Cosmoline Removal?

[dieselman]

Got a bayonet and another mag among a few other items in a box o' ak accessories i ordered today.... theres so much cosmoline on the darn stuff I cant even get the wrapping paper off the mag or the bayo out of the sheath... whats the best way to remove such a generous amount of cosmoline?

 

[ddewyse]

Place in a deep metal baking dish and prop one end up so it will drain toward the other end. Set your oven on low heat and place in oven for 1/2 hour. Check every 1/2 our until the bulk of the stuff has been melted off. Final cleaning can be done with brake cleaner, purple power, etc. Make sure to send wife out of the house before doing this.............

 

[WhitleyStu]

WD40 for small to medium jobs and for my drill press I resorted to using gasoline on a towel outdoors with while wearing nitrile gloves.

 

[Dog1]

If this was summer time, I would tell you to hang it in a black trash bag, out in the sun.

That will make cosmo come out of anything. Works great on M1 Garand stocks.

 

[Denny347]

Mineral spirits will melt it like butter. I have used it for years.

 

[ATF Consumer]

mineral spirits or turpentine.

 

[Zoub]

Kerosene for me, finish with brake cleaner

 

[Hoosier8]

If you don't want a pan full of dripping cosmoline, another way I heard was head and wrapping it up in newspaper that will soak up the cosmoline. Everything I have ever heard about it is that heat is the best method.

Let us know what you ended up doing.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Acetone! When I worked at Decatur Mold that's what we used to clean the molds, sent over from China. Stuff ate right through the cosmoline!

 

[AFA1CY]

If you don't want a pan full of dripping cosmoline, another way I heard was head and wrapping it up in newspaper that will soak up the cosmoline. Everything I have ever heard about it is that heat is the best method.

Let us know what you ended up doing.

That and a hot car on a summer day....

 

[Bill of Rights]

Mineral spirits will melt it like butter. I have used it for years.

Aren't you the guy that owns like 700 Mosins, Denny?

 

[sp3worker]

I use a heat gun and lots of rags.

 

[dieselman]

well seeing as my bayo has a plastic handle, and I would like to keep the finish on the magazine intact... I went with a rack roast pan full of mineral spirits.. currently soaking in the garage... pulled them out a few minutes ago and it was doing great.. with a good deal of effort.. they bayo actually came out of the sheath.. only to reveal much more cosmoline on the blade lol. and to remedy the "dripping pan of cosmoline" issue i think ill just funnel everything back into the jug... will probably have more cosmo to remove off something soon enough.

 

[printcraft]

But if you don't do it in the oven you won't get that wonderful
cosmoline smell throughout the house.
Throw a batch of brownies in the oven at the same time for the best effect!

When dad had bought a new press, in the 50's they shipped it
caked in cosmo, he said they used gasoline to clean it off and
also gas on the metal rollers for the ink.
OSHA? What's OSHA!?!

 

[sur+rifle]

I have found a steam cleaner is the best way as it blows the cosmoline out of all the little crevices. It is especially good for cleaning up semi-autos such as SKS's. I bought my hand held steam cleaner from Harbor Freight a few years back for $25.

 

[DocBoCook]

Wrap it in newspaper, And us a heatgun all over, or in the Stove. I got the cosmo out of my dad's 1893 mauser by hanging the stock from the shed in August heat

 

[duke]

steam works well. I've even boiled water before and then hurried outside with it to dump over parts and scrub. I followed that up with turpentine for nooks and crannies.

 

[steif]

cosmo removal

Hi, this is a method I use, but I used to get a lot of surplus rifles and cleaned a lot of them at one time... I built a remover oven..lol..
I used 6 inch steel ductwork, 2, 3 or 4 ft. sections, one T, and one reducer to a 4 inch diameter. I assembled all the sections with the T on the bottom, drilled a couple holes in near the top. set the whole thing vertical in a old pan on a board with sawhorses, and then set a portable heater, I use what they call a milk house heater, in front of the horizontal opening of the T with the reducer. I used the reducer to make sure I never got any cosmo near the heat source, but I guess it could, so I just made sure I never left it alone when doing it, I just did other projects in the garage or put it outside in the summer when it was hot. I simply hung the rifle, bayonet, or whatever I had in the duct, I rigged it muzzle down with some cord thru the trigger, then thru the holes I drilled near the top. It rests on the side of the duct, but that never hurt any of mine.
I put the heater on high, and within a few minutes, I had the whole place smelling like cosmoline, the best perfume in the world..lol.. Within a half hour, it was mostly clean then a normal cleaning to remove whatever was left usually did the job. Some rifles took several times in the oven to get clean... Oh, and I forgot, I used a piece of steel wire like bailing wire on the top, thru both holes and hooked to a hook I have in the celing of the garage, just to make sure it did not tip over. the whole outfit cost about $15 back about 6 or so years ago, I'm sure it's higher now, or could have been free if I found someone with some scrap ductwork like a heating and air guy.
I know this sounds extreme, but it works and works good, I got the idea from another person on a surplus rifle board. I had a C+R long ago, and I was buying a lot of rifles from Century Arms when they were cheap.

 

[Denny347]

Aren't you the guy that owns like 700 Mosins, Denny?

Yeah, I do love my Mosins. Have gotten lots of practice removing cosmo. The worst cosmo must have been from my Albanian SKS. I could hardly see a rifle from the cosmo and that stuff was thick. I happen to like the smell and find it relaxing to clean these old rifles.

 

[Wheezy50]

I've put the parts into lightly boiling water, that will melt it right off. Don't get the water boiling too rapidly, just barely. Leave them in there for 5-10 mins, take them out and quickly dry, lightly oil everything and should be no rust problems.

This method worked for me on my SKS. I could get everything except the barrel/reciever into the pot of water and it worked good.