Grip care

[Ray]

Gentlemen


A quick question,what is the current thinking about the best wood care product to apply to grips?

[Marvin]

Ray,


I assume that the grips are clean and not full of oil. If they do need cleaning, take a look in the General Information Section at Ted's article on how to clean the grips. Once clean, I only use Boiled Linseed Oil on them. A very light coating put on with a soft toothbrush and then let them dry overnight. If another application is needed, do the same thing. For grips that are clean and have not had any treatment in 50 years +, this light coat of BLO will make them look great, just don't put too much as it will "clog" the checkering.


Hugh is an expert on wood grips and he may be able to provide more info.


Marvin

This is an interesting thread, so I will add my question to it and look forward to comments back.


Is cleaning grips on a collector quality P.08 recommended? Does it devalue the item to collectors of historical guns?


I have often heard it said that "ageing is desirable". Would this also apply to the grips?


Regards;

[Hugh]

If a gun is of "collector quality", I would assume that the grips are of equal condition and would not require any cleaning. Any type of cleaning will degrade the "aged patina" appearance of the grips.The only cleaning I would recomend for these grips is brushing with a soft toothbrush to clean out the grooves of the checkering. As for shooter grade guns, Teds method works well for cleaning, but will destroy any "patina" that has developed. I concur with Marvin on dressing with a very small amount of BOILED Linseed Oil and cleaning the excess out of the grooves with a soft toothbrush.