Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

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For experienced cleaners, read no further... just my observations.

Back in the 90's I purchased several Enfields, Mosin's, ect.... Each was drenched in cosmoline. I cleaned them up the best I could, via combination of boiling water and scrubbing, and didn't think too much about additional cleaning, care, ect...., nor did I know much about cleaning back then Great guns for someone, who at the time, who was on a shoestring budget.

About 15 years later, I pulled a couple of these rifles out of storage and took them to my gunsmith whom I have do detailed cleaning of some of my other rifles about every 18 months. (Cost of one of the rifles, 1991 = $45, cost of having my gunsmith clean it $100. LOL). My gunsmith gave me afew tips for cleaning these types of rifles and prayed that I didn't bring anymore in.

1. The naked eye thinks it sees a clean surplus rifle - we found literally "layers" of everything from rust, dried lubricant, small chunks of cosmoline that were under lubricant, ect....
2. Pay close attention to the "neck" of the barrel - in plain English look at one of your rifle cartridges, follow it from the bottom to the top of the cartridge, the thinner portion that meets the bullet is the "case neck" of the cartridge....... and one of the MOST neglected areas in cleaning (you AR-15 folks who shoot garbage with lacquer finish on your cartridges through your guns should especially be mindful of this, a large percent of your jams). One common symptom of a neck with layers of gunk in it is when it's moderately to extremely difficult to close your bolt when chambering a round. We uncovered approximately 5 layers of differing types of dried lubericant and case residue going back to 1942..... my own little time capsul. LOL.

Re: Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

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For me, one of the fun things about milsurps is doing the work myself. Then I shoot them. Yeah, the lacquer can be a bear, but the proper sized shot gun brush chucked into a drill motor will clean it right out. By their very nature, milsurps generally are designed to work under "field conditions," so they don't require a surgical scrubbing. Usually. Fun as all get out, though.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
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Re: Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

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CDFingers wrote:For me, one of the fun things about milsurps is doing the work myself. Then I shoot them. Yeah, the lacquer can be a bear, but the proper sized shot gun brush chucked into a drill motor will clean it right out. By their very nature, milsurps generally are designed to work under "field conditions," so they don't require a surgical scrubbing. Usually. Fun as all get out, though.

CDFingers
Doh! I never even thought about using a drill motor. I have spent way more time cleaning than I need to......
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
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Re: Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

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Yeah, lacquer and dried Cosmoline and crap in the chamber is reputed to be the cause of the dreaded "sticky bolt syndrome" in Mosins.

You'll find a lot of information about that on the Mosin/milsurp sites, including instructions on using the "brass brush mounted on a low speed drill" technique mentioned by CDFingers.

I tried that on my Mosin a few days ago, even though I've only occasionally had the bolt stick when it gets hot. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet.
"To initiate a war of aggression...is the supreme international crime" - Nuremberg prosecutor Robert Jackson, 1946

Re: Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

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CDFingers wrote:For me, one of the fun things about milsurps is doing the work myself. Then I shoot them. Yeah, the lacquer can be a bear, but the proper sized shot gun brush chucked into a drill motor will clean it right out. By their very nature, milsurps generally are designed to work under "field conditions," so they don't require a surgical scrubbing. Usually. Fun as all get out, though.

CDFingers
That's one thing that I forgot to mention as well. My gunsmith used a brush on a drill as well. He put it on low speed off and on for about 20 minutes in between wiping out garbage.

Re: Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

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The stuff I have used is Automotive Brake Cleaner. Its cheap and works to dissolve any petroleum product. Make sure you remove any wood or plastic parts first also use only in a well ventilated area and have oil or other rust preventative products on hand to put on the gun after cleaning to prevent surface rust.

I used this to clean my guns before I FrogLubed them
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Cleaning Old Military Surplus Rifles

9
joeblow9999 wrote:For experienced cleaners, read no further... just my observations.

Back in the 90's I purchased several Enfields, Mosin's, ect.... Each was drenched in cosmoline. I cleaned them up the best I could, via combination of boiling water and scrubbing, and didn't think too much about additional cleaning, care, ect...., nor did I know much about cleaning back then Great guns for someone, who at the time, who was on a shoestring budget.

About 15 years later, I pulled a couple of these rifles out of storage and took them to my gunsmith whom I have do detailed cleaning of some of my other rifles about every 18 months. (Cost of one of the rifles, 1991 = $45, cost of having my gunsmith clean it $100. LOL). My gunsmith gave me afew tips for cleaning these types of rifles and prayed that I didn't bring anymore in.

1. The naked eye thinks it sees a clean surplus rifle - we found literally "layers" of everything from rust, dried lubricant, small chunks of cosmoline that were under lubricant, ect....
2. Pay close attention to the "neck" of the barrel - in plain English look at one of your rifle cartridges, follow it from the bottom to the top of the cartridge, the thinner portion that meets the bullet is the "case neck" of the cartridge....... and one of the MOST neglected areas in cleaning (you AR-15 folks who shoot garbage with lacquer finish on your cartridges through your guns should especially be mindful of this, a large percent of your jams). One common symptom of a neck with layers of gunk in it is when it's moderately to extremely difficult to close your bolt when chambering a round. We uncovered approximately 5 layers of differing types of dried lubericant and case residue going back to 1942..... my own little time capsul. LOL.
I have clean a few milsurplus rifles in the past couple years. I wasn't comfortable with oven method so went a different route. Now my rifles are stricky hunting, truck and home defense weapons. I wasn't concern with Pretty them up just wanted to make sure they worked.
I NEVER shoot them until I headspace them and remove all Cosmo ( exspeically SKS's).

I detail stripe them, place them in a black plastic trash bag and place them in a closed car ( old junk cars work too). If you have some old towels wrap them in it before placing in bag). The Cosmo will drip off. After a couple days I place the metal parts in solvent for a day. At this point , I breakout the air compressor a d just blow the remaining grease off. Finally, I breakout the q tips and pipecleaners and a coke and turn to. Minreral Spirits works good on the wood. Again, I have been lucky to get stocks that were good a d didn't need extra wood work. I normally wrap my stocks in guntape so there is no need for sanding.
The various online forums are very helpful and will provide many methods. The one I explained worked for me. Good luck.
" A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home"- Ida B. Wells Barnett

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