Gun Pr0n! Touch My Filthy Hole … With Pictures!
Welcome my new baby! In honor of PSH everywhere, I went ahead and purchased a Yugo SKS! Complete with folding blade bayonet, and grenade launcher … oh yeah. This is actually the 2nd SKS I procured. I got the first one two weeks ago, spent three hours cleaning it, took it to the range, and ended up getting about 15 faulty ejections and eventually a case firmly stuck in the chamber, locking the bolt in place. Took it back, got the new one ordered and … well, the new baby has finally arrived.
Now, like any new baby, when you first see them they’re … well … covered in slime.
Only this …
… this is kind of horrifying, to be perfectly honest. Borderline Aliens. Here are some up-close snapshots of this miasma-dripping mess. I have two bottles of Hoppe’s #9, two packs of latex gloves, and a pile of rags up to my knees. Cleaning will commence soon, but for the archives, I wanted to get some up-close high resolution pictures of …
… of …
… just look … and if you’re really intent on vomiting, click the pictures for a most delightful close-up …
This gives you an idea of how much nasty grease this particular semi-auto lead-hurling machine is equipped with. It’s everywhere. When I went to the store the owner told me, “I refuse to touch this thing, so I stuck it in a gun case for you. I won’t charge you for the case.”
Then I walked up to the counter with a bottle of Hoppe’s and he said, “Just … just take it. You need it more than I do.”
Gotta love small towns …
Please hammer, don’t hurt me! Okay … I hate to say this but … it really looks like somebody stuck this gun up a large animal’s ass for 30 years and just pulled it out before shipping it. That little … ugh … nugget-looking-thing sitting there just … really …
… I think I just threw up in my mouth.
In a normal world, you’d flip that little latch and all the unfired rounds would just dump out the bottom of the gun. This is not a normal world, and thus I had to PRY the bottom off, serenaded by the sounds of a sort of *splucksplortsqueesh*.
And again, I say this looks like it’s been up an ass somewhere.
Geh. I don’t even know what to say. That’s just … nasty.
TOUCH MY FILTHY HOLE! In the background you can see my out-of-focus latex-gloved hand holding up this ichor-dripping filth-stick.
Hopefully … maybe in a few weeks when I’m actually DONE cleaning it, I’ll have pictures of it’s purdy-ness. For now, all you get is nasty, smelly, filth-slime!
Liberty on May 20th 2008 in Boomsticks!
Eric von Michigan responded on 20 May 2008 at 10:18 pm #
Is this plain old cosmoline, or just some nasty grease someone thought would be ideal for storing a rifle?
Liberty responded on 20 May 2008 at 10:32 pm #
Dude, I don’t even know. Looks like it, smells like it. Probably been on this particular SKS for a loooooooong time.
Really, whatever the hell this nasty goo is, it’s going to be a real bitch to get off.
Bruce responded on 21 May 2008 at 8:50 am #
If you haven’t done so already, go here.
Lots of cleaning tips.
And, save the Hoppes for post-shooting clean-up. WD-40 will do a much better job for degunking, as will brake cleaner (wear gloves, ventilated work space, etc.).
Above all, don’t skimp when it comes time to CLEAN THE FIRING PIN ASSEMBLY.
Liberty responded on 21 May 2008 at 9:08 am #
Yer the man, Bruce, appreciate the pointers. WD-40!
Firing pin assembly actually isn’t as bad. I mean, it doesn’t look like it’s spent the last 30 years in a donkey’s ass.
Either way it looks like I’m going to strip this thing out of the stock and give it a real good scrubbing.
I’ll post up some after-clean pictures once it’s all purdy!
Eric von Michigan responded on 21 May 2008 at 11:46 am #
My Yugo Mauser and M44 both had appreciable amounts of cosmoline, but nothing like that. Brake cleaner is not my first choice since it’s the most aggressive solvent I’ve ever worked with. Go with the non-chlorinated stuff if you go that route; the chlorinated version will seriously mess with your head, even if you were using it outside.
When I shot the Mauser for the first time, the combined heat from direct sunlight and shooting made a little cosmoline seep out from the wood.
Lots of other info is at http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/cosmoline/index.asp .
Liberty responded on 21 May 2008 at 12:00 pm #
Good stuff, Eric, thank you. I ended up picking up a jug of a more delicate degreaser. Should work well on the metal. I’m going to give it a try with a brief soak on some of the smaller parts to see how it goes.
Keeping the rubber gloves on though. And I’ll try not to snuff it. Heh.
Bruce responded on 21 May 2008 at 1:28 pm #
Yeah, that citrus degreaser works well too. And smells orangey fresh. Especially good if working indoors.
The firing pin cleaning is crucial to avoid slam-firing of multiple rounds. You do that, and someone sees it, and the ATF will string you up for possession of a machine gun.
When you shake the pin assembly, the pin must be free to rattle back and forth with no sticking.
Liberty responded on 21 May 2008 at 2:20 pm #
Orange Glo! I’ll get Billy Mays to come by and shout at the top of his voice while he cleans the damn thing for me.
Ended up getting a jug of that purple stuff. Okay, not exactly “delicate”, but does a damn fine job. Got an oil pan, put in a couple inches. Soak, remove, crap drips off, wipe and it’s all nice and neat for almost the entire surface. There was a HUGE lump of shit in the gas tube that I’m still trying to get out, but all in all it’s looking much better and I’ve got a nice high.
Debating now … since the stock is off, should I give it a quick sanding and poly re-coat?
Yeah, the serial numbers match and yeah, you should TRY to keep it all original and blah blah blah but come on … super-fine grain on an orbital sander with a nice new coat or three of smooth poly (just on the outside, don’t want to alter the “fit” at all), that might end up being an actual nice-looking rifle …
existingthing responded on 21 May 2008 at 6:29 pm #
Mmmmm… Sweet, sweet cosmoline.
That does look like a particularly ugly batch, but cosmoline is just cosmoline. It’s all part of the fun of military surplus rifles. :)
Don’t worry. After a while, you’ll grow to love the smell.
Liberty responded on 21 May 2008 at 7:24 pm #
I don’t know about LOVING the smell. Perhaps if I was cleaning my own personal Browning .50. They could store one of those in ape shit and I’d be happy to clean it if I could keep it. :-)
What I’ve discovered with the help of one of those links up there is another use for a wonderful device …
Steam Cleaner. It works for curtains AND weaponry!
After the soak in the purple stuff it blasts that goopy crap half-way across the room. Still lots of cleaning to do, but it’s looking good so far …
angus lincoln responded on 22 May 2008 at 12:51 am #
Congratulations! Glad to hear the Man made everything ok. He gave me the free gun sleeve too, when I bought a sticky Mosin M44. When you finish with the initial cleaning, try leaving the rifle out in the hot sun with piece of absorbent material under it to catch the weeping cosmoline. As we get into the 80+degree days, you will see cosmoline coming out of the pores of the wood for a long time yet. Can’t wait to see the baby cleaned up!