I'm an idiot. Don't use Methyl Hydrate as a solvent.

Da, Tovarich

Same as oil won't do it any harm.

I scrubbed my entire Chinese SKS with varsol and its as ugly as ever, but clean and shiny all the same
 
Which, I can only imagine is nothing at all resembling stainless steel and is likely going to rust away VERY quickly especially with corrosive ammo.

You are in Edmonton in winter, the humidity is damned near nonexistent at this time of year. The bare metal will do nothing if you simply give it a wipe with an oily rag to leave a film behind. The corrosive ammo won't do anything if you clean it properly when you are done shooting. If you lived on one of the coasts or in Ontario the humidity would be an issue but it won't be in Edmonton.


Mark
 
my friend who does it swears he cleans all his milsurp weapons with methyl hydrate and so does his wife and son.. over a dozen examples.. lovely black shiny mags including his SKS's and SVTs....

i have no explanation for this.
 
my friend who does it swears he cleans all his milsurp weapons with methyl hydrate and so does his wife and son.. over a dozen examples.. lovely black shiny mags including his SKS's and SVTs....

i have no explanation for this.
I clean shellac off my soviet arms with methyl hydrate & it does nothing to bluing. Does it smell like alcohol or acid?
 
I clean shellac off my soviet arms with methyl hydrate & it does nothing to bluing. Does it smell like alcohol or acid?
it has very little smell... definitely some chemical vapours but nothing strong, i was in a small room with it in a 2L plastic container, and wiping the part with it for fifteen minutes to tidy it all up with no ill effects... i'd say a light smell of alcohol or thinner...
 
So a buddy with about a million guns (including SKS's and SVTs) tells me:

"Hey! Save a fortune on a chemical bath to strip the packing grease off your new SVTs and SKS! Put the small pieces in a tub of methyl hydrate, then wipe, done!"

Soooooooo trusting him, I didn't do my homework first...

I only dropped in the small piston and spring from the gas system.. and the magazine...

Which, in SECONDS... dissolved all the blueing.. down to bare metal.

Which, I can only imagine is nothing at all resembling stainless steel and is likely going to rust away VERY quickly especially with corrosive ammo.

Dissolved bluing or dissolved paint on a refurb ? Never heard of MH affecting bluing.

Grizz
 
Don't be too hard on yourself. Methyl Hydrate is one of the weakest and a safe solvent to use as a starting point. If methyl hydrate removed it, chances are, any other solvent (brake cleaner, WD40, acetone) would have taken it off too.
 
I cleaned my whole collection of 14 SKS's with boiling water and Simple Green. Then protected with G96. Then sweated the cosmoline out of the stocks and put a layer of linseed oil on the wood. I used a new metal garbage can heated with a little space heater and did 2 or 3 stocks at a time. Just wrap in paper towels to soak up the cosmo as it sweats out. Heat for a couple hours and then the linseed. The guns came out beautiful and smell good with the G96. Be careful with the hand guard. Don't get boiling water on it. Just spray the metal with some brake cleaner and wipe. Use the nozzle on the brake cleaner can to keep the spray off the hand guard, and then sweat it with the stocks...
 
Degrease the magazine. ,aybe a slight sanding then paint with a high heat engine paint with silica.
Toast in an oven at say 350 for half an hour. Some paints are matt or low gloss and will give the mag a solvent resistant finish.
Thats what I did to mine to clean up after the crap paint job to cover the frankenpin.
 
Dissolved bluing or dissolved paint on a refurb ? Never heard of MH affecting bluing.

Grizz

Some parts of my refurb sks look like they're blued, but I think it's actually a paint or some other type of tough coating, almost like a black parkerizing or something.. I noticed it when it scratched off from a synthetic stock.
 
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