Posted: 5/7/2006 5:04:15 PM EDT
I just got my really nice hand select Yugo SKS from J&G in Prescott. Right at $110 if you go pick it up. It's caked in Cosmoline and I'd like some good suggestions for removing it. I heard gasoline works well but is dangerous. How about Kerosene or Coleman's fuel? How about Brake Parts cleaner? How do I clean up the stock without damaging it? Enquiring minds want to know!
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I use low-odor Mineral spirits to wipe down the stock. Then take a heat gun to bring the cosmo and oil to the top of the stock and wipe it off with a rag or paper towel wet with mineral spirits. You'll have to repeat this until you are satisfied you got most of the cosmo off of the stock. Obviously you should do this in a well ventilated area. I also wear latex gloves when using mineral spirits. You can use some 0000 steel wool on the stock as well to help get up some of the rougher spots... If you don't get most or all of the gunk out of the stock, you can have the stuff creep back to the top of the stock when the gun gets hot from firing and mess up the new finish. Formbey's Furniture Refinisher works well also, but it's on the expensive side. Wear thick rubber gloves if you use it - its bad stuff... Once degreased, I use an iron and a wet cloth to help bring up any dents in the wood. This works pretty well, but not every ding will respond to the treatment. I lightly sanded the wood a little bit and refinished with low-gloss tung oil on a Yugo SKS I bought. My post-war Garands got boiled linseed oil (BLO) which was the correct finish for their year of manufacture. Most people usually cut the BLO or tung oil with mineral spirits at about 2:1 or 3:1 so it's not too thick and will absorb better. I hand rub several applications of this until I'm happy with it. 0000 steel wool again lightly between coats also helps remove any "thick" spots, and keeps the stock from getting too glossy in appearance. I hate seeing a glossy military stock - the two just don't go together IMHO. There are some other ideas here: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=83&t=85323 ETA: some details I neglected the first time. Was this more than you wanted to know?
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| Disassemble completely (not just field strip). Soak metal parts in mineral spirits. For the stock, you need to apply heat. You can use the oven or a heat gun or leave it out in a black garbage sack in the hot sun (if it's hot where you are). For the oven set it at around 150, take it out every 20 mins and wipe it down until nothing is really coming out of it anymore. This will smell so if you have a wife then this may not be the best option. You can use a degreaser though you have to be careful what you use on wood. After the metal parts have soaked, use brake parts cleaner (non-chlorinated) to get the rest out of the nooks and crannies. Be EXTRA sure that the bolt is free of cosmoline and the firing pin moves freely back and forth inside it. You may have to disassemble the bolt to do this right. |
I'm not that familer with cosmoline but it doesn't seem like it would be too good for the dishwasher.... but it seems to work for that guy. I guess I'll have to wait until the womans gone for a day. |
Have you ever used this method, or know of anyone who has? |
I used that method to clean-up the transmission and rear differential from my F-150. Worked pretty good. I threw in some Calgonite so there was no staining or water spots. |
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If you know any moonshiners, they make the best cosmolene remover in the world. A friend of mine used some that was too nasty to drink to clean up an SKS. It worked perfectly. He'd received the moonshine as a Christmas present. I forget which of us had the bright idea to try it, but it worked like a charm. I wish I would have had some around when I bought my Makarov. Things would have gone a lot easier. |
This is probably one of the most effective ways. Also its about summer time now and here in AZ its usually easiest to just hang it by its stock for a day in the back yard. The summer sun really melts it right off even in the hard to get to places. 
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I've done it to a Garand, SKS, and three AK parts kits. It works very well, and doesn't screw with the dishwasher at all. Be sure to use the heated drying option. Your kitchen will smell like cosmoline for about a day (but that's not that bad, is it?) I'll usually spray off the parts with WD-40 after, to get any residual water off, then let them air dry for a couple hours to a day. Once the drying is done, I rub all the metal bits off with CLP. |
I have, works great, but I wouldn't put a totally caked gun in there, low constant heat is the easiest way to do it. I have seen things like a metal garbage can, the rack from a grill and some lights that would work great. Cosmo melts at like 150°F |
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Just great, as if I didn't want more guns already. Now I know of a quick way to clean, de-cosmo and refinish them. How many times do you run it through the dishwasher? Or does once dig down deep enough and get all the cosmo out? Edit: Might as well powerwash the bore at the local coin car wash while I'm at it. 
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Wow, remind me never to let anyone on this board touch one of my firearms. Kerosene works best to remove cosmoline, mineral spirits also works well if it's grease and not true cosmoline. For the wood, you can use kerosene, mineral spirits, and then use laquer thinner and acetone. Laquer thinner and acetone will dry out the wood so you have to be careful about cracking the wood and they will also remove any finish on the wood so you will have to refinish the stock. That's the harshest chemical you should use on wood. You can also use whiting (Brownells sells it) in conjuction with acetone to slowly draw out grease. Never stick wood in the dishwasher unless you want to warp it or have it possibly split. The only time I steam wood is if I intend to bend it, or use localized steaming to remove dents where the fibers haven't been crushed. Water also raises the grain on wood so it has to be sanded more. Please do not use oven cleaner or anything like that on wood, it breaks down the ligands (spelling?) holdong the wood fibers together. I looked at that website and he obviously doesn't understand woodworking. If your going to do it why not do it correctly? |
Once worked fine for the SKS and Garand. The AK buttstock still smells like cosmo, but I can't make any seep out even if I put it in the sun for a day.
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I did mine twice, no warping no cracking. The cosmoline will melt at a temp that is much lower than boiled water. The hot water in the dishwasher will more than melt the stuff. A little sanding, stain and some tung oil later it looks like this. It took about a week maybe a day or 2 more to finish completely, and most of that time was waiting between coats of stain. sorry for the big pics  
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