Thanks to one of you who suggested steam cleaning my SVTs... BEST EVER

Fretman said:
Absolutely invaluable for cleaning the cosmoline out of newly arrived firearms and after shooting corrosive ammo. I do not recommend doing this in your kitchen sink however as cosmoline will plug your drain haretrigger!
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I pour about a measuring cup of Simple Green into the trap side compartment of the sink before I start and then run lots of hot water down behind the cosmoline runoff when I'm done. As a plumber, I can't say I'd recommend doing this over a drain if your on a septic field.
 
haretrigger said:
I pour about a measuring cup of Simple Green into the trap side compartment of the sink before I start and then run lots of hot water down behind the cosmoline runoff when I'm done. As a plumber, I can't say I'd recommend doing this over a drain if your on a septic field.
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Good to know. Thanks.
 
I finally cleaned my SVT 40 today.
Cleaning a healthy cosmoline coating off a rifle is WAY easier with a steamer. I've chemically cleaned sks's in the past which is a nasty fume laden task. IMO steam is the way to go.
We've had a Steam Genie kicking around the house for quite a while and it never really found it's place in our world, until now. I love that thing.
It took roughly 45 minute to thoroughly clean every part of the SVT.
I'm really happy with the results and ease of use.
I pretty much did what ADHDCanuck described in post #10.
Now I lost my dread of cosmo cleaning, so there may be a few more red rifles showing up at my bench in the future. This thread has been really useful. :cool: Thanks for the tip.

Steam Genie:
nettoyeur-vapeur-steam-genie-300.jpg
 
ADHDCanuck said:
i took the whole thing apart, as far as the bare wood stock.. laid each piece on at a time on a folded towel on the floor and shot the living hell out of it, like a push broom only heavy pressurized steam from the jet nozzle. you can see the cosmoline turn into an emulsification and foam off...
each piece will dry in a minute as it is hot.

set aside.

hold the barrel near vertical (i stood it up at a 45 degree angle) and fire into it, rotating the barrel to ensure the pressure gets equally applied.
a nicer unit will do it in one shot but my toy sized steamer didnt get everything, but it sure heated up the barrel!! and loosened the gunk and sweated the cosmo.

all i did was fill the barrel with WIPEOUT (use whatever cleaner you like but that one is an expanding foam that eats anything and leaves a corrosion inhibitor dry finish that eliminates the need for extra oil) then three patches and the barrel is mirror finish.

I used the original cleaning rod and just shoved a couple .50 calibre patches thru.. but it just loves doubled over .30 calibre patches too.

all the little nooks and crannies in the receiver area, the rails for the bolt and cover, the trigger seat, all of it cleans out with steam no problem, its like a jet wash. then just wipe after and give it a drop of oil.

Its good to follow the steaming of the barrel with a hit of solvent then an oil or corrosion product just to make sure everything moisture related is out.. but its so hot you have to hold the barrel with a towel so no worries about drying!
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I decided not be conservative and tried to clean up one of my SVT-40 with this method. I even used the same steam cleaner. But the problem with all those " little nooks and crannies in the receiver area" - after cleaning it's a mix of moisture and cosmo leftovers and it's in all tiny holes and in-between spaces of small parts of receiver. I think I need to fully take apart receiver now. How do you guys handle the moisture or water drop in hard to reach areas after steam cleaning?
 
ADHDCanuck said:
yeah, i find the SVT way easier, more parts yes, but more intuitive and rugged. everything fits only one way and its so much nicer to clean the gas system
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Now that's what I want to hear !!

ADHDCanuck said:
that darn nasty rear spring tho, im so glad i figured out my little tool trick, its a breeze now!! no more sore thumbs!!
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I find that a 7.62 round fits perfectly to keep the spring in place while I fit the bolt cover back on.
 
Horilka said:
I decided not be conservative and tried to clean up one of my SVT-40 with this method. I even used the same steam cleaner. But the problem with all those " little nooks and crannies in the receiver area" - after cleaning it's a mix of moisture and cosmo leftovers and it's in all tiny holes and in-between spaces of small parts of receiver. I think I need to fully take apart receiver now. How do you guys handle the moisture or water drop in hard to reach areas after steam cleaning?
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You need one with a nozzle. The steam blast coming out will not only melt the cosmo but blast it away like water. For best results take it all apart then steam blast every component. This is the method I used for the SKS and SVT40. It took like less than 15 min each to clean.
 
One more thing. When the Norc 1911 arrived from Canam it was caked with yellow hard cosmo outside and every possible nook and crannies. But did not stand a chance from the steam blaster. It heats the metal and cosmo comes off and melts even from that tiny little spring off the mag release button. No brushing or soap required.
 
When I clean both SKS and SVT40 after shooting corrosive ammo, I just dump all small parts into the sink filled with dish soap and very hot water for about 15-20 min while I'm running the hot water from the hand held tap into the barrel and action for about 2-3 min. The barrel gets very hot too and dries in no time but I also follow with the patch with Ballistol. Ballistol emulsifiers with water and forces it out leaving very light film of oil on a metal.
Then I take all the small parts fom the sink, rinse them well and lay to cool and dry. I do shake as much water as possible from the bolt assembly and put a few drops of Ballistol there too. Then with the patch with Ballistol I follow all the parts that go back to assemble the rifle. That's it!!
 
SteelCap said:
You need one with a nozzle. The steam blast coming out will not only melt the cosmo but blast it away like water. For best results take it all apart then steam blast every component. This is the method I used for the SKS and SVT40. It took like less than 15 min each to clean.
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Yes, I'm using one with the nozzle. Still moisture remains. It's not a problem with parts I can remove then blast them with steam, it's a problem with parts you normally don't remove like the module with disconnector/ejector/hold open latch.
 
haretrigger said:
The steam cleaner I alluded to borrowing in the another thread was a fancy 250-300 dollar unit, never realized there were smaller hand held units like this available - I'll have to look into getting one.

Now I can make my wife happy and tell her I cleaned the kitchen sink with steam (But not that I did it because I filled in with cosmoline first).

FYI They work awesome for cleaning BBQ's and Ovens out too.
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Do not wash cosmoline down your drain unless you want to plug it up. I steam clean my new firearms on the backyard grass and don't have to clean up after. Also on o hot sunny day leave stock in the sun to leach out extra cosmo.
 
ADHDCanuck said:
i took the whole thing apart, as far as the bare wood stock.. laid each piece on at a time on a folded towel on the floor and shot the living hell out of it, like a push broom only heavy pressurized steam from the jet nozzle. you can see the cosmoline turn into an emulsification and foam off...
each piece will dry in a minute as it is hot.

set aside.

hold the barrel near vertical (i stood it up at a 45 degree angle) and fire into it, rotating the barrel to ensure the pressure gets equally applied.
a nicer unit will do it in one shot but my toy sized steamer didnt get everything, but it sure heated up the barrel!! and loosened the gunk and sweated the cosmo.

all i did was fill the barrel with WIPEOUT (use whatever cleaner you like but that one is an expanding foam that eats anything and leaves a corrosion inhibitor dry finish that eliminates the need for extra oil) then three patches and the barrel is mirror finish.

I used the original cleaning rod and just shoved a couple .50 calibre patches thru.. but it just loves doubled over .30 calibre patches too.

all the little nooks and crannies in the receiver area, the rails for the bolt and cover, the trigger seat, all of it cleans out with steam no problem, its like a jet wash. then just wipe after and give it a drop of oil.

Its good to follow the steaming of the barrel with a hit of solvent then an oil or corrosion product just to make sure everything moisture related is out.. but its so hot you have to hold the barrel with a towel so no worries about drying!
Click to expand...

I use lined rubber gloves the steel gets very hot.
 
I think i might order this. I've got 2 SKS's arriving tomorrow and amazon ships fast and free!

h t t p://www.amazon.ca/Multi-Purpose-Pressurized-Cleaning-Sanitizing-Attachments/dp/B000OP3ABM/ref=sr_1_33?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1398395868&sr=1-33&keywords=steam+cleaner
 
Fretman said:
Do not wash cosmoline down your drain unless you want to plug it up. I steam clean my new firearms on the backyard grass and don't have to clean up after. Also on o hot sunny day leave stock in the sun to leach out extra cosmo.
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See post #41

As long as you run hot water behind the sweated out cosmo you will not plug your drain cleaning the odd rifle here or there (I've cleaned more than 10 and haven't had a plugged drain yet). After all, where do you think the grease from your dishes goes?

Generous amounts of simple green or dishsoap mixed with hot water before you pull the plug on the drain will not hurt a properly functioning drainage system.

Again, do not drain cosmoline runoff into a drain connected to a septic field as you will cause big problems for yourself.
 
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