Cosmoline yummmy.

Tis the season when you go to the local gun or sporting good store and purchase a new firearm. Some of you will go out and purchase a surplus military firearm and learning how to clean that stuff that looks like grease or sometimes if it has been on the rifle since the end of the second world war, hard varnish looking stuff. The stuff described above is called cosmoline a preservative that helps prevent corrosion and it is not just used in guns it can be found all over the place where machinery and equipment may sit idle for long times in harsh environments such as ocean going vessels. My first encounter with this stuff was in the navy when I went to pull a part out of storage and it was covered in this crap.

The main thing when you first get your rifle is to try to take it apart as best you can or as far as the cosmoline will let you. I have a 303. British lee enfield and I had a very hard time taking it apart because the cosmoline hardened. I have heard of many ways to take this stuff off such as using gasoline or diesel (dangerous but works), commercially available cleaners ($$$), and hot boiling water. I like the hot boiling water method since it is cheap and that is the whole point of me buying surplus rifles, but if you don't have the time or will power to clean the cosmoline off of your rifle you can always take it to a gunsmith and he'll probably charge you quite a bit if you find one that hates to work on old military rifles (I found out once). What I did to clean my rifle is that I built a small camp fire behind the house and used half of a 55 gallon metal drum to boil the water in plus some beer (for me). Then I took the rifle apart into different components such as bolt, barrel, stock and small metal parts. I then soaked the barrel in the water for a little bit while I put the smaller parts into metal baskets. After lowering the baskets in the water I pulled the barrel out and started to scrub the areas that still had cosmoline in it with a fine tooth brush. I wear thick rubber gloves since I do not like to get this stuff on my hands and it helps protect them from the hot water. It will take awhile to clean these parts since this stuff gets everywhere you think it wouldn't just be patient and consume beer. This little task last me all afternoon but hey what else is there to do and I am saving money. AS for the stock I just cover it with clean cloths and take and old clothes iron and try to steam out the greasy stuff. From what I learned not all of it will ever come out at least for me it didn't but I liked the results. Ohhh and do not forget to oil all the parts that you soked in the water to get the grease off. If you are still sober put rifle back together and admire your handy work.

If doing it this way ain't your thing then I suggest going to militarysurplusrifle.com and check their article on getting this crap off of your weapon of choice. They have some cool ones like using steam or if you are into solvents they have a recipe to make your own gun cleaner called Reds gun cleaner and it is cheap to make too. Whatever you do keep safe, fun and enjoy your new /old rifle. Beer is optional, but really helps.