I'm an idiot. Don't use Methyl Hydrate as a solvent.

ADHDCanuck

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So a buddy with about a million guns (including SKS's and SVTs) tells me:

"Hey! Save a fortune on a chemical bath to strip the packing grease off your new SVTs and SKS! Put the small pieces in a tub of methyl hydrate, then wipe, done!"

Soooooooo trusting him, I didn't do my homework first...

I only dropped in the small piston and spring from the gas system.. and the magazine...

Which, in SECONDS... dissolved all the blueing.. down to bare metal.

Which, I can only imagine is nothing at all resembling stainless steel and is likely going to rust away VERY quickly especially with corrosive ammo.
 
Honestly while it sucks you stripped the bluing, it does not add much rust protection. The fissures in the surface of blued metal tend to hold oil "slightly" better but not much.

I'v had many firearms with bare metal, fluid film is your friend and they won't rust. You could always just slap some cold blue on if you like.
 
I have hoppes #9 oil and hoppes elite oil... I suppose i could hit it with a coating of one of those? Or do you need a special product?

I'd rather not do a half ass re-blueing job... if i can use it like this until i find a replacement mag (its a refurb SKS, tula... so any mag will do the numbers dont match anyways).
 
That sucks!

I have found a quick and easy way to strip cosmo, and corrosive residue as well. A hand steam cleaner. Blows it off very quickly. Just for the future. :)


oh for FCKS sake... lol i have one of those... I'll giver a try. Handy for all the nooks and crannies too.

meantime, the bare metal mag got a heavy soaking in hoppes #9 oil (i have a large spray can of it) and i'll let it sit like that overnight... getting late anyhow. tomorrow i'll continue cleaning the rest.


i was only trying this stuff out to see if there was a cost effective way to clean the cosmo from the four SVTs i bought.. since they are way too long to really be boiled in my stock pot like an SKS....
 
Froglube..as you shoot it penetrates the metal....very good protection I have a bare metal polished norc 1911 and in three years not a spot of rust with that and or hoppes 9 oil!!
 
Actually those cold blue kits work not to bad and they are cheap....you could try one and see how it works out and if it doesn't well you already know an good method to strip it off!
I hate brain farts but we all do it from time to time.
 
Just use kerosene or mineral spirits followed by WD-40 or something like it for the metal bits. Both are cheap. Kerosene sounds funny but it's the recommended solvent in the manual to clean the cosmoline off cast iron on new tablesaws, etc from Delta. Works like a champ.
 
I bought a couple of 1919A4 cocking handles covered in cosmoline. Used a heat gun and melted the cosmoline off (dripped right off), then sprayed a little GUNK remover and clean as a whistle. Fast too.
 
so kerosene and varsol will both dissolve cosmoline WITHOUT harming the finish? safe to immerse/submerge the parts including the barrel?
cuz both are dirt cheap.

brake cleaner is $5 for a pressurized can that doesnt last nearly long enough.... i'd use it for touchups in tight spots but not an entire piece.
 
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