Oil or grease, residue, and dirt can build up in the barrel and internal parts during shooting sessions. Follow them on Instagram: @oldsteelguns. All petroleum-based products are chemical mixtures that are highly complex. Retired technical instructor and master technician. Cosmoline is usually very good under a car going up against salt, water, heavy splashing/traffic spots, but sitting water I guess is just too much to ask. Before you start the process of removing the cosmoline, you need to disassemble the firearm fully. If planning to shoot your surplus firearms, leaving cosmoline in the bore can ruin your firearm or, worse yet, cause injury to the shooter. Ive always had the best luck with mineral spirits. I use fluid film on all my cars, but fluid film won't hold up under a car for more than six months without re-applying it. Next, wash the firearm with soap and hot water. Cosmoline can cause the pin to get stuck in the forward position and lead to slam fires and a runaway rifle. Your email address will not be published. Let me show you how I safely remove cosmoline. That means it will come off with kerosene or mineral spirit, and could even just wipe away with rubbing alcohol. Removing all of the Cosmoline will take significant work regardless, so it comes down to a matter of preference. I have used before on other parts kits with paper towels or old cotton rags When I began removing the cosmoline from my new Precision Matthews PM-1440GT lathe, it was a little daunting. Remove all metal parts, use a spray can of break cleaner to strip cosmoline. Are you aware that cosmoline and shellac are, in fact, two different substances? Mineral spirits are known as a major solvent for removing cosmoline, and you can apply it with a rag. As a general rule, cosmoline can be removed with heat, kroil, WD-40, or Kerosene. We made a trash can cosmo melter. The cosmoline literally runs off with the water. This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Place the parts on some cardboard and the cleanup is minimal. Type your new password and hit button below to confirm it. This can be done with a simple rag and some elbow grease. Type your email address and well send Its important to extract as many residues and greases out of the gun as possible to avoid the risk of disassembling the gun in the future to uncover a hidden chunk of the rust-preventive gunk. We would rest the muzzle in a 5 gallon bucket to catch the cosmoline filled water. It is frequently used in indoor and outdoor applications and does a great job for long-term storage. When applied to a surface, the compound solidifies as it . However, it gives you the opportunity to get to know the inner workings of your firearm on another level. At this stage, you may benefit more from dissembling the entire gun or parts of it, like the bolt assembly of a rifle, and letting it soak in mineral spirits. It's much cheaper than WD40 or other chemicals and works great. You'll now receive newsletters of our best articles on techniques, AK-47 Tips/Tricks, Links, Content and Buyer Guides. We finally discovered the quickest way to remove the cosmoline was to fill up a teapot with water, bring to boil, then slowly pour the boiling water onto the SKS. Disassemble the SKS all the way down to clean it properly. Also, this is perfect to use in the bore and chamber area as it will not attack metal. Cosmoline is a trademarked brand of petroleum-based, wax-like corrosion inhibitors. I bake all the stocks in a long homemade oven I made. The protective layer was thick, tough and not easy to remove. If you go to fast or too aggressive you can strip out the moisture and mess up the stock. I've tried various methods in the past, none of which seemed to work particularly well. I've discovered recently that WD40 works good. The greasy substance is used to prevent their military surplus rifles from rusting. Its the mess, gross and slimy petroleum that appears to be wrapped in every surface of firearms. Learn the 3 most popular shooting stances & more. Here's one of the several main versions of cosmoline in an aerosol. Cosmoline is a Vaseline-type preservative that was used to preserve firearms. 3 100w light bulbs mounted in light boxes inside -- bakes the stuff out wonderfully. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then run a few dry patches through. Seems to take off anything, including paint spatters without harming the finish at all. It's thin or thickly applied depending on the monkey with the sprayer that particular day and is either easy or hard to get off depending on which monkey sprayed your car. cosmoline removal wd40excuses to get out of annual training. Spray part again and set aside to air dry. Here are the stuff you'll need: Mineral spirits or acetone and kerosene Water and soap Shop rags A toothbrush or a smaller paintbrush. Simple Green works great on metal parts, particularly in the ultrasonic cleaner. You worry too much. Back in the day when I was a kid, we use to take packing grease of with gasoline. StingRay parts washers use a non-flammable alkaline cleaning detergent such as Power Kleen V or Power Kleen IIIL. This process is simple but very messy and should be done in a well-ventilated area. If you are like me, you were hooked the first time you picked up a cosmoline-covered surplus rifle or handgun. Thanks! For the metal, I used a hot water/Simple Green mixture, supplemented by automotive brake cleaner. Heat gun is a total saver. Ehhhh, was my first try with Cosmo. We personally found Q-tips to be useful if a bit tedious. Use it if you don't happen to have kerosene. Note: Most of the links in this article earn me a small commission at no cost to you. We already have an account registered for email address just cosmoline removed easy. Like CitriStrip because you won't lose any proof marks in the wood. You have the option to disassemble your firearm before beginning this process or keeping it intact throughout the cleaning process. If you are into guns, tools, or guns and tools, youve undoubtedly run into problems removing cosmoline. I never knew of these methods when I got my mosin, so I spent a week in my basement with some solvent and a few rolls of paper towels. you a link to reset your password. There you go. Cosmoline melts at temperatures ranging from 115 to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. WD-40 is a mediocre lubricant and an OK rust preventative. Gets 95% of everything off and takes less time. This restriction only affects the following Southern California counties: Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino. All content Copyright 1998-2018 Rifleshooter.com, FTC disclosure: some links on this site are monetized, Sig Sauer MCX Virtus PCP Air Rifle Review- Initial Impressions, Project Guns- Gunsmithing articles and posts, Ruger Precision Rifle Suppressed Load Development: Hornady 147 ELD-Match and H4350 with THUNDER CHICKEN, Wilson Combats Tactical Rail Interface, Modular (T.R.I.M.) Wd40 on the metal parts that you can't soak. This causes an issue as brass expands and contracts on firing. We believe our Cosmoline Remover is the most effective solution offered anywhere. Place the bolt assembly into the boiling water. If you'd like to consider an effective Cosmoline Remover in aerosol, please see our, RP-342 "HEAVY" Military-Grade Rust Preventive Spray, COMBO OFFER: RP-342 Aerosols (Mix & Match), Cosmoline Direct VCI Paper Rolls (for Ferrous Metals), Cosmoline Direct VCI Industrial Paper Sheets (Pre-Cut). 2. It should be treated as a bore obstruction and removed prior to firing. Boil and reoil the smaller metal parts. For Cosmoline removal, I get a gallon of K1 kerosene, then put it in a tub. Required fields are marked *. Again, if youve ever dealt with military surplus guns before, you might have some experience with the somewhat laborious process of removing the infamous goop from them. The heat will bleed the cosmo out. What is Cosmoline? They are the go-to gun shop for collectors and shooters alike. After peeling, they leave a greasy film for continued corrosion protection. Harsh chemical solvents that could strip paint, finishes, or other aesthetic/functional coatings from the guns surface. In our case, you might need to run the gadget a few times to really penetrate the crud. Wipe it off with a combination of shop rags for the surface grease, as well as goof-off to grab any of the sticky residues that are going to be left behind. For the trigger group, I soaked it in some Hoppe's #9 for a few hours and it seemed to have gotten most of the cosmoline out of it. The Enfield P1917 above is a perfect example. Those who have dealt with firearms for a long time most certainly have experienced the dilemmas of cosmoline. Consider this just a primer on how you might tackle a cosmoline cleanup job, but there are tons of ways to go about it. It doesnt cut the oil. 2 When all the parts have been cleaned they must be treated with oil to prevent corrosion. This involves two steps: You can do this by wrapping your firearm in towels and placing it in a black trash bag and leaving it sit out in the sun, or using another heat sourcesuch as a heat gun or older ovento return the Cosmoline to its liquid state. guns & Following graduation, he accepted a job at C. Sharps Arms in Montana, where he still works full time as a stockmaker and gunsmith. Make sure you get all of the Cosmolene off of the gun! There is no need the wood is already sealed, just wipe it down with penetrating oil (PB blaster wd40) and the cosmoline will wipe right off. Copyright 2023 Pew Pew Media, Inc. All rights reserved. I remember when a "Yugo" was a piece of crap car. Now what's the best way to clean the residual WD40 off so I won't have primers getting compromised? For extra protection of the piece, youll need to add lubricant and stain (for wood stock), especially to the bolt assembly. A heatgun or trashbag works well enough to get the cosmoline out of the stock. Make sure. Cosmoline Removal: Step-by-Step. Had some residual cosmoline on a receiver that came off surprisingly well last weekend with HOT water, near boiling temp. WD-40 or any other petroleum based based solvents will cut it pretty good. For hand protection I would recommend nitrile gloves. Attempting to remove the rust-preventive after allowing the cosmoline to warm up can result in an oilier finish. Not really. The first step you need to do is to gather the things youll need for this cosmoline removal. Forget the other 'dangerous processes'boil with water, and you're good-as-new! I only use this method on metal parts and will do this prior to using the Kroil method below to remove the last bits and pieces. You just stripped the finish off of your rifle. (Just like the tutorial on surplusrifle.com) boiling or extremely warm water is THE BEST way to get cosmo off metal parts with little or no effort and is completely safe to the components.