glad to hear you got it off.... told you it had lots of play in it.... gee how'd I know that lol ..... been there too many times.... forget the murphy's it's fine for scrubbing down the hardwood floors now and then but don't put water on a gun stock.... it's ok to use if you wring the rag out really good.... gets dirt, sticky candy residue, or other lunch time messes but not any good to get the deep ground in dirt a military stock has..... use whatever is this weeks approved solvent... they change so fast I honestly can't keep up.. family business we get the solvents by the drum and I just grab a gallon when I need it...... use 0000 the finest steel wool and give it a good scrub.... esp. the stock stub and the insides of the forend and hand guard... they usually have coating of cosmoline still in there..... do it fast, no need to try and do any more than take off the surface crud... when done wet a clean rag with solvent and wipe down.... do this a couple times to get all the dirty residue off..... then let it dry for a day... then bed it to clean surfaces.... then put on the BLO.... but because of the low temps and wet weather I suggest you go to an art supply and get a small bottle of "cobalt drier".... what you do is pour into a small container the amount of BLO your going to use THIS DAY... tablespoon? and add about 2to3 drops of the drier..... and apply but be VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS AMOUNT OF DRIER ADDED ANY RAGS ETC. CAN/WILL SPONTANIOUS COMBUST.... been there done that.... thank god I had the trash container I use for flamables.... they were put in outside and away from everything.... since then I wrap all rags in paper towels wet it all good with water, put that wad into a big zip lock bag and fill it with water. the cobalt drier is super powerful and speeds the drying greatly.... most times 24 hours and its completely dry on a glass plate test. one of the things I developed and have used for nearly 40 years. some people suggest japan drier but honestly it sucks, cobalt is 10 times more powerful.