Originally Posted by
Delkal
Kerosine is often used to cut Linseed oil when giving a stock an oil finish. It will not soften the wood and should not hurt the oil finish.
Transmission fluid is red but they just use a little dye. You cant see anything on the metal and I never had anything discolor or turn red.
If a bore is heavily copper fouled you need something with ammonia. I first clean the bore with Eds red, then a dry patch, then Sweets or Shooters choice till no blue patches. then I finish with one more patch of Eds Red. What I like is that when all of the volitiles evaporate you are left with a thin coat of transmission fluid. You don't have to oil the bore after cleaning (I do for long term storage though). Same with the interior parts, wipe off the black crud, then another wipe of Red with a clean rag.
Then oil or grease the moving parts to your liking. and put everything back together.
To finish the exterior metal I use a 1 foot square piece of old T-shirt lightly coated with CLP (I keep them in ziplick bags and use them till they start to get ugly). There is always one on my bench, shooting bag, and on top of the safe. Your done.