Black streaks on kibler rifle finish

[ettoreR]

Hello everyone,  I was cleaning my Kibler colonial rifle last night and the toothpick in my touchhole didn't plug it enough, a stream of black powder infused water dripped down my stock and left these black streaks that are set into the stock. Any recommendations on how to get this out? worst case scenario ill just sand these areas down and re-finish it...

[flinchrocket]

It probably depends on the finish you used as to how easy it comes off. I would try some clean warm water first.

[rich pierce]

This should be the test for gun finishes.

[DavidC]

Rich, tell us where his shortcoming might be as regards the finish and how we can avoid it.

[Randall Steffy]

My first thought...leave it. You couldn't keep it there, long term, if you wanted to. And guys work hard or pay good money to take a shortcut to age and patina.

[Mike Brooks]

If you are going to use a gun those things will happen. And it will happen again. It wouldn't bother me.

[ettoreR]

The finish is tried and true varnish oil, 5 coats, with aqua fortis and a honey amber dye. I don't mind too much the marks on the wrist, the one that irks me the most is the long one down the comb!

[rich pierce]

Rich, tell us where his shortcoming might be as regards the finish and how we can avoid it.

Sincerely, I think some popular finishes do not adequately seal, and, perhaps more importantly, we tend to have zero finish on top of the wood nowadays. I get the sense that gun varnishes in the past were in the wood AND on top of the wood.

[Bigmon]

I'd just clean as normal, maybe soap and warm water?  But otherwise that's when a gun starts getting to look good.  Patina build up.  I use mine.  I have one 30 years old that looks 230 years old, but functions perfect.  Looks great.  I'd never refinish it.
But that's my opinion, do what ya think best.

[ScottNE]

Doesn’t look bad to me, but then again, it’s your gun, not mine. For very minor streaks I’ve found rubbing in oil can blend on some stocks, really depends on how the wood was finished.. I have a glossy finished cherry stocked rifle with a pale, milky, matte streak from the touchhole that stands out noticeably from the glossy finish around it. No amount of cleaning or oiling fades it, it’s like the finish was eaten clean away. If your gun is in that condition I’d guess sanding and refinishing would be the only option to truly erase the streak.

I like beat up, used looking guns so I leave mine alone mostly.

[Daryl]

I think your finish failed and the black sooty streaks are now IN the wood.  They will not come out without a total re-finish of the stock(stripper, etc), most likely.
It's part and parcel of use.

[Shopdog]

I’ve had that happen numerous times - just clean up with warm water or TOTW black powder cleaner usually does not leave permanent mark but depends on the finish you put on the gun I suppose .  I’ve always used chambers oil finish or tracks oil finish.  Permanency might also depend on what you were cleaning barrel with - solvents more likely to affect finish than water based cleaners.  Like they say it adds to the patina but certainly can be alarming on a newly finished gun you put time into. 

[DavidC]

Rich, tell us where his shortcoming might be as regards the finish and how we can avoid it.

Sincerely, I think some popular finishes do not adequately seal, and, perhaps more importantly, we tend to have zero finish on top of the wood nowadays. I get the sense that gun varnishes in the past were in the wood AND on top of the wood.

Please share your preferred finish method. I'm still learning and methods for finishing are so varied I like to hear or try as many as I can find.

[Metalshaper]

if the stain is kinda like a ghost ring on your table,  has anyone tried denatured alcohol on them?

 My wife inherited her grandmothers walnut dining room table, complete with rings. I used denatured alcohol and rubbed it into the finish. it penetrated the years of oils and waxes. the alcohol mixed with the trapped water and carried it out of the wood when it evaporated. just took a lil re-oiling and the table looked, well nearly 75 yrs old again 

wondering if it'd penetrate through a gun finish and do the same thing? and not jack things up of course...

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

[rich pierce]

Rich, tell us where his shortcoming might be as regards the finish and how we can avoid it.

Sincerely, I think some popular finishes do not adequately seal, and, perhaps more importantly, we tend to have zero finish on top of the wood nowadays. I get the sense that gun varnishes in the past were in the wood AND on top of the wood.

Please share your preferred finish method. I'm still learning and methods for finishing are so varied I like to hear or try as many as I can find.

For use, a good wax coat (Renaissance Wax or BriWax) will waterproof most finishes. I am sure the plastic polyurethane finishes resist staining by fouling, but I don’t want them and most others here do not either.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Why not remove the barrel from the stock for cleaning?  Then there's no chance of you ruining an otherwise beautiful rifle's finish.  I suspect those stains are permanent.

[Frozen Run]

I'd leave it, it looks cool. You can't strip a rifle down every time you have an oopsie or pretty soon you won't have any rifle left. I'm not a fan of removing the barrel for cleaning, it's unnecessary and creates more problems than it solves.

[Birddog6]

I don't think it will come out.  If it bothers you, refinish it.  And I would refrain from 2-3-4
dif things on it. Stain it, seal it, wax it, & be done with it.

I have rifles I have hunted with for 30 yrs that have no stains of them.

Now if it is a barrel with Wedge Pins & easy to take out, I would remove barrel & clean it.
But anything else goes in the cleaning cradle. Clean it Upside Down & you don't have
a issue of damaging the wood or the finish.

I have been cleaning them like this for ? 30+ years.

[David Rase]

It's called patina.  Guns are gonna get dings and scratches and so forth if you use them like the tool they were designed to be. 
 
David

[martin9]

I like the streaks....I wouldn't touch em'.

[smoke and flames]

Well since nobody has said it yet.. I really like your carving from what I can see of it

[Daryl]

About cleaning "solutions". The Wipe-Out brand of black powder foaming cleaners are hard on finishes.

A friend had me try it on my squirrel rifle - I cleaned the barrel with it still on the stock and my vent-dowel leaked a dribble.
Unlike the black streak, what I got was a white streak left by that foam as it ran down the side of my butt stock. The "cleaner"
removed the finish AND the stain. Guess this winter is a good time to re-finish the rifle. I bought it with THIS stain & finish, which
hides the minor curl in the wood that is visible if you look closely at it.
I usually remove the barrel every time I clean it, but didn't this time.

[wmrike]

Personally, I rather like the look as part of ordinary use.

I had it happen to one of my guns.  Though it irked me that it happened in the first place, I got over it immediately and never lost the first blink of sleep over it.  I just now looked to see that over the years that stripe has disappeared, possibly on its own, possibly due to a light semi-decade steel-wooling and refinish.

[Dave Marsh]

Well since nobody has said it yet.. I really like your carving from what I can see of it

I agree that I like what I can see of your carving.  Personally I do not like the black streaks and would do what I could to eliminate them.. Had that happen to me once which is why I now use Dave Crisali's magnet flush cleaner method.  First I would try a plain water rubdown.  If that didn't work I would try rubbing alcohol (just a small spot to make sure it works and doesn't remove the finish).  Your gun to do with what you like and good luck. 

Dave

[rick/pa]

I also plug the touchhole with a toothpick to clean but then I fold a small square of paper towel and put in on the pan and close the frizzen. Sometimes the touchhole will leak but the paper towel soaks it up. Sorry I don't have any advice to refinish the stock.