Do you know anyone in NC that can check out a "Moose Nugget" as Taverndog calls them.
Just picked up one...M44-1948 Izhevsk Arsenal.
It still has some cosmoline on/in it. Also whats the best way to clean that goo off the rifle?
TIA
GLOCK-23

Did you get it for you or your son For Christmas

As a matter of fact,yes.
GLOCK-23

If your wanting to refinish the wood, acetone will cut the cosmoline pretty good.  You will still have to "cook" the rest out of the wood.  If your oven is big enough put it in there wraped in rags and get it warm.  In the summer time you can wrap the stock in rags and put in in the attic and the heat will help pull the cosmoline out.  This time of year I wait on the SO to go shopping and use the oven.

"No honey, I don't smell anything???"

I'm in SC so I can't recommend a smith for you.
You can get "go" "no go" gauges for 7.62x54R from Brownells now.

Clean the chamber real good.  The re-arsenaled MN's have a nasty laquer like coating in the chamber that turns into glue when you get it hot from shooting it.  

Any good smith should be able to do that for you.  I know of guys in Mebane, Butner, Garner, Raleigh and Wendell who I'd trust.  Some...  cough... cough... in Garner... cough... cough... may take longer than others.    But all would do a good job.

Hey Glock. , nice present. First wipe what you can off with a rag. Then break the rifle  completely down. Meaning take action out of stock. Clean  metal parts with solvent of your choice. I used  Mineral spirits . I believe . Or what ever was in my fathers parts washer. The wood I would  see what type of finnish is on it. If it looks nice I would be gentle with it. I think I used the parts washer with it also. And a tooth brush. Wifes matter of fact.. I have a MN 44 also. Fun rifle. Just teah him the proper way to clean corrsive ammo. I always windex with ammoinia mine at the range Before I leave.I pull a couple of patches soaked with windex through her  and then dry patch. The come back with a patch of Break Free. Take home and clean with Hoppes and  like normal. I have never had  rust while doing that method. Take care, WarDawg

Speaking as a self-confessed cosmolene junkie, there are several approaches to skinning this cat.

First thing to do is wipe as much cosmo off the rifle as possible.

Disassemble it, taking the metal out of the wood.

For removing cosmo from metal, I like to use som el-cheapo carb cleaner at about $1 a can.  (don't breathe the stuff.  It will just melt the stuff away.  When you're done spraying it down, clean as you would any other gun, and then oil the rifle as carb cleaner will get rid of all lubricants on the rifle.

MEK, mineral spirits, kerosene, diesel fuel, and gasolene will all do the same thing,as will WD-40.  Use what you like.

On the wood, well, there's a bit of a dilemma.

Russians uses a shellac on their stocks that will come off if you're too agressive with the cosmo cleaning.  If you're going to refinish the wood, or don't care about the shellac, then there's a number of quick fixes.

There's a degreaser called Purple Power available at hardware and uto stores that makes fairly quick work of cosmo soaked stocks.

MEK does well too.

Some use EZ-Off oven cleaner, but it can give the wood a greenish cast.

Various paint strippers like Cutz-it and others work in the same fashion.

All of these methods will remove the shellac and original wood finish too.  You'll need to reoil the stock with boiled linseed oil or tung oil, or whatever you prefer.

The other school of thought is to use heat to bake the cosmo from the rifle.  Some will use heat guns, or construct cosmolene melting ovens with aluminum gutter tubing and a space heater.  Still others will put stocks in their ovens at low heat and let the como drip out , removing them to wipe the cosmo off at regular intervals.

In the summer, you can put the rifle out in the sun, or on the back ledge of your car's rear window and let mother nature cook the cosmo out.  Some accelrate this method by putting the stock in a black plastic bag.

The final method is to "leech" the oils out of the stock by using a product from Brownell's called "whiting", or kitty litter.  Basically, you fill a box with this material, insert the stock, and let it sit for a few days.  The whiting or kitty litter will leech the oils out of the stock.

If the stock needs reoild, I recommend boiled linseed oil or Behr's 600 Tung Oil Finish.

Good luck.

A clothe damp with warm water also works to remove cosmo, but make sure you dry and oil everything good of course afterwards.

Quoted: Quoted: Also whats the best way to clean that goo off the rifle? Car Wash!

and while you are there keep a good look out for guys walking up to you and trying to ask for change

It sounds like a good father son project.
Thanks for all the input.
I don't believe I'll go the car wash route...Something tells me not many people are going to ask a guy with a rifle with a bayonet on it for change.
GLOCK-23