Cosmoline

26 October 2012, 05:07

wasbeeman

Cosmoline

What can you use to clean cosmoline off of and out of a milsup rifle? Back in the day, we used gasoline but I think that's frowned on nowadays.

Aim for the exit hole

Rusty
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26 October 2012, 05:54

craigster

MEK will do it as will a strong mix of Simple Green. For a final degrease, I boil the pieces/parts in washing soda.

26 October 2012, 12:02

mike7mm08

Brake Cleaner works real good. Buy the good stuff not the this or that free, better for you and the environment crap.

27 October 2012, 00:25

LionHunter

Cosmoline melts at a reasonably low temp. I've been using a hand held steamer to remove it from milsurp metal for years. A cheap and environmentally safe way to remove it. I use an Ovglove to hold the barrel, as it will get quite hot. Getting it our of the wood can be much more problematic, depending on how long it has been on the wood and how much has soaked into the stock.

Mike
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27 October 2012, 03:39

low_tech

I take mine to work in pieces and use 50# steam

I have to be discreet with the barrels. If I didn't have access to a steam system, I don't know what I would do.

28 October 2012, 01:00

mete

I think the melting point of cosmoline is about 150 F.
I saw an article using a DIY garbage can and a couple of lightbulbs .Hot enough to melt it.

MEK is a VERY efficient solvent but but unless you want to dissolve your liver do it outside with a large fan.

29 October 2012, 06:35

dpcd

Paint thinner works well, lacquer thinner much better. I have found the environmentally friendly products to be far less effective than the old standbys. Like gasoline. Once you get most of it out of the wood, you can use TSP to get it cleaner, and lighter in color. I soak them for 20 minutes at a time. Turns grease to soap and leaches it out of the wood.

01 November 2012, 17:12

arkypete

As a cadet, the guys on punishment tours got to clean Springfields in split oil drums filled with kerosene then the rifles were put in the locker rooms shower with nearly boiling water.
While the rifles were still hot they were wiped down then oiled. There were 500 or 600 rifles so the guys who could not work within the system learned an awful lot about Springfields.

Jim

"Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson

12 November 2012, 09:54

Oddbod

Inside a closed car on a sunny day in NM will make it run out of a rifle like water - just make sure the rifle's resting on something cosmo' proof & that you meant to do it....

13 November 2012, 19:34

Zeke

quote:
Originally posted by Oddbod:
Inside a closed car on a sunny day in NM will make it run out of a rifle like water - just make sure the rifle's resting on something cosmo' proof & that you meant to do it....

Get a cheep plastic gun case. Pull the foam out. Fill one side of the case with cat litter.
Put the offending stock in the case cover it with the cat litter. Close the case.
Put in hot car or set on a hot roof. Turn every day or so.
The primordial gun ooze, ie cosmoline, will leach out in a few days.