Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Cleaning-Up Time For An Old Model 1899

Hello Savage gurus:

I have an old 1899-B in .38-55 cal. that was stored in my dad's closet for the last 50-60 years. It is is pretty fair shape overall, but has decades of accumulated oil, grease, grit, grime, powder, etc. both inside and out.

My intention is to give it a thorough cleaning and then take it to the range. What is my best bet for removing the goo from both the blued and non-blued surfaces? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jeff

ps- is it an easy task to remove the front/rear sights from the barrel, or better to leave them during cleaning?

I would not touch the sights just for the purposed of cleaning... I get its a family heirloom and thus likely priceless to you but it is also a relatively valuable collector gun and messing with it too much will hurt the value... now cleaning it gently and taking it shooting is great in my opinion but putting a ding in the barrel is not reversible.

wood soap seems to be what is recommend for a really dirty stock. Gun oil and OOOO steel wool or brass wool for the metal as well... but I will let others give you better guidance. You certainly want to be careful just what you remove...

A good solvent like Hoppe's No.9 and 0000 steel wool, litely rubbed over the metal should take the"goo" of the metal.Warm water with a little Dawn dish soap in it, useing a soft cloth, slightly damp with the Dawn and water solution on the wood. After it is dry apply some Snake oil to the wood. I would suggest taking the butt stock off, so you can see all the action parts, and spray the action with a good gun degeaser, and dry.Add just a hint of spray lube the action and you should see a smoother action. Also take the fore end off and check barrel for rust under the wood.

You type faster than me, Drew

I prefer bronze wool, the finest grade (usually available at a True Value or other chain hardware store) and penetrating oil, such as Kroil. Fine steel wool is OK, but bronze WILL NOT remove bluing or patina, even if you get carried away with the "elbow grease"--steel wool can. You will be amazed how much of the "crap of the ages" will come off!

And keep the penetrating oil away from the stock inletting, even if you have to mask the joints with tape. Over time, it does the recoil-bearing surfaces of the inletting no darn good.

Let us see before and after pix if you can!

Can you share serial number to ie 667XX or 6674X for those of us who are keeping records of the Winchester calibers in Savage 1899s?
Thanks
BillR

I like Kroil oil for the metal. Use a shallow pan when spraying the parts. By catching the Kroil you can put small parts in the pan and allow them to soak. I brush the excess Kroil on the parts occasionally to keep them wet and soaking. For the hard to reach gunk dental picks used lightly works well for me. I even like to soak and clean the slotted screw heads.

Bronze wool is not available locally. I would like to try some and might look online. I've had good luck with 0000 steel wool/oil as mentioned already. Learned my lesson with it and too much pressure.

Flitz polish really shines up non blued surfaces. Package says it's ok for bluing also, but I've never attempted this.

+1 on the Dawn dish soap and Snake Oil. Mix a little with warm water and wipe down the wood. Rinse with a clean rag and warm water then repeat until your satisfied.

The brushes I like best look like toothbrushes on one end with a narrow brush on the other. The narrow end is really handy and the bristles seem a bit stiffer than regular toothbrushes.

I'm no expert and have never used these methods to clean any prized, highly collectable guns. I do enjoy the process and am surprised by the improvement in appearance and function a detailed cleaning gives to any firearm. Tends to hide imperfections that previously stood out.

I like Hoppes no. 9 and burlap for the metal; you can press fairly hard and not worry about the blueing. If not satisfied, you can move up to bronze or steel wool.

"Chore boy" copper pads are 100% copper and work well for removing stubborn gunk on metal and surface rust (won't screw up the bluing like steel wool). They can be found at your local ACE hardware store. Any copper marks that you leave behind will wipe off with a bore cleaning solvent like Hoppes 9.

mechanics goop 0000 steel wool for the wood, I have used this to clean very expensive antique furniture..IT WORKS, I use it on my 99's

That sounds like it would work very well.

A gun that old undoubtedly had a varnish finish. Would you really want to attack it with steel wool, no matter how gently you rub it? In the end you will positively be removing some finish and further dulling the sheen in the process. If it's not too grimy, I go straight to the paste wax. It'll remove a fair amount of light dirt along the way. If it's really mucky, then the Murphy's Oil Soap gets the nod, followed by waxing. The whole idea is to conserve it, not alter it- and steel wool and cleansers will alter it, to one degree or another. My buddy who is a Conservator with the Smithsonian said that the first thing they did with a newbie was take the steel wool away from him.

Clean the wood with some lemon oil and a soft brush then towel dry. Be very careful with the steel wool and oil as you WILL remove blue if you are not very gentle. You would probably be better off with a spray degreaser and some rags. Then relube after everything is clean and dry.

really would like to see some before pictures.

Put the steel wool to the lawn mower blades and use bronze wool (fine) with a lot of lube to metal only. On the wood of a fire arm worth keeping to me, I use nothing harsher than a cotton rag with paint thinner, no scrubbing. Get an old tooth brush, great for the corners.

it does work, has lanolin in it, some people can break a sledge in a sandpile.

texken,
I'm sure some of these other things work great, but the lanolin like you say makes some sense, or at least has piqued my interest. Does it hurt the oiled stocks at all?

early 1899s did not have oiled stocks.

That was why my comment was aimed at varnished stocks, per the OP's stated goals.

If the goop has lanolin in it, great, sort of, maybe. But what else is in it? If it's strong enough to cut the grease off of a mechanics hands, I don't know that I want to subject it to the varnish finish on a fine 100 year old stock. The lanolin is there to moisten one's skin and offset the effects of the cleansers leaving one's hands not too dried out after cleaning. There's no need to moisten the skin of this stock.

Wool, bronze or steel, on the metal. Not on the stock.

my response was to Roy who asked about the effect on the "oiled stock"... just clarifying the relative newbie... I know YOU know!!

I agree with keeping the wool off the stock... just seems like a bad idea to me on a varnish finish but I am no expert... I have also heard of complaints of steel wool leaving (impregnating the wood) minor steel fibers and then later the gun looking spotty from the small fibers rusting...