How was cosmoline applied?

[High Noon]

Just curious based on the SKSs I've cleaned up. 

Were the rifles dipped muzzle first into a vat of cosmoline, with the bolt open?  Then the bolt was closed and it was removed and allowed to cool with the muzzle pointing up? 

Never seen cosmoline in the cleaning kit area, so I guess they were put in up to that point. Usually see rust on the under side of the metal buttplate and on the trapdoor.

Was there a chain assembly line or were they done by hand?  China would have plenty of guys that needed a job - perhaps it was a very manual process?

I searched for this topic, so if I have missed a prior thread, please point me in the right direction. 

[Phosphorus32]

I’m sure there was some variation of procedures but your proposed procedure makes sense. Undoubtedly, it was a heated vat of Cosmoline or the Soviet, Chinese, etc. equivalent of the high melting point hydrocarbon mixture. Dipped and then hung to drain and cool.

I’m sure they all had OSHA approved PPE in a well ventilated environment to keep from breathing all the vapors or absorbing it through their skin 

[High Noon]

I’m sure there was some variation of procedures but your proposed procedure makes sense. Undoubtedly, it was a heated vat of Cosmoline or the Soviet, Chinese, etc. equivalent of the high melting point hydrocarbon mixture. Dipped and then hung to drain and cool.

I’m sure they all had OSHA approved PPE in a well ventilated environment to keep from breathing all the vapors or absorbing it through their skin 

If the workshop wasn't complying with all known safety regs, I'm sure the workers just complained to the union foreman or put a note in the suggestion box! 

That process seemed plausible, but I'm just guessing. 

I've have cleaned a couple that had the barrel full of the stuff.  What came out appeared similar to a long pencil.  Perhaps they had a temporary muzzle cover to help retain the cosmoline until it solidified? 

Others didn't have that much in the barrel, so there may have been different processes or it changed over time.  Maybe each person had their own way of doing their batch of rifles...?

The rifle I recently did had none in the rear receiver area below the main spring. That made me think it was only partially dipped and then smothered on the outside by hand. 

[running-man]

I would guess complete immersion by hand is the norm to get all the nooks and crannies.  Whether you get a thick plug in the barrel or not would depend on how quickly the whole carbine cooled (ambient temperature) and in what position it was left to drain (barrel up / down etc.).  I'd guess that they would want a relatively thin & uniform layer on all surfaces instead of thick goop in certain spots and thin to bare in others as that's pretty wasteful when multiplied x 1000's and leads to poor protection where the super thin areas will tend to rust. 

[Dedeagach]

You might look at what the US did, I read somewhere they coated vehicles in cosmoline. I know they immersed stocks in a vat of linseed oil to coat them.
That said some of the Russian Mosin refurb finish look like they were applied by brush.
Etc.

[Weldrdave]

I'm no expert at this but I did spent a $#!T load of years in the military and seen what some of the armories did.  It was a heated mixture and when thin enough to apply, (Many times) it was brushed on, rubbed on with slush rags or dipped, depending on the part or gun.  Critical metal engine parts were done the same way, then wrapped in a brown wax paper or cloth.   As stated, much of this was done with "all the right and correct" safety gear on!  .   If you happen to go into a room where they were applying hot cosmoline, you came out smelling just like it!  It had to wear off you...

[Hotrod]

[Boris Badinov]

There's postWW2-Korean era footage on one of the forums of US soldiers greasing up M1 Garands for storage: Full immersion into a steaming barrel of preservative greas and then each stacked into crates. I'd guess this was a common practice in many militaries for small arms intended for long term storage.