cosmoline preserved stock

[buzzmagoo]

Wondering ( for no Particular reason) would just the wooden stock float ? Or are they impregnated ( with grease ) to the point that they are no longer Buoyant ? As many have said that they will Ooze even after being cleaned . Different results for different species of wood ?

 

[Magellann]

They will float, without the gun installed of course, and that cosmoline will keep oozing out for a long time. Try heating the stock in the sun, or wrapped in a garbage bag and placed in the back window of a car on a hot day and you will see how much comes out, over and over again.

 

[North of 7]

We used to hang them over the woodstove in the garage in the winter. The amount that comes out is impressive. Just don't dry them out too much or the wood gets brittle.

 

[purple]

What you see in old military stocks is a combination of accumulated oil finishes, gun oils and greases. It's almost impossible to remove all of it by either chemicals or heating. Characteristics of the grain will cause some of it to penetrate very deeply. Even a comparatively thin handguard will have oils come to the surface while shooting at the range, a combination of sun and barrel heating.

 

[albertaman238]

I refinished a mosin stock a while ago and could not believe how much cosmoline came out of it....i used a heat gun gently back and forth and continually cleaned it off and it took hours and hours to get it to the point i could begin sanding. You don't want to overheat the stock to the point where it warps or cracks though. I also used a wood conditioner after i sanded as some of the natural oils will come out with the cosmoline. This one was arctic birch but others may be different wood. I spent days doing it but it was a work of love and i was pleased with the final outcome after staining and poly work. It gets a few comments at the range.

You have to remember some of the older milsurps have been sitting in cosmoline for decades and get pretty soaked.