Strength of Guns

[Chuck Heald]

Just my experience on oil soaked stocks. I found that removing oil by soaking in acetone did nothing, IMO, to strengthen the stocks. In fact, the oil and acetone removal of that oil, together robbed the wood of natural resins that bind the fibers of the wood together. I found that one stock was particularly affected by the oil and removal process. It had obvious signs that the fibers were not bonded as well. I addressed the situation on a couple of them by using a super thin cyanoacrylate glue to soak into the head of the stock and bind the fibers. To me, it seemed that the only area of the stock that had lost resins enough that it was a concern, was in the stock head where the oil had soaked it for decades. So, I attributed the damage mostly to the oil soaking and not the short use of harsh solvents to remove the oil. So, I have no illusions that removing oil restores strength. I think the damage is done to whatever level and only adding a binder like the cyanoacrylate glue after the oil removal will restore a portion of the original strength. Just my 2 cents.

Regards
Chuck