Boiling Cosmoline Off a Pistol?

[Subverto]

I read the easiest way to remove cosmoline from a surplus pistol is to put it into a boiling pot of water with a little bit of dish soap for about 10 minutes. Has anyone done this? If so, should I strip the pistol down to it's individual parts or can I litearally just put the whole gun in. I apologize if this is a dumb question but this is my first surplus firearm and I couldn't find much detail on the boiling cosmoline removal technique. Any other advice you can offer is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[PhillyAR]

I never heard of boiling of cosmoline. Cosmoline in petroleum based and the whole purpose of it is to keep water away from metal. I don't think it will work.

[shortthrow50]

Anyone who has purchased an older gun has been introduced to Cosmoline. Cosmoline is a sticky hydrocarbon-based grease applied to older firearms to inhibit rust and corrosion during long-term storage. Removal can be difficult, but if you follow these steps, you can have your weapon clean and ready to fire in no time.

.Difficulty: Moderately Easy


Instructions.Things You'll Need:
Stove Pot Water Tongs Gloves Hand steamer (available at hardware stores and outlets like Lowe's and Home Depot) Large container Towels


1
Disassemble your firearm as well as you can. Caked-on Cosmoline can make this difficult, but ideally you should remove as much of the bolt assembly as possible.

2
Boil some water in a large pot.

3
Place the bolt assembly into the boiling water. The water will melt the Cosmoline off the bolt, and the Cosmoline will rise to the surface. Let the bolt assembly soak for awhile to make sure all the Cosmoline is boiled out.

4
Once it's clean, remove the bolt assembly from the water and place it on a towel.

5
Wipe down the bolt assembly. Get all the water you can out of the inner workings of the assembly.

6
Set the rest of the weapon in the center of your large container.

•7
Fill your hand steamer with water and turn it on.

•8
Put your gloves on and hold the weapon by the end of the barrel.

•9
Begin steaming the Cosmoline on the weapon until it begins to melt off. It can fall of in big globs and splash, so dress accordingly.

•10
Steam the Cosmoline off every inch of your weapon, including the wood stock or grips. The steam won't hurt the wood. Make sure to check the barrel as well.

•11
Once all of the Cosmoline is off, wipe down your weapon with some towels, making sure to get as much water out as possible.

•12
Inspect the weapon to make sure all Cosmoline has been cleaned from every nook and cranny.

•13
Reassemble the weapon and dry-fire it a few times to make sure everything is working properly. Once you have completed the testing, you are ready to use your weapon.


.

[thundrr1]

Hair driers work well also, the hotter the better.

[Xringshooter]

I never heard of boiling of cosmoline. Cosmoline in petroleum based and the whole purpose of it is to keep water away from metal. I don't think it will work.

My dad cleaned M1 Garands and Carbines that came out of supply covered in cosmoline this way when he was in Germany in 1946 (he was with the US Army Constabulary) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constabulary).

They got a 55 gal barrel, filled it with water, and heated it to boiling. They then removed the rifles stock and put the whole thing in the boiling water and let it go for however long it took, the cosmoline melted and floated to the top and they skimmed it off. After the boiling, and the guns cooled, they dunked them in another barrel filled with gasoline to help remove the rest. Then they completely stripped the guns and finished cleaning them. The stocks, they heated them in a field oven until the cosmoline sweated out of the wood and they wiped it off and put it back in the oven until some more came out. Once they got as much out as they could, they let the stock cool and soaked it with boiled linseed oil. Put them back together and took them to the range to test fire and sight in.

[Argentum]

I cleaned up a few Mosin-Nagant M91/30s last year that had decades-old cosmoline gobbed in every nook and cranny. I completely disassembled them - i.e. removed all metal parts from the wood stock and took all complex metal parts apart and then cleaned every single individual piece using brake parts cleaner. The advantage to brake parts cleaner is that it is designed to clean finished metal, leave no residue and air dries without rusting. Just use a mask, eye protection and rubber gloves since the irregular parts will reflect the cleaner everywhere -- and preferably do it outdoors. After it's clean and dry, make sure you re-lubricate everything very good with a quality CLP since the cleaner will remove every bit of grease and oil. Test a small place on the gun to make sure the brake cleaner doesn't remove any bluing first! This method worked great on the M91/30s.

FWIW, I cleaned the stocks in outrageously hot water with Murphy's Oil Soap which got most of the cosmoline out. A couple of afternoon at the range sweated the rest out.

P.S. I use latex-free surgical gloves bought in bulk from Costco for all gun cleaning, I highly recommend everyone to do so because most cleaners are very bad to absorb into your skin. It a great $10 investment.

[camerapest]

If you boil the parts in a pot, can the pot ever be used for cooking again?

[Fazer6PA]

If you boil the parts in a pot, can the pot ever be used for cooking again?

I wouldn't. This stuff is disgusting.

I used this method to clean my SKS I got from Cabelas. Once the metal parts get hot, the cosmoline will melt off. What doesn't fall off can easily be wiped off while the metal is still hot. Afterwards, I used brake cleaner to get rid of the rest. Probably the easiest way to get this gunk off.
Hair dryer on the stock works well too.

[Delcozrt]

As i've posted before but always gets a chuckle and it works...


How i do my cosmo covered mags....





Should work on anything you can fit in there.

(Disclaimer: im not responsible for you damaging your stuff, i regularly do dumb shit that has positive results you may not be as lucky, only do when wife not home)

[Iron Sights]

During the summer place a gun in the trunk of your car on some towels and let is sit in the sun for a few hours. When you clean it it will remove most of the cosmoline.