Time to clean those milsurps!

[russlate]

It's hovering around the 100 degree mark farenheit in the daytime so if you've been holding a couple cosmolened guns for a better time to clean them, get them out. This is the best weather out in the west for cleaning metal, and especially the stocks. Leave them out in the sun and kepp cleaning as the grease melts out of the wood.

There was an article in the American Rifleman a couple years back where the guy took some white powder, mixed it up thick, and painted it all over the stocks to soak the grease out of the wood and then wash it off, let the stock dry, then repeat the next day til he got all the cosmolene out or nearly so.

Does anyone remember what it was he used ?

For getting the crud and cosmolene out of the metal, is brake cleaner a good way to go?

DON'T USE SPRAY FOAM OVEN CLEANER!!! It leaves the wood looking as if it had been attacked by termites and woodpeckers, and the wood still has the oily gunk in it's pores.

 

[Capt Teach]

I've used "Purple Power". You get in Wally World for about $4.00 a gallon.
Got some cheap brushes, brushed it on, let it sit (in the sun) about 20 minutes and wipe it off. When I was all done I hosed it down real good with water. Only problem is then you see every nick and scratch in the stock and it's sanding, sanding, sanding.
Wear goggles or something because I can imagine what this stuff would do to your eyes after seeing how it cleans stocks

Capt Teach.

 

[RUT]

>>There was an article in the American Rifleman a couple years back where the guy took some white powder, mixed it up thick, and painted it all over the stocks to soak the grease out of the wood and then wash it off, let the stock dry, then repeat the next day til he got all the cosmolene out or nearly so. Does anyone remember what it was he used ? <<

It's called "Whiting", and is sold by Brownell's.

 

[MacPelto]

On my Garand I used Clorox Oxygenating detergent, and it worked like a champ. The only thing about it is, it is oxygenating. Meaning that when you put the metal parts in, don't leave them in too long, or they will start to rust right quick. See, I figured that I'd dump everything in, and take the pieces out as I cleaned them...wrong. Put the next piece in to soak as you're taking out the piece before it, you'll save yourself some scrambling. Other than that, it worked wayyyy better than brake cleaner ever has. YMMV

 

[cracked butt]

Use Purple Power, or TSP and wipe off all of the crud you can from the stock. Put the stock in the sun- on a hot asphalt driveway might work good in somer to draw the oil to the surface, reclean, reheat, etc until you are satisfied with the results. Make sure you take all of the hardware off the stock first. The stock in the end will probably looked dried and nasty looking, but the color will come back after a dozen or so coats of Boiled Linseed oil are rubbed in.

 

[DMK]

It's hovering around the 100 degree mark farenheit in the daytime so if you've been holding a couple cosmolened guns for a better time to clean them, get them out. This is the best weather out in the west for cleaning metal, and especially the stocks. Leave them out in the sun and kepp cleaning as the grease melts out of the wood.

Good thinkin'!

I've had good luck with dissassembling the rifles as far as I can, then laying all the parts out on some cardboard in the back of my Jeep. It can get pretty darn hot inside a car sitting in the sun. After about 30 minutes, take one piece out at a time to clean it. The cosmo will melt to the consistency of motor oil. Use some Kerosene or Hoppe's #9 and old tooth brushes on the metal parts trying not to let it cool while you do so. If it cools off, just put it back for a while.

I use brake cleaner only to rinse off the Hoppe's and Kero before lubing and protecting with FP-10. The problem with just using it is it cools the metal and resolidifies the cosmoline. After shooting a good stream of brake cleaner at a part, it can get ice cold and even develop a layer of thick condensation on a humid day.

For the wood parts, wipe down with mineral spirits or if it's really bad, soak with Purple Power and wipe down with paper towels. Put it back in the hot car and do it again until cosmo stops seeping out of the wood (although you'll never get it all out unfortunately).

 

[swingset]

Brake Cleaner or Mineral Spirits will dissolve cosmoline RIGHT NOW.

Also, boiling water will too - and dries nearly instantly.

As for cleaning the stocks in the sun, always good to let the cosmo leach out. Whiting works, as does TSP & the afforementioned OxyClean.

I built a stock-heater out of duct pipe and a ceramic heater, which does it's cosmo-melting duty year round. (150 degrees is the magic temp, btw).

Purple Power is my method of choice, followed by ammonia & water to neutralize the PP and then let dry for several days. Works great for me.

 

[Okiecruffler]

Before I started using my heat gun I just wrapped the wood parts in a black trash bag with some kitty litter. A few days out in the summer heat and they wer pretty much dry.

 

[BowStreetRunner]

when my dad and i refurbed our m44 rifle
we used stripper, the stuff you use on furniture and stuff to take all the varnish and stuff.....
it worked great but if you use oven cleaner (which has also worked for us) or a stripper make sure you use soapy water or a neutralizing rinse to neutralize the acids or your stain and or varnish may not adhere......this happened to us....we put a varnish on that didnt dry for a week and we had to start over with the stripper
on our second go round we put on a coat of stain and two rounds of tung oil and the stock looks beautiful!
BSR

 

[9mmepiphany]

if you are too lazy to mix the ammonia and water, you can spray it down with windex.

i'm on my way to pickup some purple power tonight at wally world. make sure you lay the stock on somthing to catch the ooze...it easily reaches 150 degrees in a closed car

 

[5ptdeerhunter]

Just wrap it lightly in newspaper and put it in a cardboard box and stick it in the car window. I personally just bought some stripper stuff. But everyone I talked to said us the car or an oven. But the stripper works good for small amounts of cosmo.

 

[cowboynerd]

Try "Simple Green"....works great....cheap, available anywhere.... it will even take blood out of fabric!!!

It was originally formulated as a degreaser and the active ingredient is "tincture of green soap", available at pharmacies.