Mosin Nagant's m91/30 cosmoline removal

[po1]

The girls picked me up a mosin nagant for christmas and I was looking for any ideas on getting the cosmoline out of the wood. There's not enough sunlight left this time of the year to set it outside and sweat it out. I'm going to strip it down this week and let everything else soak in mineral spirits.

 

[lucescoflathead]

Hang it up in the garage or basement and put a lamp near it. Put new paper under it or it will make a mess.

Cosmoline takes forever to remove with solvent. Good luck.

 

[po1]

Thanks I'll give that a try.

 

[sixgun86]

Other options for the stock would be boiling water or steam, some have actually used a dish washer lol. Most important part is let the stock dry naturally or you will risk cracks in the wood. Soaking it in anything will risk raising the grain, using a solvent on wood also could remove the finish.

 

[po1]

Here's the plan a little steam over the stove, then wipe down with dish water soap, a fresh water wipe down, then hang to dry near a lamp with a bare bulb. This one has a nice wood stock that I want to keep. My first mosin nagant I turned into a deer rifle with a monte carlo stock and scope (on hind sight I should have saved the old stock instead of ebaying it). Thanks for the ideas.

 

[po1]

The steam worked wonders the cosmoline came out quicker then I thought. Of course nothing ever goes smoothly I misplaced the trigger pin, it took a good hour crawling around the floor before I located it. Adjusting the firing pin was the only work that I had to do, the only thing that surprised me was that the gun shop sold this with the firing pin that far out of adjustment.

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

Man thats always a nasty job and a painful one too usually. I always put it in the truck and parked it in the sun with a bunch of old towels under it to catch the cosmolin as it melted out. Of course that was followed by a near endless scrub down after wards. Good luck with it!

 

[silvertip47]

You can use a parts washer, I have used it on a several miltary rifles. You will still get some cosmoline sweating out in the hot sun here in TX during the summer. I have some that I though the cosmoline was all gone, but this last summer with 110 F proved me wrong, but it helps. Tom :LOL2:

 

[lovedr79]

The shark handheld steamer!