suggestions for de-cosmoline-ing

[phorvick]

I had the urge to get a 75 round AK drum, so I ordered one from AIM Surplus. It came today. Or I think it did. It is buried deeply in sticky goo.

Any suggestions on de-goo-ing the drum?

[JFettig]

good luck!

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu23.htm


Jon

[Squib Joe]

I heard about a guy* who took his cosmo'd parts to one of those self-serve car washes and cleaned them with the soapy high-pressure hot water over one of the grates.


* It wasn't me

[Pat]

I heard about a guy* who took his cosmo'd parts to one of those self-serve car washes and cleaned them with the soapy high-pressure hot water over one of the grates.


* It wasn't me

Probably the same guy who puts his AR in the dishwasher...

[farmerj]

go to a garage sale, pick up some old large pots.

Boil the parts.

May want to avoid the springs from a long boil.

It works on cleaning old Mosin's.

[1911fan]

5050 mix of gasoline and diesel, used outdoors in a small tub. Or find an gas station with a parts washer and ask to borrow it for a few minutes.

[chunkstyle]

Paint thinner works well on metal parts.

[Konaseven]

There are certainly many different recipes for cosmoline, however it is basically heavy grease (like axle grease) mixed with hot wax, Russian mixture was 50-50 (generally ). Parts are dipped while mixture is hot, allowed to cool and setup. Depending on ratios it can stay gooey and slimy or get real hard (like a candle!) farmerj's method of boiling works consistently well. The hot water softens the wax and the grease floats to the top of the water.

[mnglocker]

I'll second Kona and FarmerJ with the boiling water. I've found that a nice cheap 99 cent tin oven pan and some clear kerosene work great at cutting through just about anything too. That's what I did on my mossin.

[mnglocker]

I'll second Kona and FarmerJ with the boiling water. I've found that a nice cheap 99 cent tin oven pan and some clear kerosene work great at cutting through just about anything too. That's what I did on my mossin.

And FYI CYA!!! DO NOT BOIL KEROSENE.

[DanM]

This article recounts using a small hand steamer ($40 from Home Depot) to clean up an SKS full of cosmoline. One aspect of a steamer stands out: it's hot enough (approx 180*F) to melt (approx 130*F) the wax component, without approaching the flash point of kerosene or most any volatile petroleum-based solvent.

One other recommendation made is Ed's Red (homemade) bore cleaner. Complete with a link to the 'recipe'. This may be a better approach for parts than whole firearms.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/co ... moline.pdf