Author Topic: Cosmolene, Gaack! (Read 5963 times)

JarheadAZ · « **on:** November 14, 2016, 08:02:56 am »

The title says most of it. Looking at an M-44 and an M59/66A1. Bought a gallon of Super Clean degreaser for soaking, and a 1" round brush with stiff synthetic bristles. Going as low-tech as possible; field strip, place in drum liner, pour in Super Clean, return a week later.

Something will occur, maybe even something positive...

I have a roll of paper towel, a bundle of pink shop rags, the aforementioned 1" brush, and a steely-eyed determination not to swerve from the appointed task.

I welcome comments/advice; it will probably be a long week waiting and I could use some entertainment.

(Sigh).

I was going to use Purple Power, but saw mixed reviews. I have used Super Clean before, back when I was exiting my not-missed 'Tactical Phase', to strip Krylon (homebrew camo, what else?) off some synthetic stocks. Soak overnight, push the paint off with a Nitrile glove. Aluminum gets etched. So...?

These days, if I need camo (?), I diddiebop on down to Wally World and see what camo patterns are offered as Duck tape. It's best to assume camo is temporary.

Greg

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6.5 Gunner · « **Reply #1 on:** November 14, 2016, 09:29:13 am »

Cleaning off the Cosmoline is the best part! I recently fixed up an old Brazilian Mauser carbine in 7mm Mauser, nothing spectacular, but the replacement stock and parts looked like an entire can of the stuff was used to preserve it. The rifle I had the most cosmoline stuffed into was a m59/66 sks; pulling the bolt to the rear caused it to ooze out through the crevasses and the bolt didn't have enough energy to go into battery...and the entire barrel was plugged. It did it's job though, preserved the metal perfectly and the bore looked fresh off the factory line. My dad has that rifle now and loves it to death.

anm2_man · « **Reply #2 on:** November 14, 2016, 02:01:05 pm »

I buy alot of New in Wrap parts for my beltfed that were made in the 40's. I have always used Kerosene. It always seemed quite effective at removing the cosmoline. Soak it for a day, then brush and soak for another day. By day three, 99% of it is gone.

Though YMMV

coelacanth · « **Reply #3 on:** November 14, 2016, 04:01:12 pm »

Agreed. Kerosene works pretty well and has the advantage of being cheap.

mlshermancpa · « **Reply #4 on:** November 14, 2016, 05:48:55 pm »

It never goes away so learn to love it. I cleaned my Mosin stock for two days before refinishing and that stuff still oozes out of the wood when it gets hot.

AzShooter1 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 15, 2016, 03:54:36 am »

Kerosene works great but make sure you are in a ventilate area or your other half will explode. Simple Green cleaner does a great job let the parts soak for an hour and then just wipe them off. Carb cleaner also works great for a fast cleaning but then you have the smell to worry about.

steve2md · « **Reply #6 on:** November 15, 2016, 08:14:53 am »

If you can find a metal mud tray long enough for the stock, or if you can make a trough for it, it can go in a bath of dawn dish soap, water, and lemishine (about a tbs of soap and a large pinch of lemishine). Keep it just under a boil. The cosmoline will continually seep out over an hour or two. Then dry the stock well and it will be ready for finishing. This method will raise the grain, removing many of the dings and scratches in the stock, but will require a light sanding as well before the finish is applied.

JarheadAZ · « **Reply #7 on:** November 15, 2016, 09:27:21 am »

Stand by..., stand by...; belay my last!

The M-44 does not have cosmo on it, I discovered on opening the gun case. It just needs a good conventional cleaning.

The M-59/66A1 is still all gooped up, though...

Oh, well...

Greg

The Dawn, water, and Lemishine sounds like an excellent alternative.

BTW, I did some experimentation regarding brass cleansers, and found out that house brand unsweetened lemonade mix is a viable substitute for the Lemishine, and it comes in handy little packets, too.

Also, when I prepped before refinishing my Garand stock, I tried out laying wet paper towel against stock dings, and applying a steam iron over it. It steams out quite a bit of ding.

steve2md · « **Reply #8 on:** November 15, 2016, 10:54:07 am »

Quote from: JarheadAZ on November 15, 2016, 09:27:21 am

The Dawn, water, and Lemishine sounds like an excellent alternative.

BTW, I did some experimentation regarding brass cleansers, and found out that house brand unsweetened lemonade mix is a viable substitute for the Lemishine, and it comes in handy little packets, too.

Also, when I prepped before refinishing my Garand stock, I tried out laying wet paper towel against stock dings, and applying a steam iron over it. It steams out quite a bit of ding.

yep, Whatever citric acid you have will work the same

RetroG · « **Reply #9 on:** November 15, 2016, 01:13:19 pm »

If you can wait until it is hot here again, put the rifle in a black plastic bag and put it outside in the sun. Pretty much liquifies a lot of the cosmo, makes it easier to clean out/off and doesn't mess up the inside of the house or garage.

steve2md · « **Reply #10 on:** November 15, 2016, 01:33:25 pm »

Yep. That. If you wrap it in an old t shirt in the bag, it'll be even less messy as the shirt will absorb a large quantity. Of course, there's always the old heat gun and plastic paint scraper....

JarheadAZ · « **Reply #11 on:** November 17, 2016, 08:05:29 am »

Only one question; won't the citric acid attack any blueing?

Greg

steve2md · « **Reply #12 on:** November 17, 2016, 08:59:11 am »

Yes, that recipe is for the stock. for the rest, omit the citric

JarheadAZ · « **Reply #13 on:** November 17, 2016, 09:55:53 am »

Thanks for clearing that up, I would have made the goof otherwise.

For some odd reason my M-59's stock is whistle clean, but the metal is slathered. It'll take that as a win, and go for the goop this week.

Greg

steve2md · « **Reply #14 on:** November 17, 2016, 10:16:21 am »

If you want to avoid boiling the parts in dish soap, I've become pretty fond of the purple degreaser that harbor freight carries by the gallon. It might do the trick as well

Alex · « **Reply #15 on:** November 21, 2016, 07:46:03 am »

Quote from: coelacanth on November 14, 2016, 04:01:12 pm

Agreed. Kerosene works pretty well and has the advantage of being cheap.

Where do you find Kerosene? I went a couple of years back to the local home depot. Goodness I miss hardware stores. I had some wick lamps and wanted some kerosene. I asked the young lad who was nearby where I could find kerosene after looking for 30 minutes and he looked at me like I had said something in Mandarin with a Portuguese accent. Get this ... he then asked me "what is kerosene" !!??!?!??!

I said ... were you ever in the boy scouts and you had those little lamps that you would light up at the camp sight. (I found I was actually kind of pantomiming at this point hoping to spark some recognition.) The stuff you fill it with is what I am looking for.
He told me " oh you mean citronella oil"

I cried a little inside

steve2md · « **Reply #16 on:** November 21, 2016, 10:33:12 am »

Ace Hardware is where I get mine. I use it as a pre soak for billets when I'm making Damascus.

coelacanth · « **Reply #17 on:** November 21, 2016, 08:56:33 pm »

Quote from: Alex on November 21, 2016, 07:46:03 am

Where do you find Kerosene? I went a couple of years back to the local home depot. Goodness I miss hardware stores. I had some wick lamps and wanted some kerosene. I asked the young lad who was nearby where I could find kerosene after looking for 30 minutes and he looked at me like I had said something in Mandarin with a Portuguese accent. Get this ... he then asked me "what is kerosene" !!??!?!??!

I said ... were you ever in the boy scouts and you had those little lamps that you would light up at the camp sight. (I found I was actually kind of pantomiming at this point hoping to spark some recognition.) The stuff you fill it with is what I am looking for.
He told me " oh you mean citronella oil"

I cried a little inside

WTF? I've never been in a Home Depot that didn't carry it. They carry a stuff that is the low sulfur kerosene analog to low sulfur diesel fuel. It is for kerosene heaters and is made by a company called Klean Strip. You can also probably find it in the paint aisle.

I think you must have blundered into a trainee or new employee.

rubinschmidt · « **Reply #18 on:** November 30, 2016, 08:22:16 pm »

Spray-on oven cleaner does a great job of pulling the preservatives out of the wood. Just spray on and let it bubble up and soak for an hour or more then wipe all the gunk off with an old cloth towel or paper towels Repeat as needed. If everything is nice and warm (as in left in the garage during the summer) it goes even faster. Wear some plastic or latex gloves. Dollar Store oven cleaner works just fine.

You'll need to refinish the wood if you do it this way. It will end up being as bone dry as kiln dried lumber when you're finished. I never had any damage to the stock metal. The oven cleaner is high pH and does not easily attack steel, but i wouldn't leave it sitting on the metal overnight

I used to do this on the old mausers that came in during the 80s/90s. I enjoyed making an ugly but functional piece look brand new.

870policemag · « **Reply #19 on:** December 01, 2016, 10:36:31 am »

Am I the only one here who uses good 'ol fashion gasoline?

JarheadAZ · « **Reply #20 on:** December 01, 2016, 11:00:38 am »

Well, the M-44 went back to its owner going on a week ago, and he's happy.

Greg

BigDaddyDMD · « **Reply #21 on:** December 01, 2016, 01:17:14 pm »

Thanks to all for the replies. I have been following this thread with interest. A little extra knowledge from someone else's experience is a good thing to tuck away, and I learned a couple new techniques for cleaning up cosmoline.

JarheadAZ · « **Reply #22 on:** December 02, 2016, 09:32:26 am »

Slightly off-topic.

Referring back to duck tape camo; the main drawback in applying duck tape as a camo surface is the Gawd-Awful adhesive. It wants to become one, in the biblical sense, with whatever it resides upon. This can be resolved in a slightly out-of-box manner.

First, apply masking tape (I have used the blue stuff for this) wherever the duck tape will be applied. Then cover up the masking tape with the camo duck tape. I have always left the metal parts bare.

Once I discovered this process, I abstained completely from the spray can mentality.

This dual layer can be left in place for literally years (years being used here as an indefinite, relative term...), as if it was one layer, yet still peel off cleanly. I have experienced this personally; having crafted up a neato little Woodland Camo Win '94 44Mag Trapper Carbine. The duck tape appears to seal the masking tape, maybe preventing its adhesive layer from drying out.

Maybe...

Greg

coelacanth · « **Reply #23 on:** December 06, 2016, 09:25:50 pm »

Sounds interesting.

christopherRobin · « **Reply #24 on:** May 01, 2020, 09:08:43 pm »

Stripper on the wood..Then Low Oven (when the wife is away) and wipe. Repeat about ten times. Then Laquer thinner. Repeat until the cows come home. Eventually, you have nice, clean dry wood. Finish as desired. Metal parts just use solvent. Enjoy the smell of that cosmo. These days its getting too expensive to do Milsurp as a cheap hobby. Sux...

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