total newbee to c/r...do all c/r rifles come encased in cosmolene?? Are some in pristine condition ...ready to fire??..any help is appreciated...this is an area I have no knowledge about..I have twenty different weapons..but have never been exposed to c/r....thanks.
cosmolene...
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Chances are unless the previous owner removed it it will be coated in cosmoline. Any C&R rifle that has been stored for a long time will be coated in it. It is pretty easy to tell, there will be yellowish build up in certain places and the smell is quite distinct. So if it is greasy and smelly it probably is coated and needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
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Cosmoline is the trade name for a generic class of rust preventatives, conforming to MIL-C-11796C Class 3,
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmoline
Think of it as packing grease. New guns can be packed it it, and so can completely shot-out rust-pitted pieces of crap.
If the interior of the bore is coated with cosmo, it is not ready to fire, it must be cleaned.
Same with the interior of the bolt, especially with semi-auto firearms, the thick goo can cause the firing pin to retract too slowly causing slamfires.
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmoline
Think of it as packing grease. New guns can be packed it it, and so can completely shot-out rust-pitted pieces of crap.
If the interior of the bore is coated with cosmo, it is not ready to fire, it must be cleaned.
Same with the interior of the bolt, especially with semi-auto firearms, the thick goo can cause the firing pin to retract too slowly causing slamfires.
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Cosmolene is a blessing AND a curse. It keeps all those C&Rs looking pristine and serviceable.
I got an SKS covered in it (non-issued, non-fired) and the hardest part was cleaning the STOCK. Cleaning the metals was as simple as breaking the gun down to its parts and cleaning them all with mineral spirits. Once all cleared of the cosmo, I cleaned the parts as I would a normal gun cleaning, being sure they got oiled properly.
Cleaning the stock was tougher. I wiped all excess I could off, wrapped it in paper towels, then put it in a black lawn trashbag. Set it out in the sun for a day and excess wicked out. I still didn't like the results, so I used a concentrated bottle of simple green and sprayed the stock several times. Once that was done, I used a heat gun to warm up the wood and the cosmo bubbled out. Did this several times, then repeated with the Simple Green. After that, used some wood oil (Boiled linseed oil works well) and took care of the stock.
Here is how it came out.
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