madsenshooter
02-01-2014, 11:28
I have a couple made in 1895 92/96 rifles that grow green mold or mildew if left alone for awhile in the lock box. Just these two rifles it seems. I don't know if anyone else is having the problem, on mine it grows mostly on the grip areas, and where the cheek is against the buttstock. I didn't want to take a chance of it being contagious, little is known about how leprosy spreads, and there's a good chance these rifles saw duty in the tropics, so I thought I'd give something in my natural medicine cabinet a try. I've read that thyme essential oil was used in mummification for its antibacterial and antifungal properties, so dabbed some on. Two months after application, nothing has grown back yet! I hope the stuff just feeds off the skin oils I leave on the stock and isn't coming from me! If everyone says they don't have this problem, maybe it does come from me! Scary thought! Yes, it's smelly at first, but the smell goes away after about a month. No change in color of the already pretty dark stocks.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17209812
70% thymol and cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3ml-THYME-ESSENTIAL-OIL-74-THYMOL-GLASS-BOTTLE-1oz-/200373889533?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea736e9fd
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17209812
70% thymol and cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3ml-THYME-ESSENTIAL-OIL-74-THYMOL-GLASS-BOTTLE-1oz-/200373889533?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ea736e9fd