I give up...

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I think I will do that. I'm taking a week and a half long vacation so will let it soak during that time. I am really upset that I so stupidly messed up the front night sight and grenade launcher. I'm thinking of selling this one and buying an "excellent" rated Yugo SKS from Samco and being much gentler with it!
 
If the bore is clear, shoot a few mags, that will burn some off lol. My Nagant was cleaned years ago but i still smell cosmoline when I shoot
 
Well a 1000 degree farenheit heat gun didn't make it budge LOL!

Alas, I'm headed to the pawn shop today to sell the gun. I will then be picking up an excellent condition M59/66 from Samco and will be very... very careful not to ruin that one to!!!
 
Well when the military wants to remove cosmoline they boil it off in a water bath big enough for the entire firearm.;) I have had good luck using CARB cleaner and lots of paper towels for small jobs. Just let it soak in. Transmission fluid will work as well just let it soak a few days and agitate it a bunch of times before trying the steel wool. Or take it to someone who will remove it for you to save the hassle.:)
 
My initial thoughts were, "its just an old Yugo SKS".

But I understand, that some folks are very picky about the firearms they own. What I do, to take cosmoline off, it boil the parts. Works every time.

Do you feel comfy taking the stock off and boiling the front half of the rifle in water ?
 
Cooldill said:
Well a 1000 degree farenheit heat gun didn't make it budge LOL!

Alas, I'm headed to the pawn shop today to sell the gun. I will then be picking up an excellent condition M59/66 from Samco and will be very... very careful not to ruin that one to!!!
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Whoops, nevermind then. I see where you literally gave up over some cosmoline.....and got rid of it.

Wow.
 
Cosmoline removal is a pain in the butt but not impossible. It is rather important to say "I love Cosmoline" over and over as you take it off. Because if it weren't for that stuff, surplus rifles would be ruined after so long in bad storage conditions.
 
It's not that, I also destroyed the grenade launching sight AND front night sight. I wanted to keep the gun in as-issued condition just without the cosmoline obviously, but since I totally screwed everything up I'm just going to sell it. PM me if anyone here is interested.
 
Cooldill said:
It's not that, I also destroyed the grenade launching sight AND front night sight. I wanted to keep the gun in as-issued condition just without the cosmoline obviously, but since I totally screwed everything up I'm just going to sell it. PM me if anyone here is interested.
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As someone who works with metal on a daily basis, I feel like repeating that you "destroyed" the sights or "screwed everything up" is a gross overstatement, unless your heat gun happened to have an angle grinder attachment with which you literally destroyed the sights.

If you scorched off the radium front sight, you could very easily re-paint a dot onto the sight using phosphorescent paint. It won't have the nice semi-permanent glow of the radium, but it will still act as a form of night sight. You can also fill the engravings of the ladder sight in with model paint to re-whiten them.

Point being, the time and effort spent selling your SKS and buying a brand new one far outweighs the relatively small loss of some minor re-painting of sights. If you truly feel like your rifle has been sullied beyond all acceptability, that's your thing and you have every right to do what makes you happy. However, if I was in your shoes, I would just keep it around.
 
Yes I might do this... I am currently researching what paints I should use for this. But I also am going to order an "excellent" marked Yugo SKS from Samco, and will try my darndnist to keep it in 100% military issue condition. Oh, and the heat gun just went in the trash. I also recall I made a part of a Mosin Nagant stock bubble from getting it too close to it. Easy fix with some denatured alcohol, but I'm convinced after this fiasco that a heat gun is not a tool for the gun room!
 
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Cooldill, I get the feeling that you are a bit of an extremist. Don't throw away the gun or the heat gun. Just use some restraint. If you want to mess around with old guns (which I recommend), what you need more than anything is patience. Almost any gun shipped to you or an ffl will have grease all over it, so you'll need to PATIENTLY repeat the process on your replacement when it arrives.
 
Okay, don't sell a perfectly good SKS, whatever you do. The night sight is not ruined, you probably just need to recoat it. And if you're sure you've ruined the grenade launcher, swap it out for a muzzle brake. You might be happier with that anyway since it could do a better job keeping you on target for multiple follow up shots. Worst case, just make the gun 922 compliant, and get a relic to have as a relic. That way you can sell it to somebody for $1200 next time an AWB is threatened by our tyrants :)
 
Here is what I did to the gun:

DSCN0532.jpg

You can see the baked-off markings on the bottom of the grenade sight, and the night sight dot is all baked out and falling apart. I feel like such and idiot. :(
 
Keep it and shoot away. The night sights on these don't work worth a flip (they are too old) and you will likely never be launching a grenade with it.
 
Keep it and shoot away. The night sights on these don't work worth a flip (they are too old) and you will likely never be launching a grenade with it.
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I know but that's not the point for me. :(

I was hoping to keep the rifle in 100% military issued condition. I failed at that, and I feel horrible for what I did to this piece of history...
 
I know but that's not the point for me.

I was hoping to keep the rifle in 100% military issued condition. I failed at that, and I feel horrible for what I did to this piece of history...
Click to expand...

What's done is done. Along with death and taxes, screwing things up is about the only other thing that's certain in life.

You could always keep this as a shooter, and buy another one to preserve if you feel the need.
 
I ran into a very similar problem with an old sword that had what looked exactly like what the SKS was inflicted with. The non-abrasive cheap orange hand cleaner (GoJo, IIRC) worked much, much better than anything else. Brushed it on and let the crud drip off.
 
if it is clean and you cannot remove anymore, keep trying it's not to far before you get to the bore. you may have something no one else has but want it to be the same.
but I have been known.....
 
Cleaning a Garand that was cosmo'd, I disassembled and placed in a big pan with a solution of Simple Green degreaser. 1/2 hour at low heat on the stove and the pan was floating full of disolved cosmo. Parts were squeaky clean.
 
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