SKS caked in cosmoline

[baboon]

Try brake clean, it dries up fast without leaving a residue and it's not flammable, get it from the auto parts store. Don't get it in your eyes. I'd spray it with brake clean and use an old tooth brush to work it off. Then leave it soaking in Hoppes No.9, keep scrubbing with the tooth brush. Make sure the gas tube and piston are free of the crap too. I had a friend that was shooting one that was still filled with cosmoline, the thing actually cycled but was slow, lol. I'll bet the tool kit and everything is caked in that crap.

The problem with brake cleaner is it works to well. It’s a must to go back after using it and lubricate everything properly. A mechanic I know used brake cleaner the had parts lock up from galling

 

[candcallen]

Hello all,
I recently got gifted a pretty crappy Chinese SKS that is CAKED in cosmoline. I don't know what the guy who owned it before was thinking.

I've been trying to clean it but the bolt was this ugly orange color and the firing pin only moved after working it with CLP, a mallet, and pliers for an hour. I tried to hammer out the firing pin retainer to no avail, it barely budged and my hands hurt like crazy. I have a bench vise and I don't think I'm THAT weak. I've been watching YouTube videos while I try to clean it and I think my sks is as bad as it gets. I can provide pictures of needed.

Is it important that I get all the cosmoline out? Is slam firing that big of an issue? The firing pin moves in the bolt now with more ease but doesn't drop with gravity.

Thank you!

In AZ we made a solar still and put it in there in the sun. It runs off and softens up.

 

[TxStetson]

Yeah. What do I know...I've only cleaned up 15 or 20 WW2 rifles packed in various types of hardened grease...
I'm just a dumbass

It’s not like you know anything about grease either.

 

[Vaquero]

I just laid mine out on a towel. About this time of year. Flip it after a couple of hours in full sun. Let bake another 2 hours.

 

[acidfly]

Orange Sol

 

[RedArmy]

The problem with brake cleaner is it works to well. It’s a must to go back after using it and lubricate everything properly. A mechanic I know used brake cleaner the had parts lock up from galling

It'll have to be lubed anyway once cleaned. I use it as a degreaser, the stuff eats through any kind of grease or grime in seconds which is why it's great for brake jobs. You don't want brake dust in the air when you start a brake job hence it's original purpose, I hose the whole brake assembly down before working and then once cleaned and new pads or shoes in place use the normal lubricant. I won't start any job without it, I have about three cans in garage now. Also great for getting oil and grease stains off of your garage floor or driveway.

Adding one important thing: Don't get it on paint or plastic.

 

[RedArmy]

I used it to remove a hundred years of grease and grime on my 1910 Pre 64 Winchester build. It was spotless in seconds.

 

[A1Oni]

leave the stock in the sun then use a heat gun for the metal parts.

 

[deemus]

I just laid mine out on a towel. About this time of year. Flip it after a couple of hours in full sun. Let bake another 2 hours.

This. Find a really hot spot at your house. Stand it on end with an old towel (that you don’t want anymore) under it. That’s a great start to cleaning that junk off. Then you can get detailed with it.

 

[Geezer]

Back when SKS's were plentiful and dirt cheap, we used to soak them in a pan of gas, Stock and everything, and scrub them with a brush. Take an air hose to dry them off and blow the gas out of the innards. Spray them down with WD-40 and start shooting them.

I don't think you can hurt a SKS.

 

[toddnjoyce]

It’s been decades since I messed with SKSs, but all the milsurps I ever touched were dunked in cosmoline as a preservative.

Since it’s oxidized and crusty now, the best thing to do is heat soak it; cosmoline starts to liquefy around 115-125*; an old metal trash can in direct sun all day could work wonders to loosen it up to the point of being able to field strip the rifle.

At that point, separate the wood stuff from the metal stuff. Keep the metal stuff and solvent soak them; hot solvent if you can. Take the wood stuff and throw it away; wood is porous and has absorbed enough cosmo that it will leach out until the end of time as we know it.

After the hot solvent soak, you’ll still have to scrub the parts to really get all the cosmo out. Forced air to dry, then repeat a few times, even detail stripping the gun if you’re confident enough to do that.

Despite all your effort, you’ll probably have some cosmoline leach out for a while when shooting enough to get the barrel hot.

 

[Nicholst55]

I had a couple of machine gun barrels packed in cosmoline that I needed to clean off back in AZ. I tossed them into the solvent tank on Thursday afternoon before I left work (we wroked four 10-hour days each week), and left them there over the weekend. Monday morning, all of the cosmo just sluffed right off. I ran a couple of patches down each bore to make sure all the cosmo was out, and called it good. Hit them with some CLP, and they were ready to go. I would think that the OP could do the same thing with his SKS bolt - soak it in some type of solvent for a day or two, then blow it out with compressed air. It doesn't take a super-duty solvent to remove cosmo; denatured alcohol will work, for crying out loud!

 

[benenglish]

Watch your eyes!

Don't get it in your eyes.

QFT.

Emergency, after-hours visits to your eye doctor are no fun for anyone. I know from experience.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Haha I feel like cleaning guns with gasoline would be a bad idea….

You do realize cosmoline is petroleum based, right? Your gun is literally in a petroleum jelly cocoon.

 

[Gordo]

Thank you!
Every kid in Texas I knew tapped a well head for white gas when they were low on funds, city kids called it drip gas. Hard to start the motor, but once it got running it was fine.

As a kid in southern canada (Wisconsin), all I had to tap were maple trees...

 

[G O B]

Mineral spirits are you're friend! Complete disassembly is necessary.

 

[TreyG-20]

As a kid in southern canada (Wisconsin), all I had to tap were maple trees...

Damn. As kid in south Texas all I had to tap was little country women. Aka: River Rats.







Okay maybe a couple of Hispanic women. Aka: Hood rats.

 

[Gordo]

Were they sticky, like maple syrup?

 

[1911'S 4 Me]

As a kid in southern canada (Wisconsin), all I had to tap were maple trees...

That must have been hard on you.

 

[Gordo]

Mineral spirits are you're friend! Complete disassembly is necessary.

I like mineral spirits, even the cheaper stuff, but prefer the low odor version.
Use it in my parts washer, as it's slow to evaporate, and not as hard on my hands as stoddard solvent.
Can put some in a pan on the bench to clean small parts, forget to cover it and come back a day or two later, and it's still there.
Seems to not hold fine debris in suspension, lets it drop to the bottom quickly.

Use it to break in, and clean RC, and slot car motors. Just wire them up, and drop them in the bath.
Worked well at events that issued hand out motors, so everyone was on 'equal grounds'.

No chance of sparks igniting it when the motor was fully submerged.
Works well on cleaning any brushed motor.

And the odorless is the same as what's in charcoal lighter.