Cleaning cosmoline off of metal. Which chemicals won't hurt the blueing?

[Skippy]

A friend of mine is going to be picking up an unissued M48 from Marstar. We're wondering i it would be safe to just soak the barreled action and all other metal parts in varson overnight to dissolve the cosmoline.

Is this a good idea? Is varsol the best, readily available, option for this sort of task, or might it damage the metal finish?

 

[Grouse Man]

You won't hurt the bluing with varsol or any other degreaser like brake cleaner or simple green. You COULD put all the metal work into the dishwasher for a long potscrubber run, as long as the wife is away for few hours! Boiling water will do the same trick as well.

 

[esquif]

break or air filter cleaner work so well its just not funny

 

[Khalnath]

+1 for brake cleaner. Works like a hot damn. You can find "industrial parts degreasers" like slap shot, which are actually the same damned stuff.

 

[ollie]

I'm a fan of boiling water. I avoid chemical anything when I can help it...now where did I put my granola?

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

Degreasing

I'm a fan of boiling water. I avoid chemical anything when I can help it...now where did I put my granola?

Ditto, except for the healthy food part !!!!

In warm weather I've used a couple buckets of scalding hot water to float the petroleum greases off the metal. You can also use any number of environmentally safe degreasing compounds. Lay out the newspaper, disassemble as much of the rifle as you want, immerse in water, scrub with a stiff brush, drain and re-oil to prevent surface rust.

 

[happydude]

...now where did I put my granola?

Probably somewhere near Wolseley...

Anyway, I second the suggestion for hot water. I degreased my sks by 1-stripping it, 2-taking all the metal parts and putting them in a large pot, 3- covering the parts with tap water, and 4- boiling the whole mess for about 10 minutes. You'll end up with a nice cosmoline soup that just needs to be seasoned to taste but more importantly all the gunk should be off the metal parts. Stiring the parts around while they're boiling usually helps too. For the barreled action it just took a large bucket, a few rags, and some more hot water *make sure to wear thick rubber gloves.. don't ask me how I know this *.

 

[Skippy]

Yea, I just held all of my metal bits under a scalding fawcet in my laundry basin. I don't want to do that too often tho, because the cosmoline might clog my drains.

WOuld most of you vote for the scalding water method if it was done into a tub and dumped rather than using varsol or other chemicals?

 

[Grouse Man]

Just let the soup cool, and the grease should be a congealed blob on the surface. DON'T just pour it down the drain.

 

[zuke]

I've used a heat gun in the past, but now that's it's regestered I don't know...

 

[Hitzy]

Mineral spirits is what I always use. It even removes dried on cosmo stains on the metal.

 

[DaveMachine]

Now what do you do with the cosmoline after you've got it boiled off the gun, rather than pouring it down the drain? Maybe down a floor drain instead?

 

[Coyote Ugly]

Now what do you do with the cosmoline after you've got it boiled off the gun, rather than pouring it down the drain? Maybe down a floor drain instead?

Recycle the #### unless you want to drink cosmoline, you don't pour oil down the drain . It get's into the water for **** sakes. Put it in a bucket where you keep your used motor oil and take it to the auto dealer-service department.

 

[DaveMachine]

Recycle the #### unless you want to drink cosmoline, you don't pour oil down the drain . It get's into the water for **** sakes. Put it in a bucket where you keep your used motor oil and take it to the auto dealer-service department.

Whoa, calm down.

 

[Mr. Buttons]

Simple Green works great - however be warned that the no-name stuff at the dollar store that looks like simple green and costs a dollar a litre will strip the blue from your rifle if soaked (don't ask how I know this - it's too painful to discuss...)

moral of the story - don't go cheap on your degreaser...

 

[Coyote Ugly]

Now what do you do with the cosmoline after you've got it boiled off the gun, rather than pouring it down the drain? Maybe down a floor drain instead?

Ya, some people really are that stupid.

 

[sunray]

Varsol is a brand name for mineral spirits. That's what we used in the shop I worked in long ago. Took the sling off and dropped the whole thing into a tank of varsol/mineral spirits for 24 hours, then wiped off the cosmoline. No fuss. No bother.
No dumping the sludge down any drain. Take it to a hazardous liquid disposal place.

 

[K_Roc]

...

 

[Grizzlypeg]

How does the Varsol/mineral spirits affect the wood?

Does it remove the finish or actually damage the wood itself?

I'd definately remove the stock from the gun. Varsol is a good degreaser, as is acetone or lacquer thinner.

 

[TRG21]

Try not to use anything with Aqua Regia in it.My buddies engraved,gold filled artillery luger really lost its luster after he did it.Hey,it seemed like a good idea at the time.