Posted by Ken Dunnington on Saturday, December 17, 2005 at 12:09PM :
In Reply to: Re: Cosmolean in my U-joint posted by Clint Dixon on Friday, December 16, 2005 at 12:46PM :
I'll add another recommendation for hot water and soap. Having cleaned a few surplus firearms that had been sitting in the stuff for 50+ years, the hot water and soap works well and doesn't have the problems associated with it as the pertoleun based solvents do.
The 'cosmolene' on Turkish Mausers is the worst. Some jokingly say it's not cosmolene but camel dung, and after smelling it one finds it's hard to argue against that thought.
One nice example of WWII era US cosmolene was a 1943 Ithaca 1911A1, unissued. Yes, a brand spanking new, only test fired, 1943 Ithaca .45. I owned it not for long because I had to pay bills. I still regret selling it, but it went to a fellow collector.
Ken
(03 FFL)