My friend just got his M44 carbine last night. We have completly broken it down and are cleaning it. The stock is melting the cosmoline as I type. My question is, how long should it take (roughly) for all the cosmoline to melt off. P.S. There doesn't seem to be a lot of it, but i'm not sure because this is my first time cleaning an old rifle. Thanks.

i don't know what you mean by melt and i can't see the gun so i can't tell you how long it will take to clean.  you will have to do it until it's done.  when it's clean all the waxy buildup will be gone.

Sorry, the cosmoline is "Dripping" off the stock. How long should it take?

Once again, too vague.  What methods and materials are you using to clean the stock?

Maybe a week if using the "leave it in the sun" system. But you will still get more leakage whenever you fire it. The hot barrel will ensure that.

Ok, I must be missing something here. What should I be using to clean off the cosmoline? All I did was take off the barreled action and put the wood stock propped up on a fence outside. There was cosmoline dripping, but if there is a faster way to do it, i'm all ears!! Thanks.

My russian M44 was the nastiest one to clean up.

that damn grease they used did the job.. the crap got everywhere!

I did a total dissasembly.  I used EasyOff oven cleaner (hi octane stuff(yellow ?))

I had to refinish the stock, but its clean and pretty now

7IDL, do you have any pics of your rifle? I would like to see it after it is all pretty'd up. Thanks either way.

here ya go...

groups.msn.com/ColoradoAR15ShootersSite/7idlm44.msnw

7IDL, that is a great looking rifle!! I guess my friend and I have some work ahead of us!! If you could, please explain how you stripped and refinished the entire rifle. You could IM me if you want. Thanks a bunch.

Here's the quick and un-dirty on it  

strip all the metal off the stock that you can..

using easyoff, in / over something to protect everything else.. let it soak for about an hour.

rinse off with a sponge and hot water.
Repeat as necessary.

when the wood is free of grease / finish, you may want to use a hot iron and wet cloth to raise any dents at this time.

after the stock is clean and dry, follow the instructions for staining and finishing the stock.   I think I used Tung oil as the finish.


while waiting on the stock, you could do a total disassemble on the metal.  Soak/clean the parts in the cleaner you prefer.  I think I used kerosene to get the heavy stuff.  IIRC, some people use paint thinner or acetone. (test what you want to use before doing your whole rifle)

Thanks, should I use EasyOff for the metal and the wood? I've heard something about the color of the bottle being important. Yellow or something?? Anyway, thanks again.

yellow  can


not for the metal parts