Cosmoline and Engine Degreaser
- Thread starter peteg
- Start date
From what I have seen while working in shops, a lot of places use Caustic Soda for cleaning castings such as engine blocks when they get all gucked up. Eats the paint. Eats the crud. Eats grease.
You REALLY don't want to put rifle stocks in that.
Nor your hands.
And don't get your pants too close, either.
Keep the kids away.
Keep the Cat outside.
Super careful with the Gerbils.
Save the Canaries.
But bring the useless brother-in-law in, let him go for a swim.
Wipe down with paper towels first.
Then try Brake-kleen instead, with more paper towels. Works. Just be sure to use in a well-ventilated place.
.
You REALLY don't want to put rifle stocks in that.
Nor your hands.
And don't get your pants too close, either.
Keep the kids away.
Keep the Cat outside.
Super careful with the Gerbils.
Save the Canaries.
But bring the useless brother-in-law in, let him go for a swim.
Wipe down with paper towels first.
Then try Brake-kleen instead, with more paper towels. Works. Just be sure to use in a well-ventilated place.
.
For small parts I put them in boiling water. Works good and it's cheap. Get a cheap pot and a mesh strainer, and use that to hold the smallest parts. Afterwards apply a decent amount of WD40 to displace the water and prevent rust, and then oil as per normal.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
this is true, its also hot and has compressed air pumped in, it also eats aluminum, but i think the OP is thinking of the cans of what seems to be compressed air and lighter fluid found in auto parts stores
ghostntheshell
CGN frequent flyer
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Really is over kill.
Get a small container of mineral spirits and soak your bolt once you've taken it apart.
Even boiling water works.
I use boiling water down the barrel of all my mosins, and it's never failed me yet.
If you just got it, I'd take the metal right out of the stock and do a proper cleaning.
If you really wanna spray it down with an engine de-greaser then go ahead. I've never really needed to.
But to each our own.
P.S. The mineral spirits is amazing for an sks bolt that you can drive the pin out of. Soak it all night. I digress.
Get a small container of mineral spirits and soak your bolt once you've taken it apart.
Even boiling water works.
I use boiling water down the barrel of all my mosins, and it's never failed me yet.
If you just got it, I'd take the metal right out of the stock and do a proper cleaning.
If you really wanna spray it down with an engine de-greaser then go ahead. I've never really needed to.
But to each our own.
P.S. The mineral spirits is amazing for an sks bolt that you can drive the pin out of. Soak it all night. I digress.
I'll second the mineral spirits. A good trick is to take the barreled action out of the stock, take the trigger and interupter off. Get a piece of 2" PVC pipe that is long enough to hold the barreled action and an endcap. Put the barreled action in the pipe, stand it up and fill with mineral spirits. Clean the small bits in another container. Let them sit 15 minutes or so. Rinse with boiling water, and clean with your favorite gun cleaner.
A friend and I just used WD40 to clean the cosmoline of our Mosin hardware. Seemed to work great on its own.
Another thing that works great is MPro7 or Hoppes Elite. Too expensive for doing the whole gun, but for small parts and bits'n pieces it works great, especially on the combination of dried out cosmo and dust you sometimes get.
As well as the mineral spirits, steam-shark etc etc, you can also try Simple Green, available in gallon jugs at Cdn Tire.
The other technique that works is to put it in a garbage bag with rags or newspaper, and leave it in a sunny window or the trunk of your car for a few hours.
Lots of ways, none are really perfect, it is still a messy job no matter what you do.
More controversial is the dishwasher method, simply run the gun and/or stock through the dishwasher.
It will de-grease a stock completely, raise the grain and sometimes destroy any stampings or markings, but it will get all the grease and cosmo out. Not really recommended!
If you do the action in the dishwasher, watch it carefully and check on it when the dry cycle starts. Some people report no problems if you use a hot/pot scrubber cycle, since the water evaporates fast (like using boiling water after shooting corrosive). Other people say to take it out when still wet and dry it and spray with a water displacer.
This is based on what I have read on the internet, I don't have a dishwasher myself, nor have I tried it! No warranty implied or stated, no refunds, buyer beware!
As well as the mineral spirits, steam-shark etc etc, you can also try Simple Green, available in gallon jugs at Cdn Tire.
The other technique that works is to put it in a garbage bag with rags or newspaper, and leave it in a sunny window or the trunk of your car for a few hours.
Lots of ways, none are really perfect, it is still a messy job no matter what you do.
More controversial is the dishwasher method, simply run the gun and/or stock through the dishwasher.
It will de-grease a stock completely, raise the grain and sometimes destroy any stampings or markings, but it will get all the grease and cosmo out. Not really recommended!
If you do the action in the dishwasher, watch it carefully and check on it when the dry cycle starts. Some people report no problems if you use a hot/pot scrubber cycle, since the water evaporates fast (like using boiling water after shooting corrosive). Other people say to take it out when still wet and dry it and spray with a water displacer.
This is based on what I have read on the internet, I don't have a dishwasher myself, nor have I tried it! No warranty implied or stated, no refunds, buyer beware!
Wonder if those would work well when refinishing as well.... I'm refinishing a Mosin stock at the moment, and I used Circa 1850 to get rid of the shellac, which worked very nicely, and left the petina on the stock. I then used a wet towel and hot iron to pull the little remaining shellac & cosmoline out of the grain of the wood without damaging it. I'm not sanding at all.
