When I first thought of writing something on decosmolining a rifle I thought of writing a step by step how to. But, the more I thought of it, I have not removed the cosmoline from a rifle the same way trice. The art of removing cosmoline from a rifle is not a step by step process. Yet it is a combination of techniques that work best at the time. This is due to the variety of the rifle that are covered in this stuff and the consistently that they are covered in it.

For instance my Yugo SKS had a light coat of the stuff over it. The Last two Enfields that I decosmolined where heavily covered as if they were dipped in a 50 gallon drum. So no one step by step process is going to work on every mil-surplus rifle you buy, but there are different techniques that will work in a combination of ways.

Typically I try something new on every rifle I decosmolined. But, I have some techniques that I found work the best, or better than some. Each person has there own technique, I suggest you try a couple of different ways and do what you are comfortable with. Either way the process takes some time and work.

First you will have to tier down you rifle completely, I will not go through how to because each rifle has its own way of being torn down and there are too many for me to list or to know for that matter. A good place to go for disassembly instructions is surpusrifles.com.

So here are some of my tried and trued techniques for decosmilining you rifle.

Boiled to Perfection

What you will need

1.    Medium to large sauce pan

2.    Tongs

3.    Scrub brushes

4.    Tee pot

5. Dish Soap

Cosmoline has the melt point of margarine, knowing this means any form of heat will work to your advantage. I take a sauce pan fill it with as many small metal parts as I can and boil a full pot of hot water. I then poor the water over the parts in the pan (add dish soap here), let soak for a few minute and pull one out with the tongs and either try to wipe off the cosmoline or do a light scrubbing. I do this to all the parts and repeat as needed. Sometimes you can get most of the cosmoline off buy just doing this or you can finish off what’s left by running hot tap water over them and a lightly scrubbing.

Some parts have cosmoline stuck in such a tight crevis that it’s just too hard to get to, which is on most every gun. For the tough to reach spots I put the parts in the sauce pan and boil the parts on the stove. A light boil is all you will need; it doesn’t take long before you will start seeing little pools of cosmoline floating on top. Again finishing up with a light scrubbing and run it over hot tap water.

Sun Baked

What you will need

1.    Nice hot sunny day

2.    Rags/ paper towel

When it comes to the stocks the cosmoline is deep in the pores of the wood. Getting it out is difficult and in fact I do not think you will ever get it all out. Once after washing a stock to prep it for stain I set the pieces out on the patio table to dry. I got busy and didn’t return until about 2 hours later. To my surprise I had cosmoline dripping out of the wood. The sun had heated the stock up enough to melt the cosmo out. I came back about every 30 minutes and wiped any excess cosmoline out of the stock.

Another solar powered way is to lay the stock on some paper towel in the back set of you car. Roll up the windows and let them bake. Return every 30 minutes to hour and wipe the cosmoline off.

Oven Fresh

What you will need

1.    Cake pan

2.    Tin foil

3.    Oven

4.    Tongs

Again the cosmoline penetrates deep into the wood making it difficult to remove. Turn the oven to 200deg, place tin foil on cake pan making a couple ridges for the wood to lie on and cook. The ridges in the foil will keep the parts out of the melted cosmoline. Watch this closely, the last thing you want is to burn the wood. I take them out from time to time (using the tongs) to wipe any cosmoline off, if there is a large amount you may want to even drain the foil.

We work hard so you don’t have to

What you will need

1.    Scrubbing bubbles or easy off oven cleaner (lemon scented)

2.    Green scotch brite pad

3.    Scrub brushes

4.    Rags or paper towel

This is simple, just spray with cleaner and scrub. I lay any metal parts on a piece of card board and spray them down and scrub with the scrub brushes or wipe with rags, repeat as necessary. I spray my stock down and scrub with the scotch brite pad on the outside, I use a brush for any hard to reach spots.

Don’t forget behind the ears.

       What you will need

1.    Bath tub

2.    Scrub brushes/ Scoth brite pad

3.    Dry rag

4.    Dish soap

I fill the bath tub with hot water, enough to cover the stock and add dish soap (one table spoon). I then take a scrub brush and scrub the stock. Do not soak the stock because you do not want it to get water logged. I will then drain the tub and rinse the stock of any soap. This is usually the last step before sanding and prep the stock for any stain or sealer. I feel that this cleans the stock of any cleaner you use and the hot water will take some of the smaller dents out. Wipe the stock down good and let dry inside on a rack.

More thoughts

Any suggested technique has been tested by me and I found them to work. I have yet to find the magical process but any type of heat works wonders. There are a lot of other fine suggestions on the surplusrifles.com forum in the stock care section.

Go to a dollar store or a yard sale to find as many of the suggested supplies as you can. Most dollar stores have a variety of scrub brushes in the cleaning supplies (tooth brushes work to). Currently I am using an off brand version of scrubbing bubbles and it works fine. The scrubbing bubble also double after you have used the bath tub to bathe your stock by removing the oily film that the cosmoline left over. It also impressing the wife that that you are cleaning the tub (she does not need to know that you are cleaning up you own mess!).

Feel free to email me with any suggested technique, how do you think I got these ideas? I’m always game to try something new.