Well I decided to go the mineral spirits route to remove the encrusted cosmoline on the 98/29 Persion Mauser action.

I found a 2# plastic Folgers coffee tub that was just deep enough to submerge the receiver.

I set 'er up on the floor and leaned the barrel against my loading bench to soak overnight. About an hour later my son notified me that the mineral spirits had started to leak onto the floor.

I poured the solvent into one of my wifes stainless cake pans, she promptly suggested that if I wanted supper, I should use the aluminum foil roaster pan that was on the shelf and let her use the stainless pan to cook ribs for supper.

I placed all of the small parts in the foil pan and with some paper towels under it for good measure, I left it all soak overnight. I then cleaned up the mess on the floor before retiring for the night.

In the morning I found that there had been a pin hole in the foil pan, and a few ounces of mineral spirits had leaked onto my loading bench.

Well as I said, it was just a pin hole, so I placed several paper towels on the old kitchen table and after cleaning up mess # 2, I moved my base of operations and proceeded to work on the small parts with a brass brush.

Now you have to understand that I got up about 5:30 AM so as to be able to work without interferance.


After soaking all night in mineral spirits one would think that whatever this gunk was, it would be softened up right? Riiiiiiight! After disolving the plastic coffee tub, all it did to the gunk was make it sticky! The brass brush wouldn't even phase it!

I finally ended up using acetone and lots of elbow grease. After all of this sweat and toil I was able to extract an almost perfect 98/29 barreled action. After cleaning the chamber and bore with acetone soaked patches, a 30 minute treatment with "Wipe-out" revealed no copper in the bore whatsoever! I don't even think it has ever been fired!

I slapped 'er into a Persian Mauser stock that I had gotten from Fourtails and after cutting a coil from the trigger spring and polishing all of the bearing surfaces on the trigger, sear and cocking piece, the take-up is 3# and the trigger breaks with a slight amount of creep @ 5#.

I'm going to have to save my penneys and get another one of these babies!

Serves ya right for not doing the turkey fryer and pot o' boiling water!

Having said that, I'm glad it was your son who noticed the leaking can and not your wife the next morning, as is usually the case around here.....

Feel free to post a pic!

Best thing for old cosmoline is a small steamer...just don't use the good oven mitts to hold onto the rifle. Never had "good" oven mitts defined to me so I keep getting in trouble from "she who must be obeyed"...
Cheers...
Con