I'd go with the manufacturers rec unless someone has something better to offer. Linseed oil is often used to treat and protect wood so there is that benefit if you go this route. If you use linseed oil, be careful how you store or dispose of rags with linseed on them, they can auto combust. "A common example of chemically induced combustion occurs with linseed oil soaked rags. As with all plant based drying oils, linseed oil heats by the chemical process of oxidation. When rags saturated with linseed oil are confined in a space which allows ample exposure to air for oxidation, but not enough air to dissipate the heat,the temperature of the rags will rise and can reach the ignition point of about 212 degrees F. At this point, they will spontaneously combust if sufficient oxygen is present." Another method that may or may not work is one used to put grips on handlebars for motorcycles and bicycles. I have used dish detergent and hairspray. I liked the dish detergent less as it was difficult to clean up the residue under the grip and took awhile for the grip to set. The hairspray worked perfectly in that the stuff dried fairly quickly and actually provided some bonding to keep the grips from rotating. Though, I don't think hair spray would work very well on a porous surface like wood.

I think that the final heating to the point of ignition comes not from bacterial activity but from the fact that anytime you put fuel molecules and oxygen molecules together a few of them will combine chemically and release heat. Whether you consider this burning goes back to the definition of fire. I don't know the formal definition but my own personal definition is that fire is a self perpetuating exothermic reaction that builds up in temperature and is limited by the availability of either fuel or oxygen. By the time this happens stuff is glowing red hot (flames). We are used to viewing objects as conglomerates of unbelievably large numbers of molecules. There is the posibility that one of the atoms that make up your left little toe is at this moment on the far side of mars but you don't really notice that it is missing. The probability that all of your toes atoms should be AWOL all at the same time is infinitely remote, therefore you can be excused for believing that your toe can't be anywhere that you didn't put it, even though parts of it literally are somewhere else sometimes. Similarly, temperature of an object is the average of the temperature of all the atoms that make it up. Some of your toe atoms are at absolute zero. Some are at 10,000 degrees. The average is 98.6 degrees. Now, if you create a nice warm stable environment with just the right ratio of fuel to air, some fuel/air couples will "get it on". They give off heat. If the insulation is good, the temperature rises. If the insulation were really really good, all that is necessary is time for the temperature to slowly rise, even without the effect of increased temperature causing an increased rate of chemical reactions. What I am saying so far is that the chemical reactions that occur in fire can happen at almost any temperature but we don't call it fire until we get the increasing chain reaction where more chemical reaction causes more heat causes more chemical reaction, etc, until the only thing holding things back is a shortage of one of the reactants. Almost always stuff is so hot by then that it is glowing red hot (fire). I believe that haystacks can start on fire not so much because of 170 degree bacterial activity being the ignition point but because a large enough composting haystack creates a wide enough range of microclimates that one of them will have just the right combination of fuel (methane, cellulose, hydrogen, ethanol, etc) and oxygen, combined with really good insulation and a good 170 degree head start. I read an interesting thread on the flamability of sprayed on urethane insulation. If you take a chunk of it and put a flame to it it will smoulder and go out but there have been some horrific fires in large metal storage buildings coated with the stuff inside precisely because it is such a good insulator. The heat can't get out. Eventually, by which I mean within a minute or two, temperatures shoot up to the point where anything capable of burning would burn, and so the insulation does. So would wet compost only compost has a high thermal mass and a more modest R-value so it takes longer and the ideal conditions are met less frequently. The point is to embrace modern physics and the idea that for atoms you can't nail down such mundane physical properties as where they are and how hot they are, only the probabilities of such. These probabilities often have peaks that might lead you to draw sweeping conclusions such as that your nostril hairs couldn't be on fire, while in reality every so often a hair molecule does in fact combine with oxygen and give off heat. It couldn't be otherwise. In a large compost pile, which is almost infinitely larger and better insulated than your nose, there will be pockets that come perilously close to meeting all the requirements for the heat to build up to the point that these chemical reactions meet the criteria for being called fire.

Hey Garandman, I actually have a garand that I really like to take out once in awhile. I thought about putting a glass sight on it (would require drilling into the receiver though). I refinished the stock long ago with varnish. I like the look but in some ways I wish I had kept the original finish on it. Is there any particular Tung Oil you would recommend to refinish the handles with, I have the same problem. For anyone using linseed oil or other natural oils be careful how you store them as they can spontaneously combust. Â Carefully store oil, gasoline, or paint-soaked rags. Store them in a tightly sealed container in a cool, well-ventilated place away from other combustibles. Or, lay the rags out individually on a flat surface and leave them to dry completely before reusing. Rags containing linseed, stain, paint and vegetable oil are subject to spontaneous combustion. Other natural oils such as mineral oil, cottonseed oil, cod and other fish oil present similar problems. Rags used with these products should be stored by submersing them in a water filled metal container with a fitted lid.

Good luck buying zinc points! But you can make some for yourself if you have the patience. I'm still painstakingly hammering my salvaged ones flat. I have tried some of the Allback products - they sound very appealing. But the whole organic boiled linseed oil won't support mildew assertion is a crock in my experience at my northern NY home. I have tested it (on my privy) following prep and application instructions very, very, carefully. I get mildew on it, the same as on nearby surfaces untreated with Allback Swedish Organic Boiled linseed oil paint. When I complained I was told it was because of the wet weather that year (not occuring during painting or curing, but months afterward.) I tried again another year, same results, different excuse from the company. I've seen some reports that they are getting pretty dodgy on that claim, lately. I'm not saying the paint doesn't work, or achieve a truly different looking surface that's quite attractive. It does all that. But it still mildews if conditions are right. I haven't tried the putty. Why not try Sarco putty? I use it and find it excellent. Try John Leeke's website for more info and data regarding Sarco and Allback. Even if the guy you quoted above is a shill for Allback, he's right about one thing: Dap-33 is awful! But some of his claims, like that 20% of all housefires in the US being caused by heat guns don't sound very likely. He may also not be a shill, just a sloppy and less-knowledgeable-than-he-seems writer. The organic boiled linseed oil liquid soap is very nice to use; smells great, cleans pretty well. I keep it on hand for occasional household uses where regular detergent-based soaps would be inappropriate. It's expensive, though. HTH, L Here is a link that might be useful: John Leeke's extremely useful website on windows