Hey all. Posted this on another forum but no input from there. Hoping I might get some luck here.

Picked up a swiss k11 which looked fine externally, bore is one step off 'brand new' and receiver and bolt only had a couple spots of minor surface corrosion.

I knew the stock was bit rough on the outside, but was not expecting what I found inside... mold. Mold and oil soak right on the verge of destroying the wood.

I have run 5 rounds of whiting using cornstarch in turps to remove a large chunk of the offending oil, and have scrubbed the mold. I have a few questions though.

1. I have read mixed things on what kills the mold. Some have said oxalic acid kills it, others have said that only TSP will kill it. Which is correct?

2. The bottom wood was basically left to rot. Guessing the PO passed on and nobody in the family gave two hoots about the rifle, leaving it standing in an attic or somewhere to slowly decay. There are mildew stains fore and aft (though the butt mildew is not especially rare on swiss rifles; it does seem odd on a K11 compared to a walnut K31icon). Can these also be dealt with using oxalic acid?

3. The bottom wood is covered in small microfissures around small dings and had very, very little shellac left. The dings are not in locations I have seen to be typical on my 8 other swiss rifles. I'm not sure how to best blend these when I put it all back. They are... massively ugly and a relic of the neglect this poor thing suffered. Normally, I don't care about milsurp cosmetics as long as it is mechanically sound since I tend to buy into "each ding is a story" but this rifle has a matching pristine upper handguard; so the damage is just depressing. At one point or another, we all buy the wrong rifle. This is my wrong rifle, and I plan to own my mistake, and hopefully make good on it.

I'm not concerned about value or devaluation for the work I am doing. I don't sell my rifles. I sold one back in 2015 and regretted it. Never again. I also prefer to stop active decay, so I may rust blue the bottom of the TG to a similar finish as the rest of the rifle (most of the old finish has corroded away) to add a layer of protection / texture to hold corrosion inhibiting oils.

Observations:
  • Leading side of both barrel bands are minorly to moderately pitted, forward facing parts of the TG are minorly pitted. Bottom of TG plate was covered in a fine film of surface corrosion. Back of the barrel bands is pristine. All the corrosion happened during improper storage while muzzle-up. All deterioration of the rifle is consistent with this pattern.
Attachment 117157Attachment 117164Attachment 117162
  • Bore is almost like-new (stored with muzzle cap on, at least).
  • Bolt had one spot of corrosion on the bottom which left discoloration, but cleaned up with a fingernail's pressure. Similar spot on the extractor, which also cleaned up with fingernail pressure.
Attachment 117163
  • Mold was growing beneath the TG, buttplate, and rear tang. Very minor pitting at the rear tang where moisture had accumulated. After 5 rounds of whiting, some oil soak is still coming through the wood. Further whiting is planned using calcium carbonate. Oil soak deteriorated the most fragile of the inletting, and two pieces of wood lifted out with the receiver. Bearing surfaces feel hard to my fingernail pressure, so I believe it can be saved.
Attachment 117158Attachment 117161Attachment 117165Attachment 117166
  • Wood is numbers matching, but not even close to condition matching. Bottom wood had paint spatter, incredible oil saturation (not quite cosmolineicon-soaked levels but very nearly.) Bottom wood has some pinholes which are less than 1/8" deep, was missing almost all shellac, shows signs of mildew intrusion over the entire RH side where surface fibers are broken, the nose, and the butt. Bottom wood has significant quantity of impacts on RH side which have caused micro fissures on each side of impact area. LH side of wood is mostly free of defects. Top wood looks like it was produced yesterday. Single small gouge towards forend which looks very, very recent (bright, clean wood exposed with no dirt.) Finger grooves are sharp and defined on both sides, with some small gouging and contamination on RH side edge of grooves.

Attachment 117159Attachment 117160
Sadly I did not take before pictures. I saw the damage and went immediately into action mode. Any assistance with neutralizing the mold and tips on addressing the fissures would be greatly appreciated. My G11 (a total winner) is very dark. The top wood is also rather dark. I really want to avoid sanding and staining, but if it will help hide the fissures I would be willing to try. Stain RGL-1884 Black Walnut looks like it might be close in hue to the top HG. RH side of the stock is light and rather featureless (though some striations and patterns are visible) but LH side has rather strong mixed heart and sapwood figure.
Attachment 117168

The condition of the bottom wood makes me rather sad... and judging by the taut (though aged and hardened into place at full retract) sling, the pristine bore, and the top wood condition I believe it would dishearten the soldier who carried this rifle. Rifle came with troop tag. Birth date 1909, Canton Vaud, Ste-Croix, EM Gr f[something] 22. I believe EM Gr might mean an enlisted man in the grenadiers?
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