Surplus guns without Cosmoline?

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Sam Adams

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I'm about to get my C&R, and I'm looking forward to every aspect of getting some fine old rifles delivered to my door - EXCEPT cleaning out all the Cosmoline. Does anyone know of a reasonably priced dealer that delivers oiled MNs, Enfields, K-31s, etc.?
 
Thats like buying a new car and asking for the dealer to get rid of the new car smell. You're supposed to take care of it yourself. :p

Kharn
 
I haven't bought any guns from him yet, but it is my understanding that Dennis Kroh of Empire Arms de-cosmos what he sells. His prices are a tick higher than others, but he also individually inspects and cleans every gun he sells, at least according to his website.
 
I ordered a Czech VZ24 from Empire. It was in cherry condition and the stock was already cleaned. Ready to shoot after a quick bore cleaning.

If you plan on getting a C&R, you need to learn how to clean a stock. It's actually fairly simple.

Ready the stickies in this forum: http://p077.ezboard.com/fparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforumsfrm34

Right now, I have an Enfield No4 MK1 in pieces in my garage. The receiver is soaking in some mineral spirits and the stock is sitting on some newspaper after a couple days of cleaning with Purple Power cleanser waiting for me to coat it with some Behr's #600 Tung Oil Finish. I should get the Enfield done soon, because I've got 2 M38s coming in from Aztec International real soon.
 
Heck, I think cleaning 'em up is fun!:D

However, I've only done two.

I sent away for my C&R app, once it starts being more frequent I might sing a new tune!
 
Cosmoline

"Cosmoline without surplus rifles... well that's a tragedy"

I trust that there won't be such a tragedy occuring in this lifetime.
 
Go to a gun show, there'll be lots of cleaned up milsurps there for you, and you can see them and touch them. Of course, you'll be paying someone for cleaning them up for you if you're afraid of getting goo on you.
 
It actually wasn't too bad cleaning out all the cosmoline. It gives you a chance to look at everything of the piece. Though cleaning the stock was a pain I thought, the sun method made it a lot easier! :D
 
"...you'll be paying someone for cleaning them up for you if you're afraid of getting goo on you."

I'm not afraid of the goo, I just have better things to do with my time - like actually shooting, on those too few occasions when the 2 babies are quiet and the wife doesn't mind watching them for a few hours.
 
Brake cleaner (cheaper than Gunscrubber) and Purple Power degreaser (got both at the autoparts store) for the metal. I also let all the smaller parts (bolts, trigger assemblies, springs, etc) sit in some Simple Green overnight.

For stocks, for a couple of days I goofed around with a hair dryer and some 0000 steel wool to get some of the junk out, then put in the oven at 170, wiping off till no more comes out. Then refinish according to your tastes and the kind of wood you have,

(lots of warnings about not using your oven to bake rifles if you're married:D , but personally I didn't find the smell bad at all, just make a tin foil "boat" or something for it to sit in so no cosmo gets all over.

Good luck, I've done a Mosin and a SKS, once I get to Alabama and get my C&R I think some of my windfall from the house sale will go towards a Mauser, Enfield, and Garand, probably in that order....
 
I didnt think cleaning the cosmoline was too bad. I have ordered four rifles so far, all while waiting for my c&r to arrive(which it did on friday) The first two were a mosin nagant m44 and a yugo sks. THe m44 wasnt bad at all, the sks was a little tricky to ressamble but neither was bad on cleaning the cosmoline. i have two enfields to clean now, and will probally start those monday or tuesday after work. I was going to order from Aztec anyway, and want some k-31s from AIM, and if thier cosmo free that will be nice, but I really dont want to pay somebody else to do the work, as that takes away from me being able to buy more rifles.
 
I was going to order from Aztec anyway, and want some k-31s from AIM, and if thier cosmo free that will be nice, but I really dont want to pay somebody else to do the work, as that takes away from me being able to buy more rifles.
Click to expand...

FYI: You may want to verify, but from what I read on Parallax's C&R Forums, Aztec is going to stop importing and selling Mosin Nagants. I just ordered a pair of M38s last Thursday from Aztec. I wanted to get my M38s from Aztec before they do get out of the Mosin Nagant business.
 
Swiss K31s are a pretty safe bet. Apparently, most of them were privately held by reservists in their homes. Nothing more than dust and a little gun oil on the one I just got from AIM Surplus.

As far as most C&R weapons, cleaning it up is part of the "mystique" or whatever you want to call it. Take it apart, soak the wood down with a 50/50 mix of purple power and water inside a garbage bag. Lay it in the sun for an afternoon, adding more purple power mix if it gets dried out. Degrease the metal with brake cleaner. Put everything back together with some gun oil(tung oil for the stock) and you have a battle-proven rifle that you know the workings of.

Most arms are pretty simple: stock, receiver, barrel, magazine, bolt. Don't be intimidated by the little pins, springs, and such. Assembly and disassembly is actually pretty intuitive. Just keep the stock parts, bolt parts, etc. separated.

If you don't want to get filthy use some rubber dishwashing gloves. They're cheap, and you'll need them anyway if you're going to be staining your stock. You should probably wear gloves when you're hosing down the metal with brake cleaner too, but I don't. I'm one of those rebels that lives on the edge:D .
 
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