I just received a 1973 Daisy 881 and it was literally dripping oil. There was oil in the loading port and at the muzzle, etc. I wrote the seller complimenting him on his oil job, and he said that he had not oiled it, this is just the rifle he found in his Dad's belongings, as-is.

The rifle is in new condition, and I just opened it up to replace the seals and it has clearly been barely used or not used a all. Everything is perfectly clean and no wear, not even on the plastic bolt.

However, there is a giant amount of oil everywhere! The bolt literally was soaking in it as well as everything else from the barrel to the pump hinge pins to the inside of the receiver. There were puddles inside the crevices of the bolt and receiver and other places.

In my opinion, this is way too much oil. The painted surfaces don't need any at all and a thin film is enough on most other unfinished metal parts. I'm cleaning it up.

So my question... did Daisy ship rifles with this much oil in the 70s? Is all this oil the sign that the gun is "as it was from the factory"? Or did the previous owner just soak the gun in oil before putting it away sometime many years ago? I guess he could have sprayed this heavy oil in everywhere somehow... but it wouldn't have been easy.

Oil around the loading port and bolt:

Oil on the stock attachment point: