[Drakejake]

I ordered some AK mags described as new, still in cosmoline. I thought this would be something good to have. I was wrong. The mags were thickly coated with an orange grease. I cannot get it completely off the exteriors despite wiping them with newspapers, paper towels, and Q tips. And there seems to be more of it inside the mags. Doing this kind of cleaning just isn't worth it when you can get clean AK mags for the same price. Now if these mags were unique or valuable, I would say OK.

Drakejake

[hkOrion]

Do a search on cosmoline. There are a few threads with helpful ideas on how to remove it. It's not that difficult, and if you're buying something that isn't as cheap new (or isn't manufactured anymore), it's the only way to go.

[Matt Sutton]

What are you talking about? Everything is better with cosmoline! It's the cologne of the Gods. I like to smear some on before a night on the town. :D
Seriously, get yourself a big can of naptha or acetone from Home Depot or a paint store and give them a good soak. Then wipe them down good with a rag wet with the solvent. Then lightly lube them with a good rust preventative. I look at it as a good excuse to spend more time playing with guns!

[spin180]

Disassemble the magazines, toss the parts in an old pot, cover with water and heat to boiling. Cook for a few minutes until done. Remove from water. Most of the cosmo should be gone. A decent degreaser, or even lemon oil, will take care of the rest. When satisfactorily clean, toss with your favorite lube, preservative, rust inhibitor, etc.

:D

[jefnvk]

Either carb or brake cleaner works, I forgot which one. I'm told WD40 works. Heat is another good one.

If you want cosmo, go buy a Yugo SKS, or CMP Springfield.

[Boss Spearman]

Goop hand cleaner takes it right off, and does not harm either wood or metal finishes.

[ocabj]

I agree with 180; use hot water. Brake cleaner will work, but you have to constantly spray the layers away and you end up using a lot of brake cleaner. Acetone, mineral spirits, and paint thinner work, too, if your willing to soak them in it.

[jobu07]

gasoline works wonders on it too...

[Cosmoline]

My love of cosmoline has gone too far many times over the years, from taking a bath with a cosmo'd stock to accidentally setting a stock on fire in the oven.

[spacemanspiff]

you know, some things are better left unrevealed, cosmo.

:neener:

[Drakejake]

Hey, guys, thanks for all the advice in cleaning off cosmoline. I never doubted that the stuff could be removed. My point was that it is difficult and time-consuming. I think that the procedures you describe support that point. What I intended to say is that if you can choose between $10 mags in cosmo and $11 mags which are dry and ready to do, pay an extra dollar. Life is short.

Drakejake

[foghornl]

A "Mineral Spirits" bath will soak off that gunk, too. But definitely do that OUTDOORS.

That's how I cleaned the bolt assembly on my SKS...a long min-spir bath

[jdberger]

back in the day, when I was but a young-un...

I worked in this store and we were getting and selling CRATES of SKS's. Late 80's I think.

Anywhooo...we were telling people and showing them that these things were coated in cosmo and had to be cleaned really thoroughly before they were loaded and fired.

A lot of our customers didn't speak english very well (we even had 4473s in espanol) however we had a couple of spanish speakers there to explain things to them, etc.

So, one guy comes in and picks up an SKS, a bandolier of ammo and one of those fixed 30 round bananna mags with the red star on it. He takes the rifle home on the city bus (I LOVE Arizona :cool: ), sits down on his living room floor and loads the mag.

Then he lets the bolt fly forward.... :uhoh:

Without cleaning the rifle first.... :eek:

or noticing that the firing pin was glued 'forward'.... :what:

He came back to the store with the rifle screaming :cuss: that we owed him a new refigerator because his now had 30 holes in it.

[RoyG]

Hey, guys, thanks for all the advice in cleaning off cosmoline. I never doubted that the stuff could be removed. My point was that it is difficult and time-consuming. I think that the procedures you describe support that point. What I intended to say is that if you can choose between $10 mags in cosmo and $11 mags which are dry and ready to do, pay an extra dollar. Life is short.

I agree with you. Saving a buck having to spend 2 to clean it isn't worth it. On the other hand cleaning cosmoline out of a mil-surplus rifle is well worth the effort.

[Delmar]

"we owed him a new refigerator because his now had 30 holes in it"

Well, that IS one of the few of those 30 round cheap mags which did function correctly!

[Lonestar.45]

Brake cleaner will work great on your AK mags.

I say the same thing about cosmoline, "Don't buy anything in Cosmoline", but not because it's hard to clean, but because it's so addictive! I bought two Yugo SKS's smothered in it, and now that milsurps are in my blood, I don't think I'll enjoy just buying a brand new Remchester clean from the factory ever again!

[jdberger]

I think my boss probably said something like, "Sold as is, no refund, no exchange." and to himself - "what is he complianing about? People pay big bucks for machine guns...!" :evil:

[MilsurpShooter]

Oven on 180 degrees will liquify it. Had to do that to my Bayonet tog et all the cosmo out of the scabbard, did it for the handguard too, would have for the stock but my ovens too small

[Risasi]

I think my boss probably said something like, "Sold as is, no refund, no exchange." and to himself - "what is he complianing about? People pay big bucks for machine guns...!"

Hey, hey, don't give the ATF any ideas. Next thing you know if you don't clean your gun you'll be charged with assembling an NFA weapon...

[g56]

I'm surprised he didn't blow it up with all the cosmoline in the barrel! Of course I could barely open the action on mine before I cleaned it, and the firing pin was definitely stuck protruding from the bolt before I took the bolt apart. I cleaned my SKS up with WD40 mostly, and used mineral spirits on the stock.

[Dr.Rob]

Diesel Fuel in a parts washer turned 1950's vintage cosmoline into solution after a few minutes... mild scrubbing with a nylon toothbrush was all that was required to get into the nooks and crannies.

Again, this is outdoor work.

[Ian Sean]

So glad I have a parts washer here at work. :neener:

[saltydog]

You need "very special" chemicals to remove the cosmoline. Its called "hot soapy water." Works very fast, at least on my cosmode M1A mags. Works like a champ! :)

[c_yeager]

What I intended to say is that if you can choose between $10 mags in cosmo and $11 mags which are dry and ready to do, pay an extra dollar. Life is short.

On the other hand buying cosmolined magazines does a good bit to prevent corrosion. To my mind it is better to buy nasty smelly mags than it is to buy mags that have rusty springs.

[mtnbkr]

If you have an old bucket, soak it in mineral spirits. That works great. Otherwise, get a can of brake parts cleaner and spray it off. If using the first method, I soak the mags intact, otherwise, I disassemble them.

Chris

[ChevellRCR]

Is it safe to soak a stock in Mineral spirits?

[ocabj]

Mineral spirits is an ingredient in Behr's Tung Oil Finish #600 which is a common refinishing product many people use for surplus rifle stocks, but I don't recommand soaking wood in a liquid, whether it be water, mineral spirits, or some other degreaser.

I did try cleaning the wood from an Enfield with Purple Power by spraying it on, letting it soak in, spraying it again and wiping off the crud, letting it dry, and repeating. I had to do this several times and eventually it came out pretty clean, but that wood was dried out. I used Behr's TOF on it, and it came out looking pretty good, but I question whether or not I did damage to the wood with the constant use of the degreaser.

The safest way to clean a stock is with heat and time.

[Sawdust]

Many woodworking machines come coated in cosmoline; I've gotten this t-shirt many times over.

Kerosene is the the best stuff to use as it dissolves cosmoline without being highly flammable (as is paint thinner, acetone, etc.).

Sawdust

[Clean97GTI]

Another one I've heard works well on grease is oven cleaner.

I'm kinda curious about how cosmoline would burn. I might smear a little on a bayonet and take a lighter to it.

Knowing my luck, I'd end up with a thick, baked/burnt on coat of grease instead of the new carbon black finish I was hoping for. I just use brake cleaner for the small bits.

The trick is to wipe the majority away before trying to spray it off with brake cleaner. Spray the leftover goo and then wipe it off. Use your favorite lube and be done with it.

[MilsurpShooter]

It liquifies before it burns, 560 degree flash point I think?

[grendelbane]

The cheapest, safest, most environmentally friendly cosmoline remover in the entire universe is hot soap & water! :cuss:

How do you think that they cleaned their muskets in the good old days?

Remember, petroleum based firearms cleaners and lubricants are a 20th century development. Well into the 20th century at that!

Grand-dad's Great War M1911 & 1903 were lubricated with a most exotic oil.

Huge beasts in odd corners of the world had to be hunted down and slain, and this wonderful oil rendered from their remains.

Much better than drilling a hole in the ground and cooking up a gun lube from what comes up. :cool:

[Magnum88C]

See another advantage to the cosmoline coated stuff (be it magazine, whatever) is not only corrosion resistance, but you get to huff the cosmo while cleaning them.

Most crufflers are clinically addicted to cosmoline. . .

[Lennyjoe]

I got 3 SKS's and they were covered in cosmo. I tried boiling, mineral spirits as well as brake cleaner. By far the brake cleaner worked best on the metal parts.

For the stocks I used mother nature. I set them out in the sun on top of the grill in August and after about 2 hours it was all gone.

Guess the weather in Arizona is good for something.

[Sawdust]

Remember, petroleum based firearms cleaners and lubricants are a 20th century development. Well into the 20th century at that!

Uh, so is cosmoline. :rolleyes:

Sawdust

[halvey]

I cannot get it completely off the exteriors SOAK in Kerosene.

[Bravo11]

I concur, It's nice to have a parts washer at work.
If I stuck a cosmo covered gun in my wifes oven she
would have a fit.

[Redneck Revolver]

laquer(sp) thinner works great thats what i use when i get ammo or guns in cosmo....make sure you soak a rag, not the ammo/gun in it though! that stuff burns easier than gas and longer too. once all of it is off use the usual lube/clean/rust-off.

[TheDutchman]

+1 on gasoline but it burns easy, Mineral spirits would be second choice.

[72Rover]

I'm about to get started on a newly-acquired Garand that's well, ummmm, 'protected' with the stuff including the stock. My original plans were to use turpentine and eventually 0000 steel wool. Figured the terps would be the least-damaging solvent since it's made from wood....

[Tactical Texan]

I bought several FAL mags from Tapco that were coated in cosmo.

I used rubbing alcohol to get it off. I poured the alcohol into a big clear
Rubbermaid container, took them apart, and let them soak for a few minutes.

I hit them with some brake cleaner, and dried them off.

No probs.

[tankertom]

I found that simple green or the Castrol super clean stuff from Walmart works very well. If you live in a warm sunny space, leaving the rifle in the sun will bring the cosmoline out of the wood.

tt

[wally]

I've had good success using deisel fuel as the solvent. Cheap and much less flammable than acetone or most mineral spirits, also much cheaper than brake parts cleaner gallon for the price of a few oz. Carb cleaner is likey to ruin any finish on stocks.

Soak the mags in a bucket of deisel for a few days "swriling " them everytime you walk by. Outside, or in the garage is the best bet for safety and smell.

Brake cleaher is my choice for getting the deisel residue off before bringing them inside -- keeps the wife much happier :)

--wally.