[rageman]

...and bought my first rifle, since I turned 18 a few weeks ago. Got a Russian M44 from Southern Ohio Guns with a two friends, and its a beauty. All matching serial numbers on a rifle made in 1944, plus 260 rounds of 7.62x54R, for only $140 (including s&h and ffl transfer fee). Plus its got an eeeevil bayonet mounted on the side. :p

Anyways, I saw the gun yesterday* (my friends work at the gun shop we had them shipped to) and the thing was covered in that orange-ish grease, I think cosmoline? We wiped the guns down as much as possible with some paper towels, but what is the best way to remove all this stuff?


*saw it yesterday, can't get it until today because the manager was out of the office and didn't enter the rifles into the invoice computer, or some claptrap like that. :cuss:

[MJRW]

You need to break it down. Take it apart. That was the only way I could clean off all the cosmoline off of mine.

[DVDTracker]

Acetone works great for cleaning off cosmoline. Use in a well-ventilated area though.

[teppo-shu]

CONGRATULATIONS, and WELCOME!!

Been thinking on getting one of those myself. They go on sale sometimes around these parts for $69.99. Prob'ly not as nice as yours, w/ matching numbers tho.

Simple Green should take off a lot of that cosmo. I've heard of guys disassembling, and then baking the wood in the oven for an hour or so at maybe 275. I've never tried that part.

A can of Birchwood-Casey Gun Scrubber will also do a number on the old grease.

Enjoy!:cool:

[rageman]

thanks for the tips, I will try it later when I pick up the rifle.

[Greg L]

Cosmoline is a pain in the butt to get completely out. As mentioned acetone cuts it well so does mineral spirits. For the woodwork though heat works best, just constantly wipe it off as it oozes to the surface. If you have an OLD pan you can boil the smaller metal parts (bolt, trigger group, screws, etc) in water to get most of the cosmoline out of the hard to reach areas.

Also the M44 shoots more to where the sights are originally set with the spike extended. Plus you get lots of strange looks at the range that way :D .

Greg

[AJ Dual]

Acetone will work well, but it's nasty, only work in a well ventilated area or outside. I kind of reccomend Acetone and other nasty solvents like MEK only as a last-resort kind of thing. Expensive, nasty, and toxic, also very flammable.

Personally, to de-cosmoline a milsurp rifle I reccomend Purple Power. And a couple of rinsings with boiling water to melt any stubborn grease away. (Plus the water is self-drying when so hot) Purple Power ss basically a really powerful soap, and a gallon is only $5 at Wal-mart's automotive asile, it's non-toxic and no fumes. The only real danger is don't splash it in your eyes, and it sucks body oils out of hands so they'll chap if you don't use lotion when done.

You will need an SKS or Nagant cross-bolt tool to undo the crossbolt in the stock. It's the funky Russian/European "Two holes" kind of screw.

www.tapco.com sells them for $4 IIRC, or if you're really careful, you might get the tips of a needlenose pliers or an O-ring puller to fit in there too, but the crossbolt tool is best.

Once the rifle is de-greased and dry, it's very vunerable to rust, so you'll need to wipe down all exposed metal with a light coat of oil, or other gun protectant, inside and out.

If the finish on the stock is fine, don't wash it with Purple Power, I'd just wipe it down well, then you can sweat out any excess cosmoline grease by placing it in the summer sun, or a warm 150-175 degree oven and wiping off the excess a few times every hour. Keeping the stock and it's finish intact even with some damage or missing finish is better for the rifles collectability.

If the stock is really nasty with grease or missing most of it's finish anyway, you can wash it with Purple Power and hot water as well. You can also steam out any dents with an iron or soldering iron tip padded with some damp cotton cloth at this time. Don't dry in the sun or an oven though, the stock will warp or crack. Just wipe off excess water and let the wood dry for a day or more.

You can use a commercial paint stripper on the stock once it's dry to remove any remaning finish. Once clean, I reccomend a very light sanding (don't want to remove any arsenal marks in the stock) to knock down any raised grain from washing/stripping, then apply tung oil in several coats, allowing a day to dry between each, then buff with a clean cloth dampened with tung oil for the final coat. I don't like buffing a milsurp rifle with 000 steel wool like some tung oil projects reccomend though as the cloth rubbed matte finish is more authentic than an over polished shiny one.

Boiled linseed oil is more authentic for many milsurp rifle finishes, but it takes forever to dry and might even be sticky to the touch for years, which is why I like the tung oil.

BTW, most all milsurp 7.62x54R ammo is corrosive, so you'll need to wash the bore, chamber and bolt face as soon as possible after shooting your M44 with boiling water, or ammonia/windex to clear away the corrosive salt residue from the primers. Then you can clean with normal gun solvents and oils.

BTW, in case you didn't know, the M44's sights are regulated for shooting with the bayonet extended. With it folded closed, point of impact will be off a few inches.

Good luck!

[DVDTracker]

http://www.surplusrifle.com/ is also highly recommended. TONS of good info on their site.

[Bowlcut]

Ah join the crowd doesnt it feel good? I also bought a m44 a few months back. Lovely gun to play with. Can hit anything you point it at, then if you run out you can run at them :D. Always shoot with the spike extended for best aim and best looks :evil: Remember any bulk ammo is assumed to be corosive as was said above. Tapco has stripper clips and any other small bits it may be missing. Good price for it also. Looks like you got a pretty good deal for the gun as well.

And idea....how is the orange crush or orange blast type stuff on cosmoline? I know it cleans grease and brake dust off wheels quite well, and a good degreaser. Dont know if it will dry out wood or not. but anyone use it to remove the rough stuff :D

[haukehaien]

I've used the orange stuff on cosmoline and it works, but not really well. You need a whole lot of it. Smells a lot better than acetone, though ...

[WonderNine]

Complete disassemble the gun and use Gunscrubber on all the parts. Reassemble, oil and shoot!

You might want to find a cheap reprint or copy of a manual type book online to aid you in disassembly.

[BowStreetRunner]

DVDTracker...I was going to recommend that site!
I second surplusrifle.com...........nice info
BSR
PS have fun with your gun and piece of history!