Cosmoline Removal

[dak0ta]

Is there a definitive guide that doesn't use caustic chemicals? Boiling water, mineral spirits? I'm concerned about getting the stuff out of wooden stocks.

 

[shiftyer1]

i've always boiled the small parts in a clean pot of water. You can bake the stock in the oven or i've used a heat gun on stocks also. For the barrel I use break cleaner. Do a search on cosmoline and you'll find 101 methods

 

[rtn]

Ballistol is good on wood and should remove the Cosmoline.

 

[dak0ta]

Do you have to refinish the wood after removing the cosmoline?

 

[mongo4567]

I use WD40, it really melts off the cosmoline without hurting the wood or blueing. A little heat helps too, like wrapping the stock in paper towels and putting in a black plastic bag on a hot day. I would never use brake or over cleaner, they are very harsh. I would never refinish the wood...could be destroying a future collectible.

 

[jad0110]

When I received my Finish M39, I wiped the stock down with a damp wipe (not soaking). I simply washed the smaller metal parts in warm water and soap, and took the barrel and receiver assembly in the shower with me and gave it a good wash down with warm water and soap. Warm water and soap doesn't sound fancy, but it works. Just don't soak the stock, a mild rag will usually do the trick.

I wish I'd known about the warm water & soap thing when my father got my grandfather's 6 gallons of cosmoline with an SKS stuck in it!

Then, just make sure everything is completely dry, oil as necessary and reassemble. You may want to run a few patches down the barrel with your preferred bore solvent just to finish things off.

 

[RaggedClaws]

Another vote here for Ballistol.

 

[walter34payton2002]

I'll just throw my hat in the ring here and say kerosene. I have never tried it, but a buddy of mine swears by it.

 

[Crabcakes]

i use the metal trash can method

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2006/lowheatmethod2/index.asp

 

[Harley Quinn]

The SKS I bought was as bad as it gets, I soaked it in Diesel, used brush and normal cleaning tools, and then the wood was allowed to be in the sun, sweating it out for awhile, kept wiping it off with cotton towel, and finally it was acceptable...

 

[WalkAbout]

I've placed a cosmoline-soaked wooden stock in a black plastic tool box filled with kitty litter and then placed it in the trunk of my car on a hot summer day for about 24 hours. I gave it a good wipedown the next day, and it did a reasonably good job.

b

 

[madcratebuilder]

bdubz0r wins!!!! Stock wrapped in paper towels or covered in kitty litter then placed in the hot sun for a day or two really soaks the cosmoline out of the wood.

For metal I found EEZOX cuts cosmoline better than anything I have tried. I can have an old Enfield spotless with a couple of cleaning patches and a few q-tips in no time at all.

 

[jcwit]

Wait for the heat in the summer and a sunny day, wrape in paper and leave in a shut up car. A few goes with this will bake most of the oils out.

 

[M91/30]

I have found that boiling small parts works well for the metals (make sure you thoroughly oil the parts) As far as the stock goes i ended up sitting in front of my fireplace wiping down the stock when the cosmo beads up on it. Summery of all this HEAT.

 

[dak0ta]

Do you have to refinish the stock or put some Tung Oil or BLO on after it's done bleeding out?

 

[stonecutter2]

I bought a little white Sunbeam plastic space heater at Wal-Mart for about $12. When I got it home, i held a thermometer up to it about 1" away, and the maximum temperature it reached was almost 120 degrees.

According to Wikipedia, cosmoline melts at 113-125 °F. So the heater is perfect for getting the wood to *just* the right temperature to melt cosmo.

I hold a small portion of the stock about 1" away from the heater, let the heat absorb into the wood, then wipe away the cosmo as it weeps. I continue the process and work on areas until the weeping stops. I keep the stock moving so there's no chance of scorching or overheating the wood.

This method worked excellently, and was very neat and clean. The only smell/fumes were the heater coil and the sweet smell of cosmoline.

Consider this: the cosmoline was applied to the firearm by heating up the cosmo to melting temperature, the item was slathered in it/dipped in it, and upon cooling the cosmo coated the item.

It seems to me the best way without chemicals to get cosmo out without harming the wood is to reverse the cosmo process, using what others have said too - heat. Use just enough heat to let the cosmo melt, wipe it off, and continue until all melted cosmo is gone. Whether this heat is in a black plastic bag on a hot day, near a fireplace, near a $12 cheap space heater, on a hot summer day out in the sun shooting the rifle...it doesn't matter. Let the heat get the cosmo out for you.

So my process:

Gather up plenty of rags you don't care about (Box o' rags, t-shirt cuttings, etc)
Plug in small heater, let it heat up on high.
Get a thermometer and confirm the distance you need the item to be, to subject it to about 115-120 degrees F.
Hold item in front of heater, watch for cosmo melting. Wipe with rags.
Work in small areas, continue until cosmo stops melting/weeping from stock.
Throw out rags.