I finally broke down and picked up my first Mosin (+1 Mastodon)! It's a laminate stock, but that's all I know. I'll post some pictures once I unwrap her and remove the cosmoline (with pics to follow). Here are my noob questions:

 

1. What's the best way to remove the cosmoline? They didn't skimp on it. I've read to wrap her in a trash can and let her bake for a few hours in the sun, use a bunch of chemicals, etc...

2. When shooting the corrosive milsurp ammo, can I drive the hour+ home or do I need to do some cleaning on the spot? From what I've read, the consensus seems to be that I need to Windex the bore at the range, and then finish cleaning when I get home. It's a solid hour drive from the range.

3. Any other suggestions? I've never shot a Mosin.

 

Thanks guys! I can't wait to shoot her, but I have no time to deal with her this weekend...must find patience!

From what I've seen on YouTube, mineral spirits works well. I'm wondering the same things you are as I picked up my first Mosin yesterday.

 

 

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you can cook it off, ala Tim's mosin cooker, or I would refinish it anyway, and invest in 5 cans of chlorine free brake clean.

 

disassemble all, 4 cans on the stock, 1 can for the metal. Then wipe all down, and oil it up.

You don't have to windex the bore right away - don't worry about cleaning it right away.

Clean it the same day or day after, you will be fine as long as you dont leave it in your bathroom and take a steamy shower or something. Windex only works because its water, just use water its cheaper.

Cosmo is best removed with boiling water on the metal parts. Scrub the metal down with some joy soap and then pour boiling water all over it all.

I use Ed's Red formula for cleaning dirty old rifles. Works well.

Welcome to the Mosin club! They are really historically interesting rifles, and fun to shoot!

 

I clean mine same day as I shoot. Wet one patch with water, run it down the bore, then go to patches with Hoppe's no.9 and continue and clean like I would with any other firearm.

i used this as a guide for removing the cosmoline and it worked well for me. I just need to work on the stock. Its still kind of greasy.

 

 

3. Any other suggestions? I've never shot a Mosin.

 

 

 

Check head space and firing pin stick-out before firing, Many youtube vids on that as well. Good Luck, enjoy your Mosin !

Edit: Found Eric's excellent post on cleaning the stock.

Got her disassembled and mostly de-cosmoed. Still have some gunk inside the barrel which no amount of boiling water seems to want to remove, so will probably try mineral spirits next weekend.

 

Judging from the markings, I have a 1957 Tula laminated stock with electropenciled parts. I'll post some pics once I get her put back together.

Got her disassembled and mostly de-cosmoed. Still have some gunk inside the barrel which no amount of boiling water seems to want to remove, so will probably try mineral spirits next weekend.

 

Judging from the markings, I have a 1957 Tula laminated stock with electropenciled parts. I'll post some pics once I get her put back together.

 

If a brush and solvent won't take the crud out of the bore, try shooting it - a lot of time putting some rounds though it, and getting it good and hot will loosen up caked on crud.

I have found that BrakeKleen works great at removing cosmoline. Cleans out the bore and chamber very well.

I have found that BrakeKleen works great at removing cosmoline. Cleans out the bore and chamber very well.

 

Works great, but don't get any on the stock (ask me how I know).

Works great, but don't get any on the stock (ask me how I know).

 

Hahahaha I did the exact same thing!!!!!

 

It takes the shellac finish right off of the stock!

 

I'll have to refinish the stock on mine one of these days.

Thanks for all the great info, guys! One question, should I do anything about rust? One of my Mosins has a few rust spots on the rear sight and on the receiver by the bolt. Another one has some rust inside the chamber (kinda hard to see in the picture).

 

Here are a couple of pics of my new Mosins. One is a 1934 Hex Tula, all matching. The other is 1937 Tula Laminated, electro-pencilled.

 

 

 

Top is 1937 Tula Laminated, bottom is 1934 Tula Hex all-matching numbers:

Damn the '34 looks pretty dry. I'de rub it all over with some good oil that wont evaporate (like, motor oil). The rusy spots gently rub with the oil & fine steel wool (0000) and it should dress up fine. That one rust pic isnt in the chamber, its on the ramp leading up to it. The chamber itself is the immediate area that contains the cartridge for firing.

The difference in production quality of the pre WWII rifles is amazing. I just recently bought a 1940 Tula round receiver, and everything is smooth finished. (The trigger pull is somewhere close to 50 pounds and the numbers don't match, though.) Compare that to my 1943 Izzy, which looks like the receiver was machined with an acetylene torch.

 

Sorry for the hijack, good luck with the rifles.

I'd rub off that surface rust with some fine steel wool, like 00 or 000. That '34 you have is very dry, you might want to strip it down and give all the steel parts a good oiling as well, to prevent more rust from cropping up. The finish on these rifles works best with a boundary layer of oil on them, similar to the service arms of other nationalities.

The difference in production quality of the pre WWII rifles is amazing. I just recently bought a 1940 Tula round receiver, and everything is smooth finished. (The trigger pull is somewhere close to 50 pounds and the numbers don't match, though.) Compare that to my 1943 Izzy, which looks like the receiver was machined with an acetylene torch. Sorry for the hijack, good luck with the rifles.

You have to compare apples to apples. Tula's are known to be finished a little better than Izhevsk. Also on any wartime gun the milling shows up on the barrel where as pre-war does not. I have a '33 Izhevsk that you'd swear never even went to war. In my experience pre-war and post war are most of the time better.

To take off and out cosmo all you need is good old hoppe's. Not too many people know but hoppe's has kerosene in it. Kills cosmo. Get a plastic bristle brush and go to town. As for the inside of the barrel, put it in the hot sun for a few hours or in a plastic bag and put it in the attic. It will sweat the cosmo and liquify it. If your in a rush use a hair dryer on it. Then just use hoppe's and you favorite oil on her. I use froglube on pretty much all my mosins. Its good for long term storage and helps in cleaning. As far as corrosive ammo, dont use windex. Its a wast of money. The ammount of ammonia in windex is very minimal. All you need is water. Water knocks the corrosive salts right out, then clean with solvent and oil. You can put water down it at the range if you like but a hour drive wont effect it at all. I let mine go for a max of 5 to 6 hours. Even more than that i dont think will effect it. Finally any other suggestions. I always gauge any mosin I shoot with a field and a no go gauge. when doing first cleaning, take a 12 gauge bore brush with hoppes on it in a drill. Stick it into the receiver and drill. Hard deposits of cosmo build up and can make it unsafe. I could go on for a hour but i think that's enough lol. Any questions please ask.

Any of you guys know if they have any mosin's still in stock, and what was the price around. I'm looking to pick one up.

I haven't seen any local but there's tons just over the border in pa. Average between 125-150

 

I stopped by Effingers in Bound Brook today and they have a rack of Mosins, maybe 6 or so. I think I saw $125 on a tag.