Cosmoline Removal

[Cold_Zero]

Never owned a cosmoline covered Enfield. What is the removal process metal/wood? Results?

Information

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[tbonesmith]

Thoroughly strip the rifle to as many components you can. Then using metho or kero clean all the metal components with a rag or if it's hard then fine 00, or 0000 steel wool, a tooth brush or stiff bristled brush is handy too. It will all come off without damaging the surface, just don't go too nuts with the steel wool, which would probably be fine anyway. When all your metal parts are clean then lightly oil and reassemble.
For the timber I usually wash with metho and a rag, and steel wool(same grade) for the stubborn bits. Others may disagree, but that's what I do. If when your done the wood is a bit dry I'd give it a hit with some pail boiled linseed oil, but most likely there'll be heaps of oil left in it.
Good luck!

[Alan de Enfield]

Never owned a cosmoline covered Enfield. What is the removal process metal/wood? Results?

For the metal parts :
Small Parts : Stand in a pan of boiling water (or very hot), this softens the cosmoline and you can wipe it off with a paper towel / toothbrush, repeat as many times as necessary.

Stand the barrel/action under a running (very) hot tap and most of it will wash thru', use a pull thru / brush and repeat as necessary. The external surfaces treat as per the small parts,

[bradtx]

Cold Zero, We all have our own ways to remove cosmo, I use acetone, followed with a cleaning with HOT water and dishwashing soap, disassemble and repeat. Everyone's method works fine. One thing to know if you haven't cleaned away cosmo before is that it gets everywhere. Spread out a newspaper to do the deed. Have plenty of old rags or paper towels handy. Wear clothes that you can afford to soil or throw away.

Brad

[Cold_Zero]

Is returning the wood to its pre-cosmo appearance possible?

Thanks for all the info, very helpful.

[Alan de Enfield]

Is returning the wood to its pre-cosmo appearance possible?

Thanks for all the info, very helpful.

The old trick to get oil out of the woodwork should work with the last remains of the cosmoline.

Wrap in rags, put inside a black plastic bag, place on the dashboard of your car in bright sunshine* . Makes the wood sweat it all out and may need repeating a few times.
Then oil with BLO once a day for a week, once a week for a month and once a month for a year, then once a year for the rest of your life.

* Might be difficult at this time of year unless you are in the Southern hemisphere.

[bradtx]

"Is returning the wood to its pre-cosmo appearance possible?
-- Cold Zero

I think we get pretty darn close. The '55 Fazakerley I brought out of cosmo is perhaps only a 1/2 shade darker than some post WWII furniture I bought that was wrapped in paper without cosmo. Darker furnitured rifles than the bright beech Fazakerleys will be very, very close.

Brad

[bearhunter]

Cold Zero, go to Canadian Tire and pick up a cheap, hand held steam cleaner. Get the metal and wood to at least room temperature before starting (strip it down to its component parts first) then fire up the steam cleaner with distilled water.
Take each part separately and hit it with the steam. The cosmo will literally melt off. Some of it may already be soft and can be wiped away with rags.
The steam genertor will also help to raise some of the smaller dents, although an iron and a wet cloth are better.
Another trick I've seen, but don't particularly like is to fill a tray with varsol or kerosene and immerse the whole rifle before stripping it down of course. The reason I don't like it is that the varsol or kerosene will soak into the stock wood and carry the color of the cosmolene with it.
So far, the steamer method has been the most satisfactory for me. It will take several hours to do the job properly so don't try to rush it. Do it in a well ventilated area, the fumes can be rank and will stink up the house in a hurry and stick around for days.

You will also need some decent rubberised gloves, rags/paper towels, plastic sheet to lay out parts, something to hold the parts with while steaming and some oil and BLO to coat the parts after steaming to protect from rust and replace the oils in the wood if needed.