Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Olde West Snake Oil

Per the recommendations of the crew here I just got my first shipment of Olde West Snake Oil.

Reading over the literature it's a true type of oil without solvents.

However, I can hear the voice of my late Dad telling me many times to NEVER put oil on gun stocks. It stains them and over time softens and weakens them.

You here that have used snake oil are OK with this product being applied to gun stocks? No problems? Not like a "gun" oil?

Just being cautious.

Thanks,

Harry M.

I have not used my Snake Oil long enough to help, but I am also interested to see what people have to say!!

Mike...

"All said, the Savage 99 is a genius of a rifle that epitomizes the best in American craftsmanship, creativity, and originality. Although no longer produced it remains highly revered, as it was the foundation from which Arthur Savage built one of America's great gun companies. >> (Jon Y. Wolfe) << "

Very true - the Savage 99 is as much a child of genius as were Browning's designs. The fact that it lasted so long and is able to handle modern high pressure cartridges without major design changes (manufacturing changes yes, design changes no) is testiment to the solid design!

I think what your dad might have been refering to are guns that have had damage due to oil running down into the front of the butt stock. You leave a generous coat of oil in the barrel and action then stand the rifle on its butt. The oil all runs down into the butt stock tang area. Do that enough times over enough years and you get black soft wood behind the tang.

Wipe on, wipe off...should be no problem.

I used Snake Oil on a recent antique purchase. It is an old platform rocker with dried out oak. It has obviously seen some recent applications of Old English brand scratch remover oil. The snake oil just seemed like a good idea to feed the wood. I have applied it to guns but with the caveat to wipe off the excess and store muzzle down. Rustyzipper

Harry, i been using it on all my firearms and havent had any problems at all , its great, you only need to put on a real light coating on it not enough to run anywhere!! Don

+1, been using it a couple of years now and no problems. Wipe it on really lightly, maybe a couple times a year. New rifles with abused stocks I hit more often for the first few months.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I'll be careful with it. I got it for the wood mainly. As I mentioned before I couldn't believe how the color was drained away from my son's F after he hunted with it pouring rain and the heavy snow.

I'm also going to look at Blue Wonder Armadillo treatment. You melt it then rub it into the wood and buff it out. Supposed to make water bead up on the wood.

Harry M.

Harry, Id be interested in knowing how the armadillo turns out.
Gary

http://www.bluewonder.us/BlueWonderArmadillo.html

Sounds interesting for the metal on my shooters, not sure I want a dry, hard shell finish on the stock. The original finish is one of the things I love about the old 99's..

Love to hear what affect it has on the wood appearance if you do try it.

While we're on the subject. Don, Rory, Jed......or anyone else with an opinion. Do you folks use that Snake oil stuff down the bore too, or something else? I have been using Rem oil on the metal of my 99's for years, but someone ( I think it MIGHT have been Longbeardking/Steve?) wrote in a post that it is bad for the wood finish (should you get any on the stock).

I just started using Snake oil recently, based on several of your suggestions. I like the way it makes the wood and metal look, on both beaters, and rifles with condition. Harry, I know exactly what your talking about. The Post War .300 99F that has been my hunting gun for over 30 years has almost no original finish left on the wood, and the full days of hunting in the rain or snow are apparent when looking at the stock. I waited till after the NY season to apply the Snake oil to the stock figuring i'd save the stink till after the season ended. Not that the smell is bad compared to other gun oils. I guess that would be the lack of solvents?

Also, do you guys wear gloves when applying the Snake oil stuff? when I ordered my bottles there was an option for rubber gloves, but I chose not to buy them.
I'm not too worried considering all of the other automotive/firearm chemicals i've been exposed to over the years. just curious. Thanks. -TomT

My opinion? I always got one, even when it's a totally uninformed opinion!

I've never yet put snake oil down the bore. Remington gun oil is used to put a very light coating down the bore after I finish cleaning it. Snake oil pretty much everywhere else on the gun.

I know that the gun oil isn't going to migrate from the bore to the stock, and I trust it a bit more than snake oil to prevent rust on metal.

Well again my Dad used Remington gun oil on his gun's for years, may have even used it for cologne he loved it so much!

I have been fooling around with this blue wonder stuff and find it interesting. A friend gave me some of their gun oil (discotec) and I like it.

I have used their cold blue (I know, dirty word) but I found it to be very decent. Takes time to do it right as it's a multi-part process.

This water getting into my son's F stock bugs me. Wood is porous material and even when it dries out you can have damage over time. Does the Blue Wonder Armadillo coating keep water from penetrating deep into the wood, we'll see as I just ordered some and I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Does Snake Oil dry after application - like a wax, or finish? Or does it retain some soft, viscous state, like most protective gun oils?

TomT,I dont use it in the bore most of the time i just use light oil like 3 in 1 . The gloves to use with the snake oil are brown cotton gloves ,you just put the snake oil on them and rub the guns down with the gloves on your hands,any time im handling them just put the gloves on put a little oil on them and oil them while im looking at them!!! Don

Thanks for the consensus guys. I guess for now, i'll stick to light applications of Snake oil on the outside wood and metal, and Rem oil down the bore after removing fouling with Hoppes, or Shooters Choice. -Tom

I'm following up but hope it's OK as I know this is not about a Savage 99 per say.....

Anyhow.Got this Blue Wonder Armadillo stuff which is advertised as a rain coat for your gun.

1 oz container. First impression is that I'm not sure what to make of the stuff. Opened it up and it's a very solid material. Thought maybe it was bad or dried out.

Instructions say it is a hard polymer and may appear to be dried out. It says apply with a warm damp cloth, let dry, and buff out.

Problem is I can't tell if any of it is going on to the rag when I rub it. Can't tell if any is going on to the wood or not.

The ingredients are listed as Paraffin, Montan Wax, Tung Oil, Linseed Oil, and Silicone.

I sent Blue Wonder an e-mail asking if what I'm seeing is normal so I'll see what they say. However at this point I would have to say the concept is an A+ but the product performance is a D in my mind.

Harry M.

I used the Old West Snake Oil on a 100 year old wall clock. It soaked in after a few days and the clock looks great.

I bought it to wipe my guns down lightly with (exterior only) and have liked the results. My wife dips into the bottle pretty often (snake oil, not Turkey) to wipe down some of our older wooden furniture & I was concerned at first because I thought she would blow through the bottle quickly. The stuff goes a loooooong way. It makes everything it touches look real nice. The brown cotton gloves make it real easy to apply to all surfaces of a firearm. I give it a thumbs up.

Harry, you might try running hot water over the bottle to warm it up. It might soften it enough to make it flow easier.