Cleaning a Laminate Mosin

[#shooter]

I just bought a Mosin and I think it has a laminate stock. It is shiny but sticky (oil or cosmoline) and there is cosmoline in some nooks and crannies. I was planning to heat the stock to leech the cosmo out but I am not sure if I want to do that if it is a laminate. I was thinking about just wiping down the stock with goo-off.
1. Will goo-off damage the laminate or bluing?
2. Will brake cleaner damage bluing?

 

[Dionysusigma]

1) Not sure. Might damage the wood, but it won't affect the bluing unless it's an abrasive.
2) Nope. Just make sure you CLP it when you're done; otherwise, it will rust within a day.

As far as using heat to leech the cosmo out of the stock, it'll be fine even if it is a laminate. Just don't get the temperature too high... 175 degrees should do okay. Be sure to use enough foil that it won't ruin the oven or the pan.

 

[DMK]

I always use mineral spirits to clean off cosmoline. It dissolves it easily and won't hurt anything. Lemon oil also works on the wood.

Brake cleaner won't hurt the bluing, but mineral spirits works better for disolving cosmoline.

 

[fal 4 me]

To find out for sure if it's a laminated stock take off the butt plate. From there it will be easy to tell if it's laminate or not.

 

[AH-1]

does it look likr this??
laminate 91/30

 

[Koobuh]

AH-1 makes a good point, and posted a beautiful piece.
There's the 'laminate stock', which refers to the wood itself, and then there's the coating on some stocks, which may -seem- to be a plastic lamination of some sort, but it's actually just lacquer.

If it's sealed with lacquer, don't use a paint stripper on it, you'll take the finish right off (unless, you intend to refinish it anyway, in which case, go nuts). Otherwise, the garbage bag+kitty litter+dashboard of a sealed car in the sun on a hot day method will work just dandy. Use newspaper if you don't have cats or a driveway to soak up oil spots from.