I just did my Garand stock in papertowels, trash bag and my car. Stock was hot to the touch and the papertowels were covered in cosmo. Did it a second time for good measure, they were almost dry on the 2nd go around.
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My cosmoline removal device - version 1.0
- Thread starter Bruce for NH State Rep
- Start date
Has anyone ever scorched a stock using the lightbulb in the duct on the sled method? Why do I ask? Well, it is a long story with a fairly predictable outcome. Any suggestions on how much wood can be scraped off before it would be better to just buy another stock?
If you try heating up a Mosin stock to get cosmolene out there's a chance you blister the shellac.
I could be wrong but its such a hard finish that I don't think cosmo is going to make it's way through it, but instead seep from the inner areas like where the receiver sits and barrel channel.
The thing to remember is that it took years to soak in. Just my opinion but I don't think trying to get it all out in short time is a good idea.
Yes. I like all the ingenuity the guys post about making ovens and different things. I just did a cosmoline removal on a mosin.......set up in the garage. Camp stove with one lobster pot and a smaller "old" pot (so the wife doesn't get too pissed about ruining her good ones).......biggest rubber made bin you have around.......small funnel. Disassemble and put the bolt pieces and magazine/trigger guard in the small pot to boil gently.......while pouring boiling water in the bore and all over the barrel/receiver/trigger area while holding it over the rubbermade bin. Cosmolene floats to the surface on the pot on the stove with the bolt parts in it.....remove with tongues cuz they are hot as hell and dry them off. Barrel and receiver just dry them off and then oil the hell out of everything before reassembly. Wood stock I hit with gently with a hair dryer and wipe it down with a rag while its soft. Total time to cosmo free mosin is 60 minutes!!!!
For those trying to get your barrels clean.....all I can say is I think the only cleaner these barrels ever did see was just to neutralize the corrisive salts. Nothing for copper removal.
I wasted much time and patches with little progress.
Finally I did this.
1. I filled a small bucket with simple green and hot water.
2. Working from the chamber end and the muzzle in the bucket of soapy water I used a tight fitting mop and basically plunged the mop in and out pumping the soapy water in and out. Alternating with a brush. The crud that came out was nasrty.
3. My final phase consisted of a diy electro bore cleaning. This got some deep down crusty nasty from all the pits and crannies of the bore. I did a final cleaning with sweets 762 and one foaming bore cleaning treatment. Only then did my patches come out a slight shade of gray
I wasted much time and patches with little progress.
Finally I did this.
1. I filled a small bucket with simple green and hot water.
2. Working from the chamber end and the muzzle in the bucket of soapy water I used a tight fitting mop and basically plunged the mop in and out pumping the soapy water in and out. Alternating with a brush. The crud that came out was nasrty.
3. My final phase consisted of a diy electro bore cleaning. This got some deep down crusty nasty from all the pits and crannies of the bore. I did a final cleaning with sweets 762 and one foaming bore cleaning treatment. Only then did my patches come out a slight shade of gray
MisterHappy
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My dad was an armorer in WWII. Around the time of the Bulge, they got in a bunch of stuff that needed to be de-cosed, and he was not all that high on using frigid gasoline as a solvent. So, he rigged up a tank, and fire, and water, put the parts in, and melted it off. Cosmoline rose to the surface, and it was skimmed off. Then a quick oat of oil, and off to fight Hitler!
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
CLP cleans and protects. It will also soften up and remove caked cosmolene. I use WD40 only because its cheaper and you can get cans with the pin point blaster tip.![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
Wear safety glasses. Ive used that pinpoint tip to get into crevices many years ago on non gun projects and you can pinpoint deflect right back at you.
Found this thread pretty late in the day but I'd like to just make a couple of comments.
First of all, the military never anticipated keeping stocks in cosmo as long as they were. Some of the rifles we found were buried under the stuff for over half a century, certainly long enough for that vegetable based oily stubstance to penetrate wood stocks. When Korea broke out, rifles were delivered to the camps in 55 gallon drums that, when opened, contained rifles full of cosmo. The practice back then was to take an empty barrel, fill it with water, and literally boil the entire rifle clean enough to use. There were a lot of warps, checks, cracks, and waterlogged stocks back then for sure.
I've cut some of the really damaged stocks in sections to find that cosmo has literally penetrated almost to the core. Others maybe half way. The only way to get it out is to use the heater technique mentioned earlier in this thread. you can also put the stock in a heavy duty black plastic bag with some kitty litter. Let it sit in the hot summer sun and twice a day shake the bag to expose new litter. IT will take about a week but it'll be done right. Heat will drive the cosmo to the surface. Trust me on this. It works every time but you've got to be patient.
In any event, there are a few rules that can never be broken when it comes to cleaning stocks. I've been online for over 15 years preaching them and hope that they will save some stocks:
1) NEVER EVER "soak" a cosmo stock in anything. IT does NOT remove cosmo but will, at best, replace the cosmo. So, maybe some of the cosmo will leach out but you'll have a stock soaked in gas or mineral spirits or anything else you use as a bath. The stock will be ruined.
2) NEVER EVER use "oven cleaner" to try to pull cosmo out. Oven cleaner will permanently harm the exterior of a walnut stock and make it grey. Yes, it can be fixed but it will require a lot of work. Since the cosmo is so deep in many stocks, applying caustic chemicals to the exterior does nothing to solve the problem.
3) NEVER EVER place a stock in a dishwasher. My oh my. Before you do that, ask your wife if maybe you should put your old aunts end table in the swimming pool to clean it. This is wood, fellas. Wood sucks up water and you'll end up with a stock that weights twice as much as original and you'll still have a problem. And, as it dries, you can rest assured that that stock will do whatever it can to warp.
Now some of you may know someone or even had your own experience with some odd-ball remedy that supposedly worked. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once and a while. But the probability of something catastrophic happening is so high that you should not take the chance.
Use heat as much as you can. You'll know when you're finished. Take the stock and, like checking a baseball bat, hold the skinny end and 'thunk" the thick end and you'll head a satisfying thunk........not a "thud".
Remember, that stock has seen history and really needs to be preserved as best as possible.
Rome aka Cabinetman.
First of all, the military never anticipated keeping stocks in cosmo as long as they were. Some of the rifles we found were buried under the stuff for over half a century, certainly long enough for that vegetable based oily stubstance to penetrate wood stocks. When Korea broke out, rifles were delivered to the camps in 55 gallon drums that, when opened, contained rifles full of cosmo. The practice back then was to take an empty barrel, fill it with water, and literally boil the entire rifle clean enough to use. There were a lot of warps, checks, cracks, and waterlogged stocks back then for sure.
I've cut some of the really damaged stocks in sections to find that cosmo has literally penetrated almost to the core. Others maybe half way. The only way to get it out is to use the heater technique mentioned earlier in this thread. you can also put the stock in a heavy duty black plastic bag with some kitty litter. Let it sit in the hot summer sun and twice a day shake the bag to expose new litter. IT will take about a week but it'll be done right. Heat will drive the cosmo to the surface. Trust me on this. It works every time but you've got to be patient.
In any event, there are a few rules that can never be broken when it comes to cleaning stocks. I've been online for over 15 years preaching them and hope that they will save some stocks:
1) NEVER EVER "soak" a cosmo stock in anything. IT does NOT remove cosmo but will, at best, replace the cosmo. So, maybe some of the cosmo will leach out but you'll have a stock soaked in gas or mineral spirits or anything else you use as a bath. The stock will be ruined.
2) NEVER EVER use "oven cleaner" to try to pull cosmo out. Oven cleaner will permanently harm the exterior of a walnut stock and make it grey. Yes, it can be fixed but it will require a lot of work. Since the cosmo is so deep in many stocks, applying caustic chemicals to the exterior does nothing to solve the problem.
3) NEVER EVER place a stock in a dishwasher. My oh my. Before you do that, ask your wife if maybe you should put your old aunts end table in the swimming pool to clean it. This is wood, fellas. Wood sucks up water and you'll end up with a stock that weights twice as much as original and you'll still have a problem. And, as it dries, you can rest assured that that stock will do whatever it can to warp.
Now some of you may know someone or even had your own experience with some odd-ball remedy that supposedly worked. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once and a while. But the probability of something catastrophic happening is so high that you should not take the chance.
Use heat as much as you can. You'll know when you're finished. Take the stock and, like checking a baseball bat, hold the skinny end and 'thunk" the thick end and you'll head a satisfying thunk........not a "thud".
Remember, that stock has seen history and really needs to be preserved as best as possible.
Rome aka Cabinetman.
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How about wrapping it all up in an old blanket and leaving it in the sun ?
To clean the stock, I've read to wrap the stock in newspaper and put it in a black garbage bag and let it sit in the sun, or in a vehicle. It may need to be done a couple of times
inerlogic
NES Member
My Method:
1) buy 2-3 cans of Autozone brake cleaner on sale
2) detail strip firearm
3) tell wife to check on you every 5 minutes or so to be sure you're still alive
4) spray the ever-loving s*** out of all the parts in the laundry sink in the basement
5) coat parts lightly with CLP
6) ask wife why in 20 minutes she never checked on you once
1) buy 2-3 cans of Autozone brake cleaner on sale
2) detail strip firearm
3) tell wife to check on you every 5 minutes or so to be sure you're still alive
4) spray the ever-loving s*** out of all the parts in the laundry sink in the basement
5) coat parts lightly with CLP
6) ask wife why in 20 minutes she never checked on you once
The black plastic bag is a great idea especially if you put a couple of big cans of kitty litter in there with it. The heat from the sun will draw the cosmo out and it'll get sucked in by the kitty litter. Just shake it a couple of times a day and after a few days it'll come out much lighter (weight wise) and cleaner than when it went in. Cheap fix and you can tell your friends you went "green".
Rome
Rome
exo
NES Member
Maybe a little off topic, but still cosmolene related. I have a bunch of old com block AK47 magazines completely covered in cosmolene. What would be the easiest way to cleans them?
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Dish washer!
Babushka way.... drop in mud puddle and wipe.
20 years ago I used karosine then dish soapy water.
My favorite Cosmo removal for stocks.... shoot the rifle wipe hands off on pants.....repeat.
inerlogic
NES Member
Just to clarify, new kitty litter right?
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
Depends on how shitty a job you want to do....
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inerlogic
NES Member
That's a little pricey.
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I'd betta' buy one soon while there is still SUN !
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Old Toaster Oven set fairly low ?
