Thousand, to remove Cosmo;ine you do it just like they did in the 19th century boiling hot soapy water, immerse and scrub with a bristle brush. best done on a hot sunny day so that the parts dry fast then light spray of gun oil and assemble.

The easiest way to remove cosmoline is low heat: 160 to 180-degrees. It will start to melt at around 115-degrees, but the shit really flows at 160 or so. You can use a heat gun if you have one available. There are instructions somewhere on the errornet for a "cosmoline coffin": two galvanised, metal trash cans with light fixtures wired to the inside, and a grate in the bottom on which to rest a firearm. I use something similar: a long, rectangular, sheetmetal box (like a trough) with a removable lid. The only significant difference between mine and the trash-can thing is that I use conical heating elements that screw into the light fixtures, instead of light bulbs.

I disassemble a weapon as far as possible, put all the parts in the box, turn on the heat, and just wait. The cosmoline melts and drips right off. I use a tray made from aluminium screen (the same stuff that's used in windows) for the smaller parts. About every 20 to 30 minutes, I wipe down any wooden parts.

I never use anything more than a rag and a toothbrush for the final rubdown, and a little kitty litter for the cleanup.