Cosmoline Removal

[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.