Not your usual cosmo question

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cleardiddion

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Well, I was sitting around and cleaning my milsurps the other night when a question, or rather a pair of them, struck my mind.

Anyone who has picked out a milsurp rifle, especially of the soviet variety, is very intimately familiar with this lovely substance called cosmoline. That gooey goodnes which hides our old-new toys.

My first question is, how did the various governments (mostly the US and USSR) get the stuff onto the weapons?

My second question is, what were the two major super powers' plans for getting the stuff off quickly? We all know the various individual techniques needed for us to get it off (dishwasher, denautred alcohol, etc), but I'm curious as to how the government planned to quickly bring these weapons into play.

Thanks in advance for your responses!
 
As for putting the stuff on, it was melted in huge tanks, and the weapons were dipped into it.

Getting it off, I have no idea. I'd imagine that if they needed them, they'd know beforehand, and probably either melt it off again and then finish by hand, or just line up a bunch of workers and tell 'em to scrub!
 
I believe they'd give the recruits a rag or two and wish them luck.

The steel parts are pretty easy to clean off if you have the right chemical bath, but they dimwits stuck the stock in the goop as well. It's a lot harder to get out of the wood.
 
I believe they'd give the recruits a rag or two and wish them luck.
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They might be conscripts. ;)

I'd vote for a vat of solvent to get it off, maybe turpentine, mineral spirits, or gasoline.
 
Last time I had a go-'round with cosmoline ( half a case of Mosins and several SKSes ), I resorted to a trough full of kerosene, lots of rags, and lots of cussin'.

If there's a better way of doing it, I'll be damned if I know what it is.

Oh, and to get back to your question, I suspect the stuff is probably a lot easier to remove when it hasn't set up and cured for 40 years or more.
And I'd also guess that there were plans of dipping the guns in a tank of something before they were issued.


J.C.
 
Try Naphtha. It is used as an ink solvent in the printing industry and can be found in the paint department
of any paint store or home improvement wearhouse. It also does a great job as a gun cleaner BUT because it strips away all petroleum based grease and oil, BE SURE to re-oil the metal parts again before storing your gun to prevent rust. I use Break Free.
 
I was told by a national guardsman in 1959 that when he went for hus 6 months active duty that he was issued an M-1 Garand packed for long term storage, the platoon Sgt. took them behind the mess hall and had them steam the rifles with the steam nozzle that was used to disinfect the cooking pans and tools used in the mess.
 
Based on that thread title, I was going to make you turn in your man card! Cosmo = chick 'zine...
 
Heat works great on cosmoline due to its low melting point. I'd expect that they'd at most let the noobs/recruits/conscripts have access to some kind of steam source, but otherwise it's time and solvents.
 
I just got a M44 Nagant, and while I thought that it was pretty clean, after a couple dozen rounds last Sunday at a hot range, cosmoline started leaking out of the wood.

So I got an idea, and I'm going to try it out this weekend. I'm going to set up a stand to hold the Nagant, and put a stack of newspaper underneath it. This will go out on my back porch, and I'll cover the stand with black plastic. My theory is that the combination of the sun and the plastic will cause the cosmoline to heat, making it drip off the rifle and onto the newspaper. Every couple of hours I'll go out, wipe it down, and put it back to heat some more.

I'll post on Monday to let everyone know how it went. That is, if it doesn't rain this weekend.
 
I usually sprayed them with degreaser at the local car wash then used the sprayer at the car wash, soap first then rinse. Also took a can of spray oil and used it so it wouldn't rust till I got home. This has worked well for me, just be sure to oil it while still at the car wash.
 
I usually sprayed them with degreaser at the local car wash then used the sprayer at the car wash, soap first then rinse. Also took a can of spray oil and used it so it wouldn't rust till I got home. This has worked well for me, just be sure to oil it while still at the car wash.
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Do you put on one coat of wax or two? ;)
 
I planned on refinishing the stock on my MN 91/30, so I just put in the dishwasher (don't tell YWMBO) No cosmo, dents out, clean slate.
 
In our area you can put them in the garage - it gets to 120 or so and the grease melts and comes to the surface or drips off. I use WD40 or Mineral Spirits on the stubborn stuff.
 
My father, a Korean War Navy vet, said that usually cosmoline was removed with gasoline.
The few times I've had to deal with it, gasoline worked just fine.
 
I believe they'd give the recruits a rag or two and wish them luck.
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Pretty close. In Navy boot camp way back in 1961 I spent "service week" in the armory cleaning cosmoline off of 1903 Springfield rifles. Don't remember anyone wishing me luck..........
 
One of the Corps ones I think

I seem to recall in one of WEB Griffins' books a scene where two of his guys had just been issued new M!'s in cosmo and took them out and boiled them in an oil drum full of kero.
 
Live steam works. Or if you're ol' lady's not around, crank up your water heater to "boil small children" level, and use a bathtub/shower...

To "sweat" a stock, pull the metal out of it, put it on the back ledge/dashboard in your vehicle, and park it in hot summer sun. Put plenty of newspapers down underneath it.
 
My second question is, what were the two major super powers' plans for getting the stuff off quickly?
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Most likely, they would have just had conscripts wiped them down as much as possible with a dry rag, cleared the bore and gas system (if applicable), and that would be it. Someone should try that sometime, just to see how well a gun shoots while dripping with cosmo inside.

Heavy grease was most countries' preferred CLP for the longest time, anyway.
 
A large vat of boiling oil.... :evil: :D :evil: :D

More likely, some sort of assembly line process, dunking the guns in slightly heated Mineral Spirits...instead of cosmo in the dunk tanks, a warmed solvent.
 
Could one use a commercial style clothes steamer to rid the stock of the nasty stuff? Pardon my ignorance but will the steam cause the wood to swell?
 
Steam can raise the grain of the wood, so I might or might not use a steamer on the stock. If the stock is a utilitarian so-so thing that could use refinishing anyway (like on most Yugo SKS), then you might as well, then let it dry out, sand it smooth, and put a nice finish on it. If it's a nicer looking stock (like a real nice laminated Mosin one or a stock on a Garand or M1 Carbine), then I might be a bit more cautious, and use a dry heat on it.
 
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