Eric needs help with ID an usual rifle~~

[danielsand]

Originally Posted by rolandtg

I stand corrected. Whatever the wood is it is very dense and totally saturated with cosmoline. When I got the rifle I left the stock out in the Texas sun for several hours to leach out some of the cosmoline. 20 years later the stock still weeps oil when it gets hot at the range....

I was present (in Yugoslavia) when some of these were put in reserves. I was shocked to see how they (Yugo conscripts) dunked the WHOLE rifle into the "tub" filled with warm cosmo. Once the rifle is dunked in (one at the time), it's pulled out, and for a good measure MORE cosmo is poured down the barrel with a ladle. Rifle is then put aside in the stack (stacked like cord wood) in the picture seen in Eric's post, and when the cosmo solidifies, rifles were wrapped in the paper, and crated five per crate.

I would LOVE to lay my hands on one of those nifty crates! They were made of birch, with compartments for all the accessories that came with the rifles (bayonets, slings, oilers, ammo pouches). The crate was plain wood inside, and OD painted on the outside, with white and yellow lettering. Rifles were separated from each other with built in spacers, and spacers had felt lining glued over the wood, where spacers made contact with rifles.

Very neat, secure, and efficient.

The best way to get cosmo out of the wood, is to take the action out of the stock, wrap it in the paper towels, place it in the black garbage bag, and put it on the roof of your house. For DAYS! Open the package daily, and replace the paper towels with clean ones. In a week or two, you'll have a cosmo free stock (depending on the climate, of course).

[rolandtg]

Originally Posted by danielsand

The best way to get cosmo out of the wood, is to take the action out of the stock, wrap it in the paper towels, place it in the black garbage bag, and put it on the roof of your house. For DAYS! Open the package daily, and replace the paper towels with clean ones. In a week or two, you'll have a cosmo free stock (depending on the climate, of course).

The rifle was new when I got it. It was a "Mitchell" gun purchased by my father. He never got to shoot it before he passed away.
Even though it had been cleaned by Mitchell I found the bolt so packed with cosmoline the firing pin wouldn't move!

Heh, It sounds like a good plan but I think in the Texas summer the stock might burst into flames if I left it on the roof!

[danielsand]

Here in SoCal we get up to 110F, and this method worked for me. For metal parts, .....boiling works great!

As far as "new" when it comes to Mitchell.......it was "refurbished" by Mitchell, and VERY pretty. Not "JNA original", but still a nice weapon. I hope you enjoy it, as much as I enjoy mine.