Cleaned up my stock with Murphy's soap, what next

[Fishtail]

I am of the opinion that using Murphy's Oil soap ruins the stock finish...the only solution is to finish it.

[J. A. EARLY]

Bill,

The gun had little finish to start with from the photos. Removing all of that oil is a big improvement, although you still see some on the right top at the tang. If I have a stock that is dry like that with grain exposed which I am not going to refinish, I just use The Birchwood Casey Tru-oil on a small piece of cotton. I work it into the grain with the patch on the finger tips. I took my hunting gun, a VH 16 out in the rain one day. It turned white from lack of finish. I worked multiple coats of Tru-oil into it easily (including the dry checkering) and it dries really quickly. Solved the problem on a gun that I am not going to completely refinish. Not the original Parker finish, but protects the wood and not visible as to what it is if not built up completely to a smooth finish.

Amber shellac dries too quickly and streaky for on the gun coating for me. Just my two cents; other experts, which I am not, will chime in I am sure.

[StubTwist]

Originally Posted by greg conomos

I am of the opinion that using Murphy's Oil soap ruins the stock finish...the only solution is to finish it.

Chatting with Dan May from Classic Gun Stocks at Hausmann's this year, he said the worst thing you can do to a stock to clean it is Murphy's Oil Soap.