Belgium Browning Safari-style .270 Winchester

Question
Jim,
I have been blessed to acquier a Belgium-made Browning Safari-style bolt-action rifle in .270 Winchester caliber. It is showing soem pitting due to what I believe is the saltwood stock syndrome. I would like to know is #1. Where can I find a synthetic replacement stock?  #2. Is there anything I can do to repair/ remedy the saltwood contamination? I would really appreciate any and all help you could give.
                          Stephen

Answer
Stephen,

The pitting may or may not be a result of saltwood. Take a look at the serial number. It will have an L followed by one or two numbers. If it is 6L, 7L, 8L, 69L, 70L thru 74L, then there is a distinct possibility it is saltwood. The guns made from 1966 all the way thru to 1974 were the years of saltwood stocks. Many will try to tell you only the 1967-1970 contained salt. They are wrong. The only way to know for sure is to test with silver nitrate 1% solution.

You could contact Brownells.com to see if they ever produced a replacement stock for your rifle. Sometimes you see stocks on E-bay, but they could be saltwood themselves. There is very little if anything you can do to the stock to repair or remedy the saltwood. Browning invested a great deal of time and money thru many experts to attempt to remove the salt, but to no avail. If you try to refinish the stock, I have been told removing the original finish seems to put the salt into overdrive and makes the problem worse.  This from a gentleman who worked at Browning finishing their stocks in the 60's and 70's. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of things you can do other than find a clean used stock or have one made. Hope this helps.

Jim