How does the military de-cosmoline rifles?

[mmattockx]

Possibly a dumb question, but all the milsurps we get that are still in cosmoline were originally intended to be pulled out of storage and used by the military that originally put them in storage. If this had come to pass, how does a military clean up many thousands of rifles and get them ready for service again?


Mark

 

[Canada1812]

Probably the same way the caf cleans their rifles..... work parties comprised of privates and corporals

 

[call2arms]

Conscripts and some gas would be my guess

 

[HuskyDude]

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

I was issued an FNC1A1 in a box for Basic. Someone had had it before me, so there wasn't a lot of grease.

I was issued a war reserve C7 to go to the Gulf. It came out of a box, but I really don't remember it being hard to clean. If anything that one was just oily.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

Probably the same way the caf cleans their rifles..... work parties comprised of privates and corporals

The military is not short of manpower for manual labour.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

Possibly a dumb question, but all the milsurps we get that are still in cosmoline

FWIW the easiest way to clean cosmoline is to heat up the parts with a heat gun. Heat turns hard cosmoline into easily wiped away liquid. It works well to help cosmoline drip out of narrow spaces.

 

[armybuck041]

The Afghans (ANA) used to take new "old stock" AK-47's and dip them fully assembled into a barrel of diesel fuel that was warm from sitting in the sun. Seemed pretty effective albeit smelly and messy.

 

[Highwind]

Yea I would have thought diesel would do it as well. Just to thin out the cosmoline. I would expect that the rifle would have to be wiped down a number of times to remove most of the remaining diesel. Taking the stock off would make it a bit easier too. And a thought came to me about trying transmission oil.

 

[milsurpo]

WW2 photos show US GIs dipping rifles in barrels of gasoline. Kerosene is less volatile and works very well. When degreasing refurb SVTs I use to use a wallpaper trough that fit the barreled action. After several rifles the kerosene had barely changed colour. The grease they were packed in was not true cosmoline but kerosene worked fine on every type of grease encountered, including the very solid waxy stuff those mummy wrapped No. 4 Mk 2s are packed full of.

milsurpo

 

[mm200042]

Would it be necessary to remove the cosmoline if there are no plans to fire the weapon for the foreseeable future? Are there any risks of the cosmoline damaging parts if left untouched for prolonged periods?

 

[Zoidion]

Would it be necessary to remove the cosmoline if there are no plans to fire the weapon for the foreseeable future? Are there any risks of the cosmoline damaging parts if left untouched for prolonged periods?

Better to not remove it. Some of these rifles have been in their cosmoline for 70 years. Not going to start causing problems now

 

[mmattockx]

FWIW the easiest way to clean cosmoline is to heat up the parts with a heat gun. Heat turns hard cosmoline into easily wiped away liquid. It works well to help cosmoline drip out of narrow spaces.

Yes, heat works well to soften it up. That's why I was asking, just wondering if the militaries of the world had some large scale way to do this messy job.

WW2 photos show US GIs dipping rifles in barrels of gasoline. Kerosene is less volatile and works very well.

Who knew? So every soldier got to clean up his own rifle. I wouldn't have thought that was time efficient, but many militaries aren't necessarily known for efficiency and prefer the brute force method with piles of manpower available.

Would it be necessary to remove the cosmoline if there are no plans to fire the weapon for the foreseeable future?

It's a long term storage solution, so no need to do anything to it if you aren't planning on using the rifle in the near future.


Mark

 

[Cottage Hill Bill]

A WWII vet at my gun club said when they were issued their weapons (a company at a time) the pulled the stock off and dipped the barrel and action in a 55 gallon drum of boiling water, then another drum of boiling water as a rinse, wipe dry, oil and reassemble. The ordnance guys set up the water drums and were on hand to make sure it was done right.

 

[Desert_Fox]

I took the stocks off Yugo SKS rifles and then used a Hotsy 4000PSI pressure washer to clean off the metal. Still ended up needing diesel and lots of elbow grease to finish cleaning and then lots of the same for the stock…

Honestly, I think a sacrificial dishwasher is still the way to go!

 

[firebat]

In Soviet army they used kerosene to remove cosmoline from AK-s.

 

[Deathrawt]

When we first got our sis rifles years ago we used an old tub and boiled the water in it
Took the stocks off the guns /disassembled them and boiled all the parts it worked perfectly especially for the bolt with that floating firing pin

 

[purple]

I've used mineral spirits and a brush/rag for years. Afterwards, recondition the wood with pure tung oil or raw linseed oil (not boiled). Hint; I still remember big cans of RLO being provided to re-condition FN staocks after field use.

 

[pangit]

Gasoline and grunts.