cosmoline.

[Max008]

Just purchased a 1931 tula mowing nagant. Was wondering what's the best way to get rid of all that cosmoline? I've heard of using mineral spirits, brake cleaner and a hair dryer. Thanks in advance.

[jubjubrsx]

on the metal stuff soak it in mineral spirits(you can get gallon jugs of this for 4-5$ at walmart) and the stock i always liked wrapping the stock with paper towels with rubber bands, and then in a black plastic trash bags and sit it outside for a day. some people have put the stocks in the kitchen oven at like 200degree's...but last time i tried that the wifey didnt like that

[Kodemonkey]

I used a space heater with my garand and mpro7. It didn't mess up the wood and took about 2 hours. while I was wiping the hanguard I put the stock in front of the heater to bring the cosmoline to the surface. Then I rotated the hanguard in and wiped down the stock with mpro7 cleaner/degreaser. Rinse and repeat about 20 times. Renewed the stock and hand guards with Howard's beeswax and orange oil wood polish. Turned out awesome.

Used mineral spirits on the trigger group, but not on the wood (only Mpro7)

[Intimid8tor]

I have never cleaned cosmoline off a gun, but I did just clean a mill that was coated with cosmoline. WD-40 worked really well and seems to be less aggressive though it is more expensive. It may not work on firearms cosmoline, but I thought I would throw it out.

[EM2]

I have a 1903 Springfield that I had to clean off cosmoline and someone had suggested I used flour.
I removed all the metal parts and placed the wood stock into a black trash bag then covered the stock in flour, close up the bag and placed it on my barn roof for a week to heat up in the sun.
Afterward I removed the stock and cleaned off the flour.
The heat from the sun helps draw out the cosmoline and the flour soaks it up.

[rneptune]

Check out this writeup. If you have some time poke around the site, there is lot of info about caring for, improving, and shoting C&R rifles.

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

[Paulie Lugnuts]

Heat gun works great.

The spots on the cardboard are melted cosmo.

[Blitzburgh]

Check out this writeup. If you have some time poke around the site, there is lot of info about caring for, improving, and shoting C&R rifles.

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

+1

The guy who runs this site, "Old Painless" (Don) is a heck of a nice gentleman. You won't know that if you cross him or step out of line - but he's an old school Texan that still believes in manners and the like. I've had some long conversations with him and he's one heck of a man. I have the utmost respect for him.

And yes - that site is a treasure trove of information on all sorts of subjects. It started out with just penetration testing on "The Box of Truth" (hence the name of the site) and moved on from there. At one point he and some buddies took an old Buick out to the range and did some penetration testing on that. The "Buick of Truth" hahahahaha

But tons of good info on that site. Very good recomendation!

[trespassingproductions]

i used a hairdryer and elbow grease...no easy way to do it just suck it up and start scrubbing

[RED VASQUEZ]

hoppe's black powder solvent worked for me. +a lot of cheap cleaning brushes. +a lot of paper towels. +elbow grease and love. worked on my mosin without damaging the wood or metal finishes. just be sure to do this in a well ventilated area as the fumes will get you and everyone else in the room very, VERY loaded (or don't, your choice)

[paul0660]

I use gasoline.

Just like the Russians.

[Bigtwin]

I prefered the hand held steam cleaner! It worked very well on the metal and the wood. No damage to the wood finish and really cleaned it up. So much so that I never have had the "sticky mosin bolt" issue on any of my Mosins!
Plus easy clean up....just toss the towels!

[TURNKEY13]

Build yourself a cosmo-cooker outta HVAC pipe or a garbage can. Search here or google.. They work great!!!

[C&Rtrader]

Paint thinner and cans of compressed air. Soak all metal parts in paint thinner, then use a paper towel to remove all the big chunks. Use the can of compressed air to clean the small, hard to reach areas. Hair dryer or hand steamer for the stock... +1 on howards beeswaxs for the stock afterward

[Vlad 11]

Just purchased a 1931 tula mowing nagant. Was wondering what's the best way to get rid of all that cosmoline? I've heard of using mineral spirits, brake cleaner and a hair dryer. Thanks in advance.

What in Gods name is a 'Mowing Nagant' ??
And i would recommend not having brake cleaner in the same room as a firearm.
Way overkill and will eat thru any stock finish faster than you can say 'OMG what have i done?!?'

I have never cleaned cosmoline off a gun, but I did just clean a mill that was coated with cosmoline. WD-40 worked really well and seems to be less aggressive though it is more expensive. It may not work on firearms cosmoline, but I thought I would throw it out.

Paint Thinner is over $15 a gallon now. I'll stick with my $3 can of WD-40, enough for several rifles and melts cosmo as good as anything. Safe on wood finishes.