I don't know if its true but I always heard that cosmoline was formulated to be removed with gasoline because it was one solvent sure to be onhand. That said, there has to be a safer way today.

what is the best stuff for getting rid of cosmoline? i just bought a gewehr 98, and it is packed with this stuff! i used brake cleaner on the bolt, and then ran out (i had less than half a can. what is good to use, that won't hurt wood. let me know. thanks

I have bought several surplus mausers and a couple of sks's and the fastest way is good old gasoline, remove from stock and strip action and place one end in a bucket and start pouring gas on you can reuse whats in the bucket to pour again. i usually take a toothbrush and get the goop out of small areas and take the small parts and soak them in a jar of gas and they clean right up. for the stock i have heard white lye will remove oil from it but usually i just pitch it and start with a new one

The best stuff I have found for getting it off metal is immersion in boiling water. If you have a turkey cooker you are all set up, you just have to do half the rifle at a time and take off the stock first.

I bought a military surplus .50 BMG barrel a couple years ago and gasoline was the solvent of choice. The barrel was full of cosmoline and it was a mess.

I use alcohal. Works great and doesn't smell too bad. The stuff you get from the grocery store and drug store is good enough.

Kory

Go to Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Sherwin-Williams, or any other place that sells paint and buy a big ass jug of mineral spirits. I used that to de-grease my last three mausers and the stuff just plain works! Plus, it won't quite work on your skin the way gasoline will.

In any event, you're just trying to degrease the gun metal. Any of several ways will do it although I haven't tried anything faster than using a couple $1.50 cans of brake cleaner I bought at the local parts house. Use this to clean those hard to reach areas like your bolt. I use mineral spirits and a toothbrush to clean everything else.

I picked up an SKS last week and used Simple Green. It is a cleaner degreaser and it worked great. I just sprayed it on waited a few minutes and then used a nylon bristle brush and warm water. Most any hardware store should have simple green. I also heard GOJO hand cleaner works well.
Good shooting,
Weagle

I have always used hot water and soap, a little nylon toothbrush helps too. I completely take apart mausers (like anything with a screw) and put small parts in a mesh basket to keep things from going down the drain! Once you done, the warm metal dries fast, so just a quick coat of light oil, and it looks good as new...or as good as it can

I need to check to see if a mauser action will fit in my dishwasher...makes it so much easier

79

wow. thank you everyone for the quick responses. now i'm confused. which one should i use? just kidding. about 12:30, i got it mostly clean (which is spotless to most people) i'm putting back together just to look at it. tommorrow, i can pick up all of the stuff at work, as we carry brake clean, simple green, and mineral spirits.

these old guns are fun. yesterday, a guy i know showed me a rifle, and asked if i could take it home and clean it for him. it was a dutch mannchiler in 6.5 x 53R ! it was made in 1917, at the hembrug arsenal plant in holland. the barrel was obstructed by rust, as you couldn't even see outta it. however, after 3 hours of scrubbing, it was near spotless, except for a couple of rust pitts. it had good, strong rifling, and looked almost new (except for the pitts) today,i went in to the gun store, and finished paying off the gewehr 98, and am cleaning it up too. it was also built in 1917 at mauser oberndorf. i bought it because it completes a collection of German small arms. i have a luger, k98k, p-38, k98k trainer rifle in 22lr, and know, a gew-98. all of these pieces of art were made at the mauser factory. next step, a magnum mauser 98 in 416 rigby (or lott haven't decided) soon as i can shit 10,000 dollars, i'll order that too! thanks again everyone!

I take those guns completely apart. Small parts go in an ammo can of kerosine. The kerosine gets warmed up on a hotplate. Cosmo melts off. Larger parts go in my garage sink that is full of hot soapy water. Stock also goes in the laundry sink. Heat is a big help in removing this stuff. I have used a propane torch to warm barreled actions and help things along. Cold cosmo is tough. Warm, it just runs off.

Gasoline stinks, has carcenogins(MTBE)in it, and can cause a flash fire. Gas fumes can be ignited from across the room by an ignition source. You could be using it outside the garage and have fumes creep along the floor to the water heater and ignite. I have seen gas make a 15-foot flame along the ground on a calm day. Keep in mind if the gas does ignite you are soaked in it. You would end up a human inferno. Suit yourself but, I have no use for gasoline as a solvent.

The gasoine used fifty years ago could have been "white gas". It is more akin to Coleman fuel. Coleman is not nearly so noxious as modern pump gas. You could use it but, you still have the same flamabality issues. Good old mineral spirits, paint thinner, works awfully well. it is cheap, does not stink, and is not quite as prone to flash fires.