Sks cosmoline removal

amenra11

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I just got my new Chinese SKS from Marstar and finally have took apart the entire rifle.There are many videos and sites to show you how to take apart the SKS. There is still cosmoline on and in alot of the parts of the rifle.This is my first military rifle and first time dealing with cosmoline.I will try and use paint thinner,tooth brush and brake cleaner on the metal to remove all this gunk that has kept my beautiful rifle in such good condition. Anyone with more knowledge on removing this stuff please post. I also need help on removing cosmoline from the stock as I can't put it in the oven?
 
brake cleaner worked well for me too.
Don't be stupid like me and confuse the red shellac finish on the stock with cosmoline.
 
Cosmoline smells like freedom! Actually it smells like a giant pain in the a**.

Here is a link from surplusrifle.com that uses a steam cleaning unit and other methods to remove cosmoline.

ht tp://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/cosmoline/pdf/cosmoline.pdf
 
I just got my new Chinese SKS from Marstar and finally have took apart the entire rifle.There are many videos and sites to show you how to take apart the SKS. There is still cosmoline on and in alot of the parts of the rifle.This is my first military rifle and first time dealing with cosmoline.I will try and use paint thinner,tooth brush and brake cleaner on the metal to remove all this gunk that has kept my beautiful rifle in such good condition. Anyone with more knowledge on removing this stuff please post. I also need help on removing cosmoline from the stock as I can't put it in the oven?

Chemicals, soaking, smell....Why bother?....Buy a small portable steam cleaner .....Strip it down and use the pressurized steam jet to melt the cosmoline away.....You can get into every nook and cranny, and since it heats the metal, it dries in no time....Far, far easier than other methods....And it has other uses as well....it works.....I cleaned a Garand that was caked in cosmoline in just 90 minutes....I did my SKS in even less time....You do have to re-fill the container several times, so just drink some beer while it heats up between fillings....Oh, and it`s best to use distilled water....It`s called the Steam Shark and you can buy one at Canadian Tire, about 70 bucks....
 
I remove all the parts from the stock and give it a quick rinse in Ed's Red. The important parts are the piston, barrel (Duhh) and the firing pin/bolt. You don't have to remove everything from the stock, but it will be pretty greasy when it heats up from shooting. So its your call. My recommendation is to punch out the pin on the bolt and clean the firing pin one part at a time. The firing pin must rattle freely every time you shake it or its not ready to shoot.
 
Varsol and a paint brush gets it off the metal. Heat gets it out of the wood. I put my stock in the oven on 190 for a couple of hours, and sweated it out. You should wipe it down every 20 mins or so.
 
Cosmoline

Red Herring When you put the stock in the oven how is the smell? I don't want my entire house to smell like cosmoline. I really want to finish this cleaning and go out to the range. The firing pin right now doesn't rattle and alot of cosmoline in the gas tube.
 
I have cleaned a few sks. I once used an old pot full of boiling water, took the sks apart and dipped all the pieces in, which worked fine, and I have also cleaned them using Break free powder blast, which also worked very well.
 
Go to Canadian Tire and buy an aerosol bottle of Brake Cleaner.

Use that, along with a nice soft cloth and it will clean up easy. The bolt will need to be taken apart so you can get at the comso in and around the pin, but it's not a big job.

Brake cleaner does away with the cosmo very very quickly, and painlessly.
 
Cheapest out of all solution.. HOT water, hot hot water. Cosmoleen is kind of like a greasy wax, and will melt, thats actually how they apply it, they dip it into tanks of it and let it cool.

Just strip it down, and use a laundry tub or something big and fill with near boiling water, wearing gloves just take a tooth brush and scrub the now gel like cosmo out.

As for the stock, the oven idea on a light setting was also told to me, just wipe every few min.

This is how I was told to do it on milsurp rifles like the Enfield when I was looking for an in wrap no.4 Mk2 (never found one) which are caked in cosmo.
 
Best way and stuff to use getting cosmo grease off a SKS?

My SKs should arrive today and now I must clean the packing grease off, this is my first time doing this, so what products should I pick up? And what is the MOST important part I get all the cosmo out off? Totally new to this thanks for any help
 
Normally I use Odorless Mineral Spirits a coffee can and a paint brush for the metal parts and a rag dampened in the same for the stock.

Then I use a hair drier to heat the stock and sweat any residual oil/grease from the wood.

I do not use any water or water base cleaners.
 
I'm also about to clean the comsoline off my rifle should it arive today, i keep reading about puting the metal parts trigger group/bolt/fire pin into a bot and boil it then just take out and let it dry, i could had dry some fo the stuff but inside the firing pin/trigger group i could only use a blow dryer. Would this work? also would this work for the gas piston and all that stuff?
 
so you just soak all the metal stuff in the mineral spirits? then scub them down? what about the barrel of the gun? just soak a rag in mineral spirits and run itdown the barrel a bunch with the cleaning rod?
 
stoop14

My Yugo 59-66 cleaned up fine just using Odorless Mineral Spirits and yes a cleaning rod and patch will remove a good deal of cosmoline. After the Yugo was reassembled a nylon brush with a patch wrapped around it and bore solvent removed all the rest.

Note: If you get the Yugo 59-66 it does not have a chrome bore and the barrel may be pitted or frosted. So save your cleaning rod and copper brushes and use foam bore cleaner and just let it soak overnight.

Below a frosted Enfield barrel after shooting 50 rounds and foam bore cleaner and "NO" scrubbing required>

IMGP5065.jpg
 
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