The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Nice, regarding SMLE's I have not long had the 1920's Bahrain contract SMLE, MIII , shoots half decent for a SMLE and only paid a two"er" for it.

Yes the linseed was out when I took the 1st pic

Type 99 Arisaka with all the useless gadgets, noisy dust cover, aircraft sights and monopod.
A cross between a Mauser and fisher price, but I like it !

Here's my Yugo M24/47. I bought it in early April this year. The rifle was in excellent mechanical condition, I doubt it had ever been fired, or if it had been, not very often, judging by the barrel.
The entire gun, including stock had a thick layer of cosmoline which although messy, had done a superb job of preserving the gun.
A full strip to remove the cosmoline led to my decision to refinish the stock with Tru-Oil. I've ever used Tru-Oil before so my decision was partly influenced by my curiousity as to how difficult the task would be and what sort of finish I could achieve.
Apart from the time the job took to finish, the only problem I had was being unable to remove the black staining at the end of the butt, end of the forend and around the Dowel inserted through the stock. Nothing I did managed to remove it.
I accept that the gloss finish I settled on isn't a correct Military finish, but the wood is so nicely grained it needed showing off IMHO Following days and weeks of cleaning the cosmoline and ol oil finish from the wood, sanding until perfectly smooth I gave it one coat of Birchwood Casey Walnut Stain diluted 50/50 with water. 12 coats of Tru Oil later, here it is

When it gets hot it will probably bleed Cosmoline for a long time, it's amazing where it all comes from!

snayperskaya wrote:When it gets hot it will probably bleed Cosmoline for a long time, it's amazing where it all comes from!

I can well imagine heat generated by shooting or just strong sunlight causing cosmoline to bleed out from everywhere. During the early stages of my renovating project the rifle was outside
in strong sun. Parts I thought were cleaned up would start to "bleed". The wood stock carried on oozing both cosmoline and oil long after I thought I was down to bare wood.
Manufacturers must heat Cosmoline up in baths then immerse parts fully, or paint it on in hot liquid form to make sure it gets everywhere. As horrible as it is, it's a great preserving agent

When Cosmoline is first applied it is fairly viscous, like grease, and is easy to apply with a brush or rag and it actually turns to the hard waxy substance that most of us come across with age.I have had steel AK magazines from Russia that were wrapped in waxed paper and were actually filled internally with Cosmoline to the point where the floorplate,spring and follower were completely encased and the mag had to be warmed up in order to melt it.

As a side note Egyptologists have found that some mummification processes used a chemical compound that was very similar to Cosmoline on a molecular level.

Some really excellent rifles cropping up in this thread!
I've haven't added some pictures for awhile so here's an updates (inc some previously featured to replace rubbish grainy photos)

The M1891 Carcano




SMLE No.1 Mk.3 LSA




ERA P14




No.5 Carbine (faz) Newish to the collection




Snider-Enfield




K31

snayperskaya wrote:When Cosmoline is first applied it is fairly viscous, like grease, and is easy to apply with a brush or rag and it actually turns to the hard waxy substance that most of us come across with age.I have had steel AK magazines from Russia that were wrapped in waxed paper and were actually filled internally with Cosmoline to the point where the floorplate,spring and follower were completely encased and the mag had to be warmed up in order to melt it.

As a side note Egyptologists have found that some mummification processes used a chemical compound that was very similar to Cosmoline on a molecular level.

I've also bought new AK magazines packed almost full with Cosmoline.

Incredible to think the ancient Egyptians had something similar to cosmoline for mummifying ! But if it's good enough for preserving the Pharaohs, it's good enough for Military Surplus rifles and parts Thanks for that interesting side-note!

Who's the go to dealer for Lee enfields number 4s,without breaking the bank

You could try here:

http://www.highwoodclassicarms.co.uk/le ... rifles.htm