What cleaner to use on vintage Winchester stock?

[SHOOTALL]

 
  Wow Guys,
 
     Thanks again.  What a can of worms.
 
     The original Winchester stocks have a distinctive red hue, which is difficult to reproduce, so for that reason I would not try the Old English brown colored cleaner.  If it hits any wood where the finish is worn through, it will dye the wood brown.
 
      One thing I have used on old furniture is Old English pure Lemon Oil.  It is a very light oil, and its citrus really does cut through grime.  The oil that hits bare wood does not seem to change the color, and it is so thin that it seems to evaporate in a few days.
 
      Unfortunately, the current patina/grime of the stock is sticky, and leaves your hands stinky, so it has to be cleaned.
 
      I think I will go with lemon oil first, very sparingly, and then go upwards to more powerful things in stages, if necessary, from there.
 
Best, Mannyrock

old english comes in other than DARK 
Now if you are going deeper and want to duplicate the org finish ( sorry I didn't pick that up at first) get an issue of Double Gun Journal in it you will find vendors that sell the chemicals to do anything you wish to gun wood and includes org finish in many cases.

[gunnut69]

actually brownells sells a stain called 'pre-64' that duplicates the winchester color quite well. It is a solvent based stain so won't raise the grain and can even be used on finish to dye or stain most of the oil based finishes. This is real helpful when trying to match a patch to existing wood. The product is sold under the Pilkington 'Clasic Spirit Stain' line.. I have great luck with these..
 

[mcwoodduck]

Sorry I ment ot Write Homer Forby's Furniture Polish company has a line of priducts for cleaning wood.
Head to your local Target or Big Box hardware store and look in the furniture cleaning isle.
They have things that will clean the grime and sticky old oil and other crud off the stock with out hurting the finnish.
Much like you use saddle soap to clean leather there are wood cleaning products that do not hurt antique finishes.
And furniture waxes are designed to protect the finnish and the wood.
 

[SHOOTALL]

lemon juice works well for cleaning .

[Brithunter]

Now I don't know what Winchester used for a finish but in 2010 I acquired a Parker-Hale 1200TX target rifle and like those that belong to a lot of the serious target shooters it needed a good clean on the outside. Especially where the leather shooting mitt was in contact and the pistol grip area.  It was just all cruddy and built up sweat, dirt and dust ................................. yuck.




So I soaked a flannel patch in Parker-Hale 009 nitro solvent and wiped the stock down. It took several goes but it softened up the grime and lifted it off leaving the original finish in tact. I have used this method before on several guns including an antique Mauser 1893 sporting rifle by DWM. After the cleaner evaporates a wipe down with a soft clean cloth and a rub with a spot of BLO brings up the finish a treat. BLO must be used very sparingly a small drop goes a long way. That's where lots of folks go wrong they slaver on too much.