Cosmoline removal WITHOUT boiling water?
- Thread starter Sun
- Start date
Outside unless you want a divorce.....
BCshooterFMJ
Regular
- Location
- British Columbia
Soak it in simple green then scrub and rinse with boiling water. I know it says without boiling but boiling water will evaporate quick on the steel. The cooler the water you use to rinse‚ the more residue that will remain. (In cracks and other places you can't see. Boiling or extremely hot water is the way to go)
Edit. Ahhhh. Always late to the party. I see what I said was explained already. But yeah. Simple green is good stuff.
Edit. Ahhhh. Always late to the party. I see what I said was explained already. But yeah. Simple green is good stuff.
boiling water is the best way to do it, heats up metal, leftover water evaporates. I have bathed my SKS 10+ times and no issues at all, just need to dry and oil before reassembling. On a new rifle, boiling water is way better than using chemicals, get a aluminum turkey pan for a 1$ at the grocery store. Cosmo melts at whatever temp. The boiling water will melt and wash it all off the metal. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. 
happy cleaning.. I have an SKS on the way from Corwin. that's all its gonna get.
happy cleaning.. I have an SKS on the way from Corwin. that's all its gonna get.
ahhaaha +1 there brother, the wife doesn't like that smell, though she does like the SKS
I can see requiring a combination of varsol, turpentine or some spirits, with boiling water as well on a newly acquired rifle, that are caked in cosmoline, but after the initial cleaning, boiling water and a wipe down with oil is all it needs.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
^^^Thats what I do, everything but the barrel/reciever soaks in low odour varsol till I'm done wiping down and pouring boiling water through the barrel and reciever a few times. Then I remove the parts from the varsol and pour boiling water over them. Wipe dry and oil. I'll run a patch through the bore and if there's any leftover Cosmo I'll hit it with boiling water and hoppes9.
2 x metal garbage cans
a heat lamp fixture with clamp (or some way to mount a bulb inside if you don't want to drill holes in one of the cans)
1 x 60w incandescent light bulb
Some sort of grate (old BBQ grill worked great)
Some wood blocks to put under the grate.
Place 1 garbage can right side up, put your wood blocks in the bottom to keep the grate elevated and put the grate on top. Put your disassembled rifle in the garbage can. Mount the lightbulb inside the garbage can in whatever method you would like. Invert the second garbage can and place it on top of the can with your parts. Optionally you can wrap the "seem" with some old cloths or vent tape to keep more heat in. Let it bake. The metal will come clean relatively quickly but it can take quite a while for the cosmo to leach out of the wood. 4-6 hours has done the trick for us.
a heat lamp fixture with clamp (or some way to mount a bulb inside if you don't want to drill holes in one of the cans)
1 x 60w incandescent light bulb
Some sort of grate (old BBQ grill worked great)
Some wood blocks to put under the grate.
Place 1 garbage can right side up, put your wood blocks in the bottom to keep the grate elevated and put the grate on top. Put your disassembled rifle in the garbage can. Mount the lightbulb inside the garbage can in whatever method you would like. Invert the second garbage can and place it on top of the can with your parts. Optionally you can wrap the "seem" with some old cloths or vent tape to keep more heat in. Let it bake. The metal will come clean relatively quickly but it can take quite a while for the cosmo to leach out of the wood. 4-6 hours has done the trick for us.
Cosmoline isn't removed with any kind of water. It's thick petroleum jelly. Boiling water or steam cleaners will melt it, but not remove it completely.
Mineral spirits is American for Varsol. snicker. Any degreaser will do, but Varsol is cheap and easy to get.
Gasoline or diesel fuel, aside from the excessive cost and inflammability, is hazardous to one's health. No used degreaser should ever be disposed of down any drain either.
Mineral spirits is American for Varsol. snicker. Any degreaser will do, but Varsol is cheap and easy to get.
Gasoline or diesel fuel, aside from the excessive cost and inflammability, is hazardous to one's health. No used degreaser should ever be disposed of down any drain either.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
And varsol is reusable, I've cleaned four red rifles with the same varsol, pour it back in the jug and the grease solids fall to the bottom. I've got two more to do and will keep using the same jug till it's no longer doing its job. Just have to remember which is my clean varsol and which one I use for cosmoline.
Good info as usual, ding dong... They're interchangeable, but not the same. Varsol stinks more, for one thing.
http://www.recochem.com/faq/paint_thinners_solvents
What is the difference between Mineral Spirits and Paint Thinner? What other names is it known by?
Mineral Spirits has fewer aromatic solvents while other similar Products – Paint Thinner, Varsol® Paint Thinner – contain higher concentrations. Both are petroleum distillates and are generally interchangeable.
Yeah? Tell it to the Kandahar City Department of Sanitation. I'll stand by for the bylaw ticket.
Was the last time you bought Varsol in the 1970s? 'Cause now it's $12 for a 4l jug at CT, so only about three times as expensive as gasoline.
Can you not be even a little bit right, ever? Or at least not #### things up with advice that is 100% the opposite of reality?
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Simple Green HD and boiling water will get it cleaner than any other method. I have gotten SKS's and Mosins that have supposedly been precleaned and used the Simple Green HD and boiling water and had a layer of cosmoline sitting on the water afterward. You would be surprised how much is left behind by the solvent methods. If the metalwork still smells like cosmoline before you apply gun oil, then there is still cosmoline on it plain and simple. The Simple, Green HD is alot nicer smell and vapour wise as well. But to each their own. You can do multiple guns from one jug of Simple Green HD. A lot more expensive to use solvents.
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Can you not be even a little bit right, ever? Or at least not #### things up with advice that is 100% the opposite of reality?[/QUOTE]
Who's the ding dong here? That's some mighty pontification from a guy who still dumps hazardous chemicals down the sewer. I think you make sunray sound like a genius.
Can you not be even a little bit right, ever? Or at least not #### things up with advice that is 100% the opposite of reality?[/QUOTE]
Who's the ding dong here? That's some mighty pontification from a guy who still dumps hazardous chemicals down the sewer. I think you make sunray sound like a genius.
I'll try and be a little less cryptic in the future... As far as I know, Kandahar City doesn't, in fact, have a department of sanitation. No one, except for seagull, was talking about pouring anything down any drain; it was a complete non sequitur to which I responded with a complete non sequitur.
Don't stress Ms May, the fish are safe...
- Location
- Winnipeg, MB
De-Greaser of any kind. simple green?
