Stevens - Springfield Model 107B (part 3)
The "Cleaning" portion of this project had commenced.
I started with the metal bits first.
I used some solvent and an old toothbrush to clean all the small parts in an old metal travel-mug.
There was quite a bit of residue and dirt left behind when I was done.
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I used a piece of Scottish-Brite Pad to polish all the bare-metal parts that had some surface rust on them.........They all came out nice and shiny!
I wiped all the parts that had a blued finish on them with a rag and some CLP. It worked really well.
Took the Receiver out to the garage and sprayed it down with some brake-cleaner and brushed all the gunk out with a toothbrush.
I'm quite pleased with the results!
The Trigger-guard is Aluminum, and was once painted black.
That finish was long since worn-off with use...........I cleaned it up and will leave it as-is. It has a nice patina to it.
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Next was the Barrel.
Since the surface-rust was very minimal, I decided to use the "0000-Steel Wool and gun-oil" method.
It worked pretty well. With only a little bit of light rubbing it came right off.
I finished with running a brass bore-brush down the inside about 15 times with some bore solvent, followed by a bunch of patches and then a light film of CLP.
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my phone struggled with what to focus on here.
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After reading a whole bunch of suggestions and various forum-talk about how to clean and care for "Tenite", I settled on a safe and gentle method.
It was most recommended to use a warm-water solution with a slightly alkaline cleaner like dish-detergent.
I used Dawn and a nylon vegetable-brush, along with an old toothbrush.
Solvents will attack the material and soften it, and are not recommended.
The warm bath cleaned most of the loose-powdery stuff off, but I had to use a plastic scraping-tool to get the stuck-on residue off.
I used a plastic-pick to gently scrape all of it out of the checkering. That was tedious work but it paid-off in the end.
I am really pleased with the final result!
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This Stock really is in nice overall shape considering its age, and what its made of...........
I'm glad I spent the time to research what exactly I have here, and how to properly care for it.
The aging process will never stop. The cleaning and care processes will always be ongoing with this material.
The ultimate fix would be to fit a Wood-Stock to this gun, take the original Tenite parts and vacuum-seal them up in bags to store them away?
Maybe some day down the road if my boys are interested in helping me with that project...............