That is why it is called CitriStrip. For the trigger group, I soaked it in some Hoppe's #9 for a few hours and it seemed to have gotten most of the cosmoline out of it. The more you manipulate, wash, and rinse the firearm, the more youll see creep to the surface. However, this one was never opened, making it extremely rare. Thanks Go check them out at Oldsteelguns.com! Place the parts on some cardboard and the cleanup is minimal. The Best Accessories for Your Gunsmithing Bench for Under $11. How to clean cosmoline off your Mosin Nagant 91/30, SKS or any other surplus gun using Mineral Spirits and hot water. Needed tools: Cosmoline soaked weapon; rags or paper towels; screw driver and tools for disassembly of firearm; bore brush; chamber brush; bore pull-through or cleaning rod; a good non-polar solvent (mineral spirits being one of the most preferred . Once cosmoline has been exposed to air for a few years, it will solidify and become a wax consistency. The heat will bleed the cosmo out. Gently remove parts and wipe off Cosmoline or move parts back and forth in bath and Cosmoline will start coming off. 1 Place a part in a solvent compatible container and spray down with brake cleaner. Note: Most of the links in this article earn me a small commission at no cost to you. You can also use a heat gun or an older oven to help melt the Cosmoline. Upon removing the parts, the hot water will evaporate and you will have totally degreased and cosmoline free parts. Remove all metal from stock you are comfortable removing. This method works exceptionally well. Although most greases will burn, cosmolines are rarely considered a fire threat. They are the go-to gun shop for collectors and shooters alike. After eight days, only the very top was showing . A kitty litter can also remove cosmo in your guns. A lot of people swear by mineral spirits as a primary solvent to remove Cosmoline, and you can either apply it with a rag or submerge/dip your gun into it. Treat surface with your favorite lube or set up for hot blueing. WD-40 does a good job cleaning up wood stocks without removing the underlying finish. WD40 works well enough and wont hurt a thing. How would a different solvent such as naphtha fare against the cosmoline? So we essentially got just enough cosmoline out of them to make them safe to fire and left it at that. (cross-posted at mAss Backwards) After trying the old fashioned method of removing the cosmoline from the SKS by repeatedly spraying each piece with degreaser and/or WD-40 and wiping dry with a shop rag, I decided I'm going to give the "low-heat method" a try, and build my own version of the "Easy Bake Garbage Can", as illustrated there at www.surplusrifle.com. Like this kind of content? Aerosol brake of carburetor cleaner, dissolves the cosmolene into thin air almost instantly. You worry too much. There is something hugely satisfying about bringing one of these old things back to life. Take this time to look over and inspect all of the parts for cracks and excessive wear. Use an air gun to blow the cleaning fluid off after you finish, then apply lube as needed. Personalize your experience. If planning to shoot your surplus firearms, leaving cosmoline in the bore can ruin your firearm or, worse yet, cause injury to the shooter. Cosmoline is a trademarked brand of petroleum-based, wax-like corrosion inhibitors. Removing the cosmoline off of this rifle would greatly reduce its value. This has worked well for me and has turned out to be the least labor intensive of the methods I have tried for cleaning off cosmoline. If you search "ultrasonic cleaner" on Amazon you can find one identical to the Lyman for $30-$40 cheaper. Apply some to a cleaning patch and run it through the bore. Because of the general porous nature of wood, chances are pretty decent that a good amount of grease has managed to penetrate the wood fiber itself, even if it retained its original finish. There are a few methods you can use in order to clean Cosmoline off in this state: WD-40 If you spray WD-40 . Purchased a SKS Type 56 that was so loaded with Cosmoline that the sales person would not even touch it. Works great. Although the fine, colorless sprays coating was dry after a week of freshwater sprays, the panel had no rust. Posted: 7/20/2014 7:07:20 AM EST [#2] Now I know why I don't buy mil surplus stuff. Not really. The consistency of cosmoline varies widely but is mostly found as grease or wax. It is used for undercoating and preventing the damages in a car caused by driving on roads. I remember when a "Yugo" was a piece of crap car. Gently remove parts and wipe off Cosmoline or move parts back and forth in bath and Cosmoline will start coming off. Old Steel is dedicated to finding historical and collectible items and making them available to the customer. Here's one of the several main versions of cosmoline in an aerosol. In between cleanings use mineral spirits to wipe the surface. As it drives out moisture, it does little to oil a surface but sits on top of the surface to protect it. 4. WD40 is a good cleaner for surfaces that you have good access to wipe down, but when it comes to cleaning small parts such as springs, sears, hammers, and other hard to reach places, I find that mineral spirits does a better job. Your Complete Guide to All Things Cosmoline, All the Questions You Need to Ask to Pick the Right Rust Preventative, How to Properly Remove Cosmoline from Military Surplus Firearms, How to Make Your Outdoor Furniture Last Longer. 2. You can now use, and regularly clean. Very fast and efficient. You will need to use fresh diesel as it gets to thick and sticky with all the cosmoline. Using your nylon brush scrub off any grease or cosmoline that is on the part. This rifle had not been disassembled in MANY moons and had dried cosmoline in all the tight areas. A little spark/open flame & gas vapors can be a recipe for personal disaster, even outside. Tends to dry the wood surface but I apply a light oil after I clean as a default measure anyway. 1 Place a part in a solvent-compatible container and spray down with brake cleaner. machine guns to get them ready for action. Then lay the bag on your dash in the hot sun for a week. Pour Cosmoline Remover in safe container. Q-tips for cleaning the other metal sections of the gun Use an air gun to blow the cleaning fluid off after you finish, then apply lube as needed. Following high school, Kurt enlisted in the United States Air Force as a Boom Operator, where he eventually rose to the position of Instructor. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then run a few dry patches through. jumpscare links to send to friends; elliptical orbit simulator; babolat ambassador program. Once removed, coatings can be melted again for repeat use. Almost boiling water works pretty well to clean cosmoline off of metal. It's also called "dry chemical". Safety is a good tool for tyrants; no one can be against safety. Ive even seen Mosin Nagants that the lock time could be measured in whole seconds due to this. Refinish the wood with boiled linseed oil or Dansk oil. Used Citristrip on my T53 stock, along with CLP to get the cosmoline out of the metal parts. Once youve got your barrel and receiver assembly cleaned up, you can check on your sweaty wood bois and see where theyre at. Youll finally remove the majority of the cosmoline from the gun after hours of scrubbingbut basically, you cant stop there. This method works well on metal parts, but extreme care must be taken as Kerosene is very flammable. Are you aware that cosmoline and shellac are, in fact, two different substances? Its the mess, gross and slimy petroleum that appears to be wrapped in every surface of firearms. Halogen lamps do the trick or me. Be sure to use a decent gun oil on any moving parts when you reassemble. 1 Jeep, 1 crate, and a barrel of cosmo! Of course, after the wash and rinse process of cleaning, the firearm needs to be dry. Very fast and efficient. Which makes it susceptible to environments that also kill small children and pets when they get locked inside minivans which well simulate by stuffing it in that trash bag and letting the angry heat orb outside do its thing. This will speed up the process. Pour the boiling water into the grease, then repeat the process until your water runs clear and you can handle each part without feeling oily. All of the above is primarily educated guessing for Eastern Bloc procedures, aka a WAG American practice for removing actual Cosmoline (not the ersatz Cosmoline that communist countries used) was the chlorinated solvent approach (disposal in pits, not rivers), based on first hand accounts. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Originally developed in the late 1800s and marketed as a home disinfectant and veterinary anti-swelling agent, presumably by the same turn of the century physicians inclined to prescribe you cocaine for a staph infection or whatever. Something to pay final attention to when doing the last pass on all of your small internal parts is the firing pin channel. Seems to take off anything, including paint spatters without harming the finish at all. Cosmoline - in my experience - is stronger, but the cost per can . Also, this is perfect to use in the bore and chamber area as it will not attack metal. Worked really well. I think some that were around it a lot had long term health problems from exposure, so they probably had to change the make up of it or something. WD40 is an expensive version of mineral spirits. Review SDS for complete safety precautions. Wd40 on the metal parts that you can't soak. Amazon.com: Cosmoline Remover 1-48 of 129 results for "cosmoline remover" RESULTS Price and other details may vary based on product size and color. 5. Cosmoline Removal Wd40 ; Conclusion ; What Removes Cosmoline? The stuff will bubble up as a wonderfully aromatic orange oil like layer on the water. I've used this method on all four of my rifles and it worked very well. Mind you ,I keep a close watch on this. Learn all the important stuff about handgunswith none of the attitude. Login with username, password and session length, Metal-hot water, WD 40, diesel, brake cleaner, or simple green. If you need suggestions, try one of our favorite YouTube channels. Now what's the best way to clean the residual WD40 off so I won't have primers getting compromised? There are a ton of ways to do it and most work great. As the cold war came and went, many of these countries started to liquidate their warehouses, selling these surplus arms to importers and exporters in the United States. This P17 was packed in cosmoline, wrapped in paper, and shipped to its destination like millions of other rifles. 2. Depending on the container or the size of the firearm, soaking guns in mineral spirits can be done in a huge container. That will do the cleaning with no damage to the wood or original oil finish. A couple of hours in the hot seat predictably allowed a ton of cosmoline that had been locked inside of the wood fibers the opportunity to seep out to the surface. I stripped the whole gun down and used mineral spirits on the metal parts and Murphy's wood soap on the stock. With the Type 56, we broke the guns down into their main field-strippable components: rifle stock, barreled action, bolt carrier, assembly, trigger assembly, magazine, op rod, etc. http://www.surplusrifle.com/sks/index.asp, http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k36/cajuncj/M91%2030%20Finn/IMG_0849.jpg, Quote from: RangerAR on December 24, 2006, 08:37:16 PM, Quote from: singleshotcajun on January 05, 2007, 05:31:34 PM, Quote from: yber26 on January 21, 2007, 08:39:55 PM. This isn't good as you will likely be causing your gun to overheat when shooting. Consider this just a primer on how you might tackle a cosmoline cleanup job, but there are tons of ways to go about it. Cosmoline is our stuff, product of a first world economy, the commies used grease, cheap grease, much easier to remove. Cosmoline continues to be made today and is still a great option for long-term rust prevention. We made a trash can cosmo melter. Repeating this multiple times will remove the cosmoline. The cosmoline literally runs off with the water. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Please avoid producing WW1-era invisible poisons in your shed. Now how come some drug dealer/crook can buy one of this things and whamo bamo it works right out of the box?? Apply some to a rag and patch and wipe down the cosmoline-soaked parts. Thats why it is important to clean and remove it in your rifle to keep your firearm operating at its best performance. A lot of people swear by mineral spirits as a primary solvent to remove Cosmoline, and you can either apply it with a rag or submerge/dip your gun into it. This causes an issue as brass expands and contracts on firing. I also use murphy's oil soap to help remove the oily Cosmoline from the wood. [1]. Buy an 8" piece of HVAC round duct pipe, a blow dryer, and paper towels. Boil and reoil the smaller metal parts. Acetone, mineral spirits, or kerosene (but avoid the latter when possible, or when your firearm has been painted or blued). Your email address will not be published. Hmm, so it's like packing grease. Afterward, you can dry out your gun and finish it with lube. Took days of cleaning for all the original proofs and markings to become visible. Stock in bag on hot summer day worked well enough for me, but left blemishes on the shellac where it bubbled up. For the stocks, I generally do the dish washer routine (of course, I wait for my wife to be gone for the day first!lol). This involves two steps: You can do this by wrapping your firearm in towels and placing it in a black trash bag and leaving it sit out in the sun, or using another heat sourcesuch as a heat gun or older ovento return the Cosmoline to its liquid state. This restriction only affects the following Southern California counties: Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Cosmoline melts at temperatures ranging from 115 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. You must log in or register to reply here. There are other ways to achieve this same effect, however. I only use this method on metal parts and will do this prior to using the Kroil method below to remove the last bits and pieces. It's original purpose was as a water dispersant for machining - since the 60s, machine shops have gone to water-based machining lubrication/coolants and when you're done machining a part, you want to get the water-based lube/coolant off the part quickly. Today, you can find literally hundreds of recipes, formulas, tips, trick and strategies online for removing our favorite rust preventative coatingbe careful though, some of these "solutions" are more credible than others. It practically dissolves any Cosmoline product in seconds with very little effort. Lightly go over the parts with the heat gun. In addition, dish soap and water can remove the excess residues in your weapon too. Hang the parts from metal coat hangers and lay out a piece of plastic to protect the floor. WD40 is designed to evaporate of surfaces. Youll want to move, rotate, and flex parts to exercise hidden bits of Cosmoline. A reminder on why you shouldnt use gasoline to clean a firearm: its simply not practicable to clean a firearm, especially in the quantities required to clean a standard C&R pistol. Once it's clean, remove the bolt assembly from the water and place it on a towel. Next, you need to clean your gun. Stock in a trash bag on a hot day Or mineral spirits scrub down? Depending on how much hardened build-up youve got, itll probably take you a few cans of brake cleaner to get everything loosened up. Place parts covered in Cosmoline into the bath. no crazy cleaners, no toxic chemicals, no complicated setups. For Cosmoline removal, I get a gallon of K1 kerosene, then put it in a tub. Gets 95% of everything off and takes less time. Oil or grease, residue, and dirt can build up in the barrel and internal parts during shooting sessions. Cosmoline is used to protect the gun against rusting; however, many military surplus rifles were previously submerged in the greasy substance, making its eventual removal seemingly problematic. There are few procedures that you can use to remove and clean cosmoline from your military surplus guns. Only used it to finish wiping off the light residue. If you have a firearm that has been stored in Cosmoline, the first step is to remove as much of the Cosmoline as possible. Make sure you get all of the Cosmolene off of the gun! They were nasty rascals and I had to get creative about decrapping them. Following graduation, he accepted a job at C. Sharps Arms in Montana, where he still works full time as a stockmaker and gunsmith. Post author: Post published: June 2, 2022 Post category: symptoms of a bad metering valve Post comments: affidavit for police character certificate affidavit for police character certificate Title: Original Cosmoline I may earn a small part of the sale from links to any products or services on this site. I have used before on other parts kits with paper towels or old cotton rags. Well its winter here in Ohio, so when I was in the garage I held my M38 mosin stock in front of my Reddy Heater. It took me a good 3 hours to get everything clean but the action is nice and smooth(ish). StingRay parts washers use a non-flammable alkaline cleaning detergent such as Power Kleen V or Power Kleen IIIL. You are using an out of date browser. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. A couple of blasts of WD-40 helped out . Gently rub area to maximize contact between cleaner and surface. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Select what level shooter you are! cosmoline removal wd40. Your email address will not be published. Here are the best content compiled and compiled by the mobitool.net team, along with other related topics such as:: will acetone remove cosmoline, cosmoline removal hot water, cosmoline removal wd40, cosmoline in barrel, cosmoline gun grease, sks cosmoline removal, will ballistol remove cosmoline, removing cosmoline with heat gun. Back in the day when I was a kid, we use to take packing grease of with gasoline. Really, you'd have to soak ammo in WD40 to have a chance of it seeping in and killing the primer. Make sure to get into all the internals. If you'd like to consider an effective Cosmoline Remover in aerosol, please see our SS-245 product option. cosmoline will sweat out of your stock on its own. Both my SKS's I cleaned by first taking off as much cosmoline as possible with paper towels, then soaking everything in WD-40. It worked great. If the metal is removed from the stock, it shouldn't make much of a difference. The more you wash and rinse the rifle, the more creep will appear. Used a brass brush to help clear the heel lettering. I bake all the stocks in a long homemade oven I made. The Enfield P1917 above is a perfect example. Cosmoline Remover is a solvent-based industrial cleaner specifically formulated to quickly & effectively remove all types of Cosmoline and other petroleum-based transportation and storage coatings. (not optimized for mobile browsing), Copyright 2023 COSMOLINE DIRECT, LLC. Usually requiring a full detail stripping and cleaning of the rifle before its remotely capable of being operated safely. In the Marine Corps, more than once did we have to 'un-Cosmoline' weapons, gear or other 'NOS stuff'and without fail, the answer was always the same: 'Disassemble the device (if required) to field strip position, place the Cosmolined-item into the BOILING WATER TANK, and allow to soak for 4-5 minutes, as needed'. All that being said I usually buy cotton cloths from a big box store ringspun or recycled and I just wipe. Re: Cosmoline removal Ford & Pontiac used alot of Cosmoline back in the 80`s & 90`s to protect the car from transit contaminants. Then rinse in hot water and blow dry any areas that did not dried up. WD40 is an expensive version of mineral spirits. Clean and repeat until it stops weeping. Login with username, password and session length. The wood I used Citristrip, it worked really well. Once you have removed as much of the Cosmoline as you can, it's time to move on to the next step. There are a few rare examples where you shouldnt remove it. Worked great. I read a funny (?) It is brown in color and usually engulfs those beautiful surplus rifles at the local gun show. Cosmoline is petroleum-based rust and corrosion-inhibiting grease. I used simple green on some that weren't as bad before. Attempting to remove the rust-preventive after letting it warm up will turn the Cosmoline into an oilier coating, as opposed to a thicker, wax-like substance. Before you start cleaning, here is a list of things you will need: Some things you should avoid when trying to remove Cosmoline: A note on why you shouldnt use gasoline: using gasoline to clean a firearm just isnt practical, especially in the quantity you would need to clean a typical C&R firearm. The honest-to-goodness proper way to remove Cosmoline from anything, really, is through working at it. Learn the 3 most popular shooting stances & more. Ok, what method is easier. I've used mineral spirits, gasoline, heat, soapy water, etc. It depends on the matter of your desire. The stories of miss steps with gas are legion. I've tried various methods in the past, none of which seemed to work particularly well. Brake cleaner does a good job but is very harsh on the skin and can eat some plastics and brake cleaner will remove painted on finishes on some firearms so test first. You just stripped the finish off of your rifle. It doesnt take a lot to complete this process. To clean your gun, you can apply heat. WD 40 and mineral naptha (ligher fluid) are the cosmoline cutters of choice to the home shop machinist. All prices are in USD. Then I laid the parts out in the blazing Texas sun. The lubricating fluid in most lubricating greases is petroleum-derived minerals. I use fluid film on all my cars, but fluid film won't hold up under a car for more than six months without re-applying it. Better yet, it is cheap! However, it might not be necessary if you have no intentions of shooting it. METHOD #2: Soak Parts in Cosmoline Remover. */ Drench them in it, let them sit, then rinse them out. We promise to never spam you, and just use your email address to identify you as a valid customer. There are a few methods you can use in order to clean Cosmoline off in this state: WD-40 If you spray WD-40 over the metal and any wooden parts, . . Cosmoline Removal: Step-by-Step. two weeks ago I used wd-40 to clean off cosmoline off a SAR-80 parts kit, I used it on the plastic stock and metal it worked real well and does not harm the bluing or crackle paint on the receiver stubs. Today, the mineral spirits found in products like ours are more refined and . Even if your item only has a light coating of older Cosmoline, you might have questions as to how best to remove old coatings. It melts at 113-125 so hot soapy water or steam cleaning works. . Never miss a post! The diesel fuel with get thick as you wring out the microfiber towel repeatedly in the diesel. By that, you can also grab the tiny residues that were left in the firearm. Set the temp to 130 degrees, bake for a while. Once youre satisfied, you can move on to the actual cleaning. gear. IMMEDIATELY hit it with penetrating oil (NOT WD-40but a real petroleum-based penetrating oil), and wipe down with a soft cloth. We'll only use the information provided according to our privacy policy. When the grease came to the surface or began to run off, I hit the parts with Brake Kleen then put them back out in the sun again. purchase helps support my work in bringing you more awesome gun and gear articles. They cost around $20 if you want something cheap. Once youve uh unslimed your wood, return to your sonic cleaner components and use brake cleaner as needed to grab any chunks that might be left with your Q-tips. Avoid that by making sure its very clean! Lastly, there are many other ways to remove cosmoline, but these are methods that I have used with excellent results. As for wood, I've had limited success with WD-40. In fact, this exact scenario is what probably led you to this article. But there is a kind of cosmoline that is used for vehicles. Make sure. Trip83 . The main difference between Rust Veto and cosmoline is that Rust Veto has a slightly higher melting point of 140-170 degrees Fahrenheit. Its chemical composition consists primarily of a homogenous mixture of oil-based, non-polar hydrocarbons. Competitive pistol and high power rifle shooter (200-600 yards). Then reassemble and enjoy boom. Author: Marie Sonder Just be careful if using a heat gun, keep it on low, and make sure to keep the heat moving and even. Cosmoline hardens over time when exposed to oxygen and not sealed properly, so some might be very gooy while others are hardened balls of crud. This post is brought to you in collaboration with Old Steel Historical Firearms, located in Littleton, Colorado. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Corrosion-Resistant ReusablePeel-Away Coatings for Metal. Press J to jump to the feed. If you have chunks of cosmo, remove them out first.. carefully remove the "deep" stuff. If you are into guns, tools, or guns and tools, youve undoubtedly run into problems removing cosmoline. who was i in my past life calculator, kahlert village dorm rooms, open letter to the person i love the most,