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BSW DSM Restore

I am a little confused what your problem with the ejector is. Do you mean the extractor?

The wood is very difficult in this instance, because any real cleaning is going to look, well, cleaned. My personal preference in this condition would be to make a tub of warm soapy water, with only a LITTLE mild detergent in it. Not sure how to quantify this.... if you take a soft bristle tooth brush and swish it around in the soapy water, it should not make many bubbles? Then take your soft bristle brush (old tooth brush is great) and gently GENTLY rub in a circular motion. As you brush, follow along with a old tshirt or lint free cloth and wipe up any excess water and dirt as you go. Do not allow water to soak into the stock. Do not allow water to sit on the stock. On the larger areas of the stock you can use just a damp wet lint free cloth (again an old tshirt works well) to wipe the stock clean.

I have read several different opinions from furniture restorers to NPS on products to use. Some recommend Murphys Oil Soap, some recommend Dawn, some recommend other products that are more specialized. I have had good results with whatever organic, natural, hippy soap my wife purchases. Since it is nearly useless on cleaning dishes, I figured it wouldn't harm a stock. After experimenting on a few spare stocks that were filthy, I worked out a decent process. Be advised, I have nowhere near the formal nor professional experience with wood working that I do with metal, so take that all with a large bucket of salt.

Once that is all done and you have given the stock ample time to DRY, now you need to engage in the argument of FINISH.

Regarding the metal work, it looks like you are happy with the results you are getting from the pads you bought. If you have any issues, or want a different way of doing things, let me know, I can still send you some notes. I personally do not use any metal (steel or copper) products when doing preservation/restoration work, but again, opinions abound.
 
Thank you for tips.

Yes, I guess I’m this instance it would be the extractor not ejector. It is connected to a ring that allows it to stay in place as the bolt is rotated. It looks like the back end of the extractor lifts up slightly during rotation and then won’t allow the bolt to move back because the extractor is then not aligned to its track. This might be resolved when I do a thorough cleaning of the bolt but even so I wouldn’t think it should be possible to do this?

Also, any clue how to remove the back sight? Specifically the mount portion— the moving portion just has a pin.
 
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Just a little update:

Got to spend a number of hours on this over this weekend. Haven’t worked on the wood yet. My go to for the metal has been primarily a mix of Big45 Frontier pad and a fine brass brush - they have done miracles. I could probably put it back together as is now and except for the wood, it would look 10x better.

My next step is to let it all sit in a nice bath of Kroil for a day or so and see if I can get through a few areas of rust that were pretty tough. I also found the button on the rear site distance is stuck inward so hoping Kroil can loosen that up with the front site which is locked in place(too far to the left).

I’ll work on the wood in the mean time.

Pics to follow.
 
The Kroil will definitely penetrate and loosen those. Not a doubt. Sounds like you made some great progress!
 
These are some comparison pics to show the in-progress pieces to their original form. I am hoping they clean up much more.

XWJgaPu.jpg

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ssn7l9C.jpg
 
Already looking much better and you seem to have preserved all the original finish that was underneath. One thing to consider is using something copper, brass or bronze with an edge to remove the heavier, active rust flakes especially on parts that were 'in the white' such as that butt plate. Several members here suggested a penny on edge and I have used that before. Keep at it!

flaky rust.PNG
 
Already looking much better and you seem to have preserved all the original finish that was underneath. One thing to consider is using something copper, brass or bronze with an edge to remove the heavier, active rust flakes especially on parts that were 'in the white' such as that butt plate. Several members here suggested a penny on edge and I have used that before. Keep at it!

View attachment 167751

Yup, going to scrub a bit more then let it soak in Kroil and like the rest - then go over all the parts again and see if I can get more off. The butt plate looks like it has some worn bluing on it too but we will see how much is left once I am done.

I am glad the patina is still in place but the shiny bluing has come out quite well all over the barrel. I still need to get the bolt apart and clean it well - it’s not in bad shape except for the handle.

The pitting underneath the barrel (where the stock touches) is fairly deep, so I am assuming that it had been rusting there long before the gun got covered with flood water.
 
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Finished cleaning the metal parts as much as I could so I dropped them in a tube of Kroil:
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Took some gentle dish soap (organic stuff for infants) and diluted it in warm water till no suds and then wiped down the stock (with some rubbing) till I felt it was a clean as it was gonna get. Looks better than before but it really brought out the places where this trainer was rubbed and worn from use. In addition got more marks to pop since the grime and flood gunk was removed:

Wear marks under bolt handle:
FVwC8AB.jpg


Upper hand guard:
dRVVTuW.jpg


Stock markings:
iUg3JOC.jpg

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Looks like a “9” but it it’s raised and not stamped inward. Not sure what that is for.
Y26r0W4.jpg
 
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Here's my bSw DSM from the same NSDMB organization .... and a rather less common cartouche too.
 

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The top hand guard is cracked - looks like it’s been that way a while. Thoughts on how to address? I have some high quality wood glue but unsure if that’s the right approach:

xM14oph.jpg

jjydo4G.jpg
 
Certainly looking better!

If it were mine, I would leave the hanguard alone. Personally I hate seeing wood glue repairs on rifles. On handguards they never quite turn out right. There are several products available for cracks that use a clear, (my science terms are lacking this morning) epoxy? I'll have to dig them out so I can remember what they are and how they work.

The 9 is an excellent example. The stock actually absorbed quite a bit of moisture here while you were wiping it down. Or possibly during the flood. The 9 used to be impressed, since the connective fibers were broken, with the moisture it has grown outward. I don't really understand how or why this actually happens, like I said, wood is my Achilles heal. But I have seen it happen on several occasions!
 
Certainly looking better!

If it were mine, I would leave the hanguard alone. Personally I hate seeing wood glue repairs on rifles. On handguards they never quite turn out right. There are several products available for cracks that use a clear, (my science terms are lacking this morning) epoxy? I'll have to dig them out so I can remember what they are and how they work.

The 9 is an excellent example. The stock actually absorbed quite a bit of moisture here while you were wiping it down. Or possibly during the flood. The 9 used to be impressed, since the connective fibers were broken, with the moisture it has grown outward. I don't really understand how or why this actually happens, like I said, wood is my Achilles heal. But I have seen it happen on several occasions!

Yeah I couldnt even see the "9" before, so it had to of absorbed water from my cleaning. I have the whole thing drying out and we will see what happens once it is fully done drying.

Was there originally some sort of oil rubbed into the stock?
 
Finish is a much argued topic.

Yes, there was originally an oil finish applied, however there seems to be some disagreement as to WHAT the finish was.

My own opinion, and process, are more geared towards PRESERVATION. A rifle like the ones that you are working to clean up would receive the following. When the wood is completely stripped of all metal, the exposed wooden surfaces that are normally in contact with metal, would receive several treatments of sealant. This seals the endgrain and prevents moisture moving from the wood onto/against the metal. This also prevents an oil, or preservative you might put on the metal from moving into the wood. The exterior of the stock receives NOTHING. Once that has adequately dried, I then do a full treatment of Renaissance Wax on the stock. Assemble the stock completely, after treating the metal. If it is a rifle I might shoot, I like to use a THIN coat of RIG on the metal, if I will not be shooting it, I use RW over all the metal, before installing into the stock.
 
Finish is a much argued topic.

Yes, there was originally an oil finish applied, however there seems to be some disagreement as to WHAT the finish was.

My own opinion, and process, are more geared towards PRESERVATION. A rifle like the ones that you are working to clean up would receive the following. When the wood is completely stripped of all metal, the exposed wooden surfaces that are normally in contact with metal, would receive several treatments of sealant. This seals the endgrain and prevents moisture moving from the wood onto/against the metal. This also prevents an oil, or preservative you might put on the metal from moving into the wood. The exterior of the stock receives NOTHING. Once that has adequately dried, I then do a full treatment of Renaissance Wax on the stock. Assemble the stock completely, after treating the metal. If it is a rifle I might shoot, I like to use a THIN coat of RIG on the metal, if I will not be shooting it, I use RW over all the metal, before installing into the stock.
I thought RW is for metal only and not wood stock? I guess what I am thinking is, there's gotta be something I can put on it that is period or original-ish that will prevent moisture absorption from the stock.
 
I am curious who told you that Renaissance Wax was only for metal? And what was their reasoning?
Just had always heard that... metal or antique polished furnature. I wouldn't consider a rough finished stock polished, so to me it just seems to not fit. I've never used the stuff, so maybe my lack of experience is showing?
 
In this case there should be a point made on the purpose of the application. RW can be used on almost any surface, the differentiation comes with long term preservation goals.

I won't bore you with a book, but boil it basically down to this. Unfinished wood, say a piece of firewood, will take RW without issue, although a larger amount is required to achieve a consistent covering. Several places use a small amount of heat to promote the RW to flow. The issue comes in the REMOVAL. This is why RW is not recommended for unfinished wood. When REMOVING RW from your piece of firewood, you can't. All the tiny nooks and crannies will retain the RW, and if you use ANY heat, the RW will further flow into the grain of the wood.

Here is where the differentiation comes in. Do you want to RESTORE the rifle, or PRESERVE the rifle. I can tell you from experience, that you can add an oil finish to the rifle and try to cover the area's with thin finish, but you will never get it to blend quite right. There are some techniques to get it to blend better, but with the staining it will be even harder. If it was my rifle, I would lean more towards the restore side of things, but I have a little bit different background than most. Issue is, once you open that box, you can't close it. The discoloration, or staining, is not superficial, and frankly, I am not sure without drastic measures that you could rectify the issue.
 
In this case there should be a point made on the purpose of the application. RW can be used on almost any surface, the differentiation comes with long term preservation goals.

I won't bore you with a book, but boil it basically down to this. Unfinished wood, say a piece of firewood, will take RW without issue, although a larger amount is required to achieve a consistent covering. Several places use a small amount of heat to promote the RW to flow. The issue comes in the REMOVAL. This is why RW is not recommended for unfinished wood. When REMOVING RW from your piece of firewood, you can't. All the tiny nooks and crannies will retain the RW, and if you use ANY heat, the RW will further flow into the grain of the wood.

Here is where the differentiation comes in. Do you want to RESTORE the rifle, or PRESERVE the rifle. I can tell you from experience, that you can add an oil finish to the rifle and try to cover the area's with thin finish, but you will never get it to blend quite right. There are some techniques to get it to blend better, but with the staining it will be even harder. If it was my rifle, I would lean more towards the restore side of things, but I have a little bit different background than most. Issue is, once you open that box, you can't close it. The discoloration, or staining, is not superficial, and frankly, I am not sure without drastic measures that you could rectify the issue.
Leaning to restore but keep as original as possible. If RW will keep the same look and just prevent moisture from seeping in, then that sounds good. Thoughts?
 
So soaking in Kroil does help quite a bit. I didn't have a long time to work on it last night after I removed the parts from my soaking tube but it definitely made rust easier to scrub off.

Below the left picture is after a bit of scrubbing with my Big45 Pads on a piece that soaked in Kroil for three days. I still have some work todo but you can see that the raise rust has been removed in most areas. I am hopeful that it will all come off with some more elbow grease.

z4pjK1i.jpg


The kroil also loosed up my front site and i was able to move it around finally.

Plan from here:

  • Finish my removal of all rust I can get to come off
  • Give all parts a good bath in Acetone to degrease
  • Apply quality gun oil to all metal parts
  • Do something with stock (or leave it as is)
  • Reassemble
 
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Much better and I believe it will get better still with another trip to the Kroil tank. I'm glad you didn't feel the need to resort to wire wheels or sandpaper!
 

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