifle from the mid 80,s

Looking at pics it has quite a number of blackish spots ingrained into the oil finished stock. Im presuming this is some sort of mould growth/spores(maybe from being stored in a damp environment). Cant find much info about it. Metal work looks fine with no rust.

Anybody able to tell me what it is likely to be?? Will it be a permanent featue or can you remove it?

Impossible to say without pics.

Bet they will disappear if you refinish it.

That really wouldn’t bother me, but it’s not my gun.

Looks like a Sako to me, so it is certainly worth some effort. I agree that it looks like mold, more than likely under the finish somehow. I might try a dilute bleach solution to kill the mold and stop its progression, but know that you might discolor the wood. Sanding the stock down to bare wood would work as well, but I have never been satisfied with my ability to refinish an already checkered stock.

Buy it, use it, and if you like it--start saving for a McMillan

PM K22, he’ll know.

Oil spots from oil or bore solvent.

Could be mold, but I think more likely something got splattered on the stock.

Unless one is looking for a collector grade gun, as long as the price reflected this minor aesthetic blemish, I wouldn’t let those marks stop me from buying the gun.

JMHO

Cervus: I have never seen that condition on a Rifle stock before - I am anxiously awaiting an explanation myself - I have several Sako Rifles and at least three of them have the newer oil finish.
Good luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Given the dimples in the stock finish, I suspect there are open pores in the stock finish and that the previous owner(s) probably got a little carried away wiping down the stock with something having an oil base. Some folks subscribe to all-in-one products such as Ballistol as being safe for all wood finishes which is definitely not the way to go (not putting down Ballistol at all - I use it, but not on wood). Agree with Utah that the best solution would be a refinish - no matter what the source/type of spotting, the only fix is to remove the spots, degrease with laquer thinner, sand the surface, seal, and refinish.

splash back from cleaning solvent. it will clean up with refinish. better finish will also probably bring out some more figure in the wood as a bonus. have fun. D O M I T !