How do you remove cosmoline from an old-fashioned rifle?
Take it apart completely and seperate metal from wood. Metal parts, use a solvent like carb cleaner contained by a spray can. You can buy cheap carb cleaner at WalMart or an auto parts store. I get two can per rifle. Use lots of rags and soak and wipe. For the wood, I prefer to heat up the oil out. I hold used oven cleaner and water, but on some rifles it does bring to the fore the wood grain. Here is the definitive article on Cosmo removal, per Surplusrifle.
