Cosmoline...

[68Datsun510]

Hey folks, picking up my Mosin Nagant this weekekend. It has cosmo, but not tons on it. I was thinking of tackling it this way.

1 Completely disassemble gun
2 place all metal parts in a bucket of diesel fuel
3 wrap stock in paper towels and tape, oven at 160 degrees or so

remove, blast all metal with rem-oil spray, do proper cleaning/oil, reassemble.


Sound like a solid plan?

[Milsurp Collector]

The diesel fuel will work but is messy. Heat from a blow drier and a wipedown with paper towels works well and is easy. Some guys soak the metal parts in boiling water. See http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting...thod/index.asp

[paul0660]

Regular unleaded. Outside. No smoking. Diesel is oil, not a solvent like gas, and a poor choice.

[Spiggy]

damn, weather isn't good enough for solar oven(aka, black aluminum trash can)...

But black aluminum trash can with heat lamps may do the trick!

[68Datsun510]

Yeah unfortunately its been downright COLD lately here in Placerville. Thanks for the links. Saw another forum that suggested the Diesel, then after i posted i started thinking differently.

[gunboat]

Actually, diesel is an excellent solvent, better than gas and much safer too. The only downside is smell and a rinse/wipe down with a more volatile solvent to remove it.

[paul0660]

gunboat, it is called diesel OIL for a reason......it isn't a solvent but it does thin heavier oils. Gasoline isn't completely safe but in the proper hands, like guns, perfectly safe.

[rromeo]

What works the best for getting cosmoline off of my sling? I ran it throught he dishwasher, but that didn't too much.

[Jerkdog]

Mineral spirits. Enjoy.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu23.htm

[mls343]

Hair dryer (heat), brake cleaner, Q-tips, CLP, WD-40, elbo grease, paitence, and lots of rags = Cosmo cleaner.

Cosmoline is actually good stuff. There is no better way to really learn your weapon than to clean all to cosmo off. Take your time, heat is your friend, and enjoy.

Not too many people actually experience, or even know what cosmo is, so consider yourself lucky.

[Interloper]

I seriously doubt your oven will accommodate a 91/30 stock.
Mineral spirits and Denatured alcohol work well on the metal but don't use DA on the stock because it will melt the shellac finish!

[Zomgie]

Just got my Mosin yesterday and here's how I treated it:

Cranked up the heat on my bathtub as hot as it would go (hotter than you can touch) and placed all the metal in 4~ inches of water and then poured in about a 1/4 gallon of pure ammonia.

It let it sit for about 10 minutes and then pulled each piece out and rubbed it down / dried it with some old rags.

The metal was PERFECT after this. A lot of the cosmoline seemed to 'bubble' away with the ammonia and some came off on the rags when I dried them. EDIT: Also make sure to use a bore snake / cloth pad to dry the inside of the barrel.

For the wood I just sprayed them down with an ammonia/water blend and wiped them down because I don't have a way to heat the wood and didn't want it to become saturated.

After oiling down everything nice with gun oil and reassembling I couldn't be happier with the way the metal looks/feels. No greasy gunk at all

[7.62x54R]

I have used mineral spirits, brake cleaner, and boiling water. They all did the job.

[johnthomas]

I have used the diswasher 5 times on different rifles, never a problem.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/dishwashermethod/index.asp

[AngryPossum]

The diesel fuel will work but is messy. Heat from a blow drier and a wipedown with paper towels works well and is easy. Some guys soak the metal parts in boiling water. See http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting...thod/index.asp

+1 for a blow dryer. I'd take it apart and clean piece by piece. I just got some parts for my 1903A3 and they were covered in so much cosmo I thought I'd be at it for hours. Plugged in the girl friends hair dryer and the cosmoline practically dripped off all by itself. I wiped the remainder off with an old shirt and 15-20 minutes later....the pieces look brand new.