Sks cosmoline removal

If you felt inclined, is it okay to put the barrel/action in the oven on an angle and have the cosmo drip out into a tray? Could this damage it if done on low heat?
 
Cosmoline is pretty stinky stuff, if you have an understanding wife you might get away with it but the boiling water method works so good, it takes everything off, you then finish with brake cleaner, get the dried bits off, rub down with a little gun conditioner and mine both turned out like new. I poured boiling water down the barrel too and just swabbed out with bore cleaner after, it looks great. /i guess each method has its plusswes and minuses, I will use boiling water every time.
 
JEC18159 said:
If you felt inclined, is it okay to put the barrel/action in the oven on an angle and have the cosmo drip out into a tray? Could this damage it if done on low heat?
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This is exactly what I did. Tinfoil on a baking sheet = no mess. I didn't smell a thing and my sks is clean :)
 
I've had the stock from a Norinco chinese sks in the oven at 170 degrees for 3 hours. The cosmo is still sweating out. I've been wiping the goo off every 15 minutes and it isn't showing any signs of stopping soon.
It's essential to get it all out of the wood. A hair dryer is out of the question. A guy on the Survivors sks boards made a cosmo oven out of a pvc pipe and light bulbs. He hung the stock in the middle and left it sit for a day.
 
banjaboy said:
Cosmoline is pretty stinky stuff, if you have an understanding wife you might get away with it but the boiling water method works so good, it takes everything off, you then finish with brake cleaner, get the dried bits off, rub down with a little gun conditioner and mine both turned out like new. I poured boiling water down the barrel too and just swabbed out with bore cleaner after, it looks great. /i guess each method has its plusswes and minuses, I will use boiling water every time.
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Here's the nice thing about boiling water. Use lots of it. Don't be shy. Get the barrel so hot you can't touch it, or any metal part like the bolt, for that matter.

Metal does a great job at retaining heat. After letting all the bits sit for half an hour, I found that pretty much everything was bone dry from the retained heat making all the moisture evaporate. Mind you, relative humidity in my house in the winter months is about 40%. Live in a tropical climate and you may not have the same success.
 
Does anybody know if mineral spirits will hurt the finish on a wood stock (varnish, shellac, whatever it is)? I usually wipe down my new military rifles with a rag and a little bit of mineral spirits just to get some of the immediate outer cosmoline off them and I've noticed that some the finish on my birch stock SVT is flaking off. Same with my lam SKS stock.
 
otter said:
Here's the nice thing about boiling water. Use lots of it. Don't be shy. Get the barrel so hot you can't touch it, or any metal part like the bolt, for that matter.

Metal does a great job at retaining heat. After letting all the bits sit for half an hour, I found that pretty much everything was bone dry from the retained heat making all the moisture evaporate. Mind you, relative humidity in my house in the winter months is about 40%. Live in a tropical climate and you may not have the same success.
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I am about to embark on this rite of passage with the SKS I received yesterday. Boiling water seems like the most newb friendly approach. Wish me luck...
 
The_Sicilian said:
I am about to embark on this rite of passage with the SKS I received yesterday. Boiling water seems like the most newb friendly approach. Wish me luck...
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I didnt like the boiling water method for cosmoline. I would go with varsol or mineral spirits. Soak all of the parts and then wipe them off. Even submerge the receiver and barel in varsol. Make sure you have lots of rags, q-tips, toothbrush.

Use boiling water for corrosive ammo cleaning.
 
sksshooter said:
It doesn't say it on their website but can anyone tell me if the Chinese SKS they are selling come with the cleaning kit in the stock and a sling? Do I use regular gun cleaning solvents to clean the SKS after shooting the corrosive ammo?
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If no sling, then are there sling swivels?
 
Djankle, why didn't you like the boiling water method for removing cosmoline, did it not work well in your opinion? I soaked the metal parts in varsol, then boiled them with a bit of anti-grease dish soap, and finished off with Gun Scrubber. Then I sprayed everything except the firing pin(I had the free floating one at the time) and the gas piston with G96, rubbed it in, and it's been great. I also coated the inside of the stock with water based Thompson Waterseal to keep it from absorbing water in future, and let it dry overnight in front of a cube heater. The slightly slippery finish it adds also makes gun parts slide in and out better.
 
banjaboy said:
good luck, tell us how you made out.
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Well I survived. It wasn't pretty and no doubt veteran observers would have been facepalming at an alarming rate but the boling water seemed to do the trick.

Used a sh!t ton of it so it took some time. The laundry tub played a huge role in my success and having my son start and stop the youtube video throughout the process was invaluable ..lol
 
pisces-guy said:
Amico mio, Siciliano, if you'd soaked the parts in Varsol first you would've saved yourself a lot of work and boiling acqua, sono sicuro! :)
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Lei è un mangiatore di torta grande no?
Actually brake cleaner works great on all metal surfaces & no waiting ;)
 
I started at 10 am and finished at 4 pm, i used the kettle method, washed all the metal parts, let them dry then clean them with solvent, it worked and all the cosmoline are gone, wife wasn't happy but what can you do.
 
okay so i pulled mine apart, used the brake cleaner and a whole crapload of hot water - so far, so good.

Thing is though, I took the bolt apart, cleaned everything meticulously, and then put it all together.

I thought the firing pin was supposed to rattle and float about, but even with all the cosmo cleaned out, it seems like a pretty snug fit - the pin does not float or rattle. It will move if i nudge it, but doesn't have any play whatsoever. What's the deal?

No, I didn't put it in backwards, sideways, inside out or upside down.
 
Im about to put my laminated stock in a heat box to sweat out the cosmo, with a hairdryer blowing in the hot air and i was wondering if the heat could melt the glue of the laminated stock. Should i worry about that happening?
 
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