Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Beretta oil finish stock care and maintenance

Had this in the shotgun forum but figured I would see a little more traffic hear.


What can be used to wipe/clean the stock really good before wiping down with oil. The wood has some spots on it from sweat and being in the field. It's starting to get a little dry to the touch and in need of a fresh wipe down of oil. Also, what is the proper oil to use.

On another note, after cleaning the gun I always wipe down with a Hoppes silicon cloth. It says its good for protecting sod stock and metal.. Is this okay to be using on this oil finished stock? Will the silicon absorb in to the finish and have any negative effects?

Do not EVER use silicone anything around wood stocked guns! EVER! Throw that crap away! Far, far away!

Do not attempt to put oil on the stock unless you do a ridiculous wash to get rid of the silicone. Wax is what you need anyway, but it will be contaminated with silicone and prevent the silicone from being rubbed off naturally...

Most waxes will telegraph where the silicone was, too.

Just use a good paste wax. Bri-Wax is my favorite, but even plain old Johnson's is plenty good enough.

This is the Bubba fix - wash it down with Murphys soap and warm water. Wipe it dry and let it sit. If it is a real oil finish then Slacum is the traditional cleaner/restorer that leaves a slight oil wax residue with each application. This is a mix of Turpentine, Linseed Oil, Carnuba Wax and Venice terpentine. No silicone and usually no Citrus oil although some version might have the latter.

Parker Hale, Clive's Lemon Oil,Napier, Purdy and Wart Hog sell this premixed. Try the Double Gun Shop if you can't find it elsewhere.

Sitka, what would work to clean it thoroughly getting the silicone off? Mineral spirits?

It is going to take a lot more than mineral spirits, sadly... What happens is the solvents thin it out and you just keep chasing it. It will cause fisheyes and on a rubbed down stock the areas affected by the silicone may pull right off.

The best I have found commercially that is still not so nasty that it takes the finish off immediately is Formby's Furniture Restorer. It is designed to soften the finish and allow it to be moved around... Don't let it go that far!

After a couple good solid wipe-downs with mineral spirits and allowing it to dry after each rub the wood down with a rag just dampened with the Formby's.

It is just a mix of a lot of different solvents and mineral spirits is represented heavily... but it has worked well before.

Generally you do not need more oil, and a good coat of quality wax may be good enough for you. Keep quality wax on it and it will probably be just fine.

I like Bri-Wax real well, but Johnson's is acceptable, though soft.

BTW, Slacum is good stuff as Tejano says.

Thanks Sitka, Tejano. I'll see how those products work. And will be tossing the silicone rag in the trash. Is the a product that I can use on the barrles and action for clean/protection that won't have a negative effect on the furniture? How about rem oil?

There are tons of silicone free anti-corrosion options. A base coat of paste wax is IMO&E the best start. Car waxes have silicone... Stay away from them obviously.

Any light oil is better than none, but Rem-Oil is not a favorite.

I am taking a break to eat a bowl of moose stew while processing the rest of the moose and having a brainfart over the one I usually use...

When it comes to me I will post it...

I had a cabinet customer bring me a gunstock for refinishing once. He wanted a varnish finish, so I swabbed it first with solvent, then hit it with citristrip, and proceeded with the sanding. The first coat had fisheyes in about every square inch. Upon querying him as to his cleaning/preserving techniques, he confessed to using Armor-All a couple times long ago. Grrrr. It took a lot of work to rid that stock of all traces of it, and lost my arse in the process. (A week long soak in acetone got the bear's share of it, but I tried so many things I couldn't swear to any one of them doing the trick.)

When talking to him about it, he admitted to Armor-Alling the exterior of his Alfa Romeo, too. I really pity the poor bast*rd who finds himself trying to re-paint that thing!

I have A Cooper rifle with an oil finish.

They recommend TC Bore Butter for stock maintance.

Works GREAT! My Wife likes it for natural wood trim inside the house also.

Virgil B.

I cannot imagine Bore Butter for a wood stock... I understand it is just soft wax in a food grade oil base. And it is sticky enough to collect dirt without hardening. I would be shocked if Cooper actually suggests it.

It is like Pledge and other such crap that looks fine with minimal effort, but needs to be done again very soon after. The waxes they use are soft...

Curious enough was I so I called Cooper... Yes, they did recommend BB on Coopers "many" years ago. They have some BP shooters there that had made the suggestion. They now suggest a commercial "Wood Cleanse" product.

The fellow I spoke to emphasized their finish does not in any way seal the wood and a paste wax base coat is what they believe in on their finished stocks.

Never wax an oil stock. Clean with a light wipe of mineral spirits. Reoil if needed. Don't believe all the horror stories about silicone either. It'll come off with a few wipes of mineral spirits. Auto body school taught us about the various myths of silicone many of which have been written in this thread. Forms of silicone are found in nearly everything including paints. I'd still not use it on wood stocks but don't worry, it will come off and not cause problems. Most problems stem from poor prep.

Never wax an oiled stock....! After typing a bunch of responses ranging from sarcastic to dumbfounded, I deleted them all out of respect for civility. But I am indeed astonished to hear someone say this!

Take a trip to Europe where oiled stocks are very common and you'll see they use oil on oil stocks.

I use to wax stocks and found they got a bit tackey and left fingerprints more than a quick wipe with mineral spirits and another light coat of oil. Wax works better on varnish type finishes.

Also note the op asked about Beretta oil finish. Beretta sells stock oil for maintaining their stocks. Not wax.

Sitka,

Thanks for making that call!

The bore butter thing was in my instruction booklet, with my rifle when purchased new.

Will be using something else on my Cooper stock from now on...
It's AAA Claro walnut, and do not want to take a chance on messing it up!

Virgil B.

Horseman
Wood is NOTHING like metal when it comes to cleaning it off. The stuff they use to get it off auto body work prior to spraying would damage a stock. Mineral spirits is not adequate to get it out of an irregular surface, period.

Oils work differently to level out than newer paints specifically designed to repaint auto bodies. For one auto paints do a much better job of leveling without fisheyes.

Suggesting not to use wax is ridiculous. Most oil finishes, and all oils designed for maintenance, include a fair bit of oil and waxes. Oils can be applied over wax without more than a quick wipe down with mineral spirits.

Good waxes will be harder than the old standards and will not fingerprint. Even Johnson's will not fingerprint under most conditions. Bri-Wax certainly will not fingerprint.

Berretta maintenance stock oil is more wax than anything...

Beretta stock oil is Tru oil call Beretta and ask. That's not wax.

The waxes I've seen fingerprint were Johnsons and even Renaissance wax.

I'm very familiar with how wood is different from steel having spent years in the wood finishing/restoration trade. If you have reached the pinnacle of learning and insist on believing myths about silicone, be my guest. I have successfully restored or topcoated many pieces including gun stocks that were treated with silicone. It is not the voodoo elixir some make it out to be. There are many solvents that will remove silicone without damaging the existing oil finish. Most horror stories are from uneducated finishers failing that simple step in the process.

Some polish manufacturers have jumped on the anti silicone bandwagon in recent years leading people to believe silicone is bad. In fact silicone is probably the most stable thing in those polishes and they do almost nothing without it. Silicone is actually added to paints and varnishes to reduce fisheye and even flow/coverage of said coatings.

You can lead a Horseman to water...

But obviously you cannot make him think...

Tru-Oil is VERY heavy to waxes.

I have seen the results of silicone... To suggest it is used to reduce fisheyes is laughable when speaking of wood finishing.

To suggest the news that silicone is bad is somehow new ignores a whole bunch of finishing history...

Again....If you think you have reached the pinnacle of knowledge, please continue to spread mistruths of silicone around the internet. I am not ignoring finshing history. In fact I'm quite certain I've got more schooling/experience than you on the subject. Feel free to believe what you want. I'm agreeing to disagree.

Fair enough on agreeing to disagree...

But do not be surprised if folks trust you and come back complaining... big time.

Might just run a few samples for show and tell...