Just got my Chinese SKS on the Friday before the Thanksgiving long-weekend. Don't have a shop so I ripped it apart in my bathroom and cleaned it with paint thinner, toothbrushes, a couple beers and some rags. Make sure to clean the bolt inside and out super good to avoid a full-auto heart attack (or loss of foot, hearing, eyesight or friends) experience. A blowdryer or heatgun works good for getting the stock to sweat. I cleaned and repeated 3 times for a total of 6 hours from in the box cosmo'd to clean and ready to fire. Gotta say, the SKS is a beast of a rifle. Feels solid and has a LARGE number of aftermarket parts available. Great first gun. Got it for $350ish with 700rnds of Polish corrosive 7.62x39 FMJ.
Sks cosmoline removal
- Thread starter amenra11
- Start date
This weekend I cleaned my "new" sks, here are some pics.
This is the first gun that I took apart so in total I've spent an hour disassembling it including a ride to a local hardware store to buy punches for bolt/pin disassembly.
Soaking in Varsol for another hour. Brushing was unnecessary but I did it just in case.
Wiped, then drying under the workshop light heater for another hour.
During these three hours I was baking the stock and gas tube wrapped in paper towels at 140 degrees in the oven (in my oven it is a mode called "drying"). I wiped and re-wrapped it in fresh paper towels every 30 minutes.
It was extremely easy and the result is very good.
This is the first gun that I took apart so in total I've spent an hour disassembling it including a ride to a local hardware store to buy punches for bolt/pin disassembly.
Soaking in Varsol for another hour. Brushing was unnecessary but I did it just in case.
Wiped, then drying under the workshop light heater for another hour.
During these three hours I was baking the stock and gas tube wrapped in paper towels at 140 degrees in the oven (in my oven it is a mode called "drying"). I wiped and re-wrapped it in fresh paper towels every 30 minutes.
It was extremely easy and the result is very good.
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Hi I purchased the SKS from Marstar also and went through the cleaning phases.
You prolly know already, but pay special attention to the firing pin in the bolt.
My bolt was full of cosmoline.. so the firing pin didn't move ( Slamfire waiting to happen)
Only after disassembling the bolt, soaking in hot water, and cleaning with mineral spirits d
did the floating firing pin rattle when shaken.
You prolly know already, but pay special attention to the firing pin in the bolt.
My bolt was full of cosmoline.. so the firing pin didn't move ( Slamfire waiting to happen)
Only after disassembling the bolt, soaking in hot water, and cleaning with mineral spirits d
did the floating firing pin rattle when shaken.
I just ordered an SKS from Marstar so I'm doing as much reading as possible on cleaning before it arrives. I have one of those steam-cleaners so I will give that a try first. One question that wasn't asked that may keep me out of deep sh*t with the wife... should I be going to somewhere like the Salvation Army to buy old towels so I can just throw them out when they are covered with cosmo or can they be washed without wrecking the washing machine? Thanks to everyone who has provided this useful information
I use disposable Scott's blue shop towels so I can just toss them when I'm done. They work good for cleaning patches for everything except the bore when cleaning after shooting. My method is simple: I start by wiping all the excess cosmo off everything, then spray some WD-40 and wipe with a clean rag to remove all traces of cosmo. Its harmless to the finish and cuts the grease quickly. For the little dried on bits of cosmo I just spray a little extra WD-40 and hit it with some fine steel wool. Then I spray some glass cleaner and wipe clean to remove the WD-40 residue, otherwise it will be oily and smell like WD-40 for 2 weeks. This gets everything very clean with little effort or time. A little Barricade on the metal and off you go.
Unless its a '49 or '50 than its chrome lined and will stand up to any bore brush you run thru it. The buttstock cleaning kits have a nylon brush but anything will work without damaging it.
Well, I'm counting the days now to my Cleaning 'Initiation' into the SKS world. I received my tracking number this morning saying it's been shipped. I have an old pot for boiling water and parts it, some of the highly reccomended "Simple Green" in the black bottle, some linseed oil for redoing the stock, a steamer to remove the cosmo from the stock and some blue shop towels. I'm pretty excited to give this a try. Do people just plunk the parts into the boiling water and remove them with tongs after a little while or is it better to pour water over them?
I have had my SKS for over a month now and i have been putting off the cleaning of it, But now the time has come. I am a total Newb and have done the reasearch needed. i will try and borrow the steam cleaner from my cousin. Should the steam cleaner not be availible then I will do the green trick. I am not a fan of using water on metal, but i see everyone almost everyone here has used it. Has anyone ever tried or heard of "LPS1".
Also why remove the cosmo from the stock other than the "greasy feeling" would the stock not hold up better over the long term with the cosmo on it?
Also why remove the cosmo from the stock other than the "greasy feeling" would the stock not hold up better over the long term with the cosmo on it?
The stock has a coat of varnish on it that doesnt need any maintenence. Its all covered in and full of cosmo to preserve it. DiMP you wont need to redo it if you dont want to, the varnish is pretty tough. The chinese wood is quite nice however, once stripped and smoothed out theyre really good lookin. valencjo using boiling or very hot water heats the metal so the water will evaporate quick. Once the cosmo is softened you may have to pour water over stubborn spots. Be sure to give everything a good wipe with a rag first to save time. A good tip for cleaning the trigger group without dissasembling it is to let it soak in either hot water or degreaser, then run it under hot water to wash out the softened grease followed by a good liberal spray down with wd40 to push all the moisture out, lube and protect all at once. Give it a shake and let it finish draining before wiping the excess off the outside.
Well, boiling water isnt enough...went to Canadian Tire and got some varsol...much, much easier. The Cosmo just disolves like sugar in water...Stocks have been in the oven for an hour...cosmo is dripping off, but still lots more to go...ill keep ya updated.
Well Im done...6 hours later...I did two, so I guess it's normal that it took so long. I strongly recommend using mineral spirits (varsol). Stock were at 180 in the oven for about 3 hours. Once the parts soaked for about an hour in varsol, I poured boiling water over everything. Then, sprayed Remoil everywhere. They look great...Cant wait to mount my red dot and go shooting!!!
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
We need some pictures
I cleaned mine last week using the boiling water method (mostly). I used an old big tall soup pot and found that 98% of the cosmo just melted off in the water. Then a quick spritz of Simple Green and some Blue shop towels and she was done. It took me about 3 hours including the time with the heat gun on the stock (The wife wouldn't let me stink up the oven :lol That was 6 days ago and I have to wait another 3 days for a day off to go shooting The gun was ready to shoot by 13:30 in the afternoon but the ammo didn't get to my house until 16:30 and it was already getting dark
That was 6 days ago and I have to wait another 3 days for a day off to go shooting The gun was ready to shoot by 13:30 in the afternoon but the ammo didn't get to my house until 16:30 and it was already getting dark
Interesting that some people seem to enjoy using smelly/harsh chemicals, large tubs, rubber gloves and such...A simple Steam Shark from Canadian Tire will melt and blast away cosmoline in a fraction of the time, and the heated metal dries equally fast...
To each their own....
To each their own....
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
I found that scrubbing bubbles and a tooth brush for the tight spots works well too plus it smells like lemons
Alright, another newbie waiting for his first "brand new" cosmoline caked SKS. I'll be popping my cosmoline cleaning cherry this week. I'll be trying varsol and hot water method/stock in the oven.
One question, are you guys wiping down ALL metal parts in a light coating of gun oil or just certain parts?
One question, are you guys wiping down ALL metal parts in a light coating of gun oil or just certain parts?
