Cleaning Stock and Handguard

[DaveN]

I usually coat the outside (lightly) a couple of times a year, but wonder. Should I put a coat of oil on the inside? Also I went to walmart and got flax seed oil and you were right it smells just like linseed. Now I have rlo and BLO and a few days ago I didn't even know what that meant.

[INLAND44]

Hey, that's a great tip on the flax seed oil. And I forgot to mention Naptha or Napthene dry-cleaning solvent (AKA 'lighter fluid' or Coleman fuel) as an ideal stock, gun and general degreasing/cleaning solvent. It is very flammable, so use it only outside and let any cloths or papers used dry thoroughly before disposing or washing.
Speaking of flammable, any linseed oil is known to be a spontaneous combustion threat on cloth or paper - even steel wool. Dispose of any such waste materials accordingly. One way is to put it in a small steel sealed can made for stowing oily waste until trash day. If you can't do that, you could leave it outdoors in a bucket of water. Seriously, look it up yourself - hard to believe but true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil

[campperrykid]

I usually coat the outside (lightly) a couple of times a year, but wonder. Should I put a coat of oil on the inside? Also I went to walmart and got flax seed oil and you were right it smells just like linseed. Now I have rlo and BLO and a few days ago I didn't even know what that meant.

FWIW:
I do the inside. Just wipe the carbon out with the solvent of your choice and go from there. There is something to be said for using BLO , tung oil ( or even old fashioned spar varnish ) inside . It stops the carbon from sinking into the wood.

ETA: A tablespoon of flaxseed oil every other day never hurt anybody . It does wood a world of good and tastes better than cod liver oil.