My first Yugo arrived today.

[newchi]

And i dont mean the car. 

I figured if my prime minister wanted to give me free corona money then i should spend it on something dear to his heart.
I have no idea what im dealing with yet, this is the stickiest grease i have ever known.
First pic to keep you happy.

[Bob_The_Student]

Congrats on the new rifle. Take a lot of photos and post when she's all cleaned up. 

[yellowjacket]

That bluing looks quite nice thru the grease.    Stock looks mint also.   Congrats.

[running-man]

Looks like you got a nice one Newchi! These were rare as hens teeth for the longest time up there, I take it there have been newly arrived commercial imports and these are selling at retail now?  How do they compare pricewise with the plentiful Russian and Chinese SKS’s you guys have?  Does the canadian government add any restrictions because of the grenade launcher? (These are illegal to own in California, way too dangerous just in case some yahoo got his hands on some surplus grenades) 

[firstchoice]

Nice one, newchi! You really get an appreciation for that grease by the time the rifle's clean!    And it's great "bonding" time with your new firearm. 

firstchoice

[carls sks]

beauty, thanks for sharing. 

[newchi]

Looks like you got a nice one Newchi! These were rare as hens teeth for the longest time up there, I take it there have been newly arrived commercial imports and these are selling at retail now?  How do they compare pricewise with the plentiful Russian and Chinese SKS’s you guys have?  Does the canadian government add any restrictions because of the grenade launcher? (These are illegal to own in California, way too dangerous just in case some yahoo got his hands on some surplus grenades) 

They were really hard to find, they came in about 9 months ago i think
These cost about 2 x a russian or 3 x a chinese right now.  $700, ($500 US).
More than i wanted to pay but i have learned if you dont buy them when they arrive they dont get any cheaper.
No the launcher on the end doesnt seem to matter, whos crazy enough to try and make their own grenades...

Nice one, newchi! You really get an appreciation for that grease by the time the rifle's clean!    And it's great "bonding" time with your new firearm. 

firstchoice

I have never seen grease like it, its like flypaper. i lost my latex gloves to it.  I feel like a cartoon character, get one hand stuck try to free it with another, now its stuck.
My degreser doesnt touch it.  The oven barely worked and really really stank the house out.
I put the bolt in boiling hot water and got that to wipe clean. .
Its not like Russian or Chinese grease, this may take a while...

[Larry D.]

Gasoline, acetone, and charcoal lighter fluid all work well to get cosmoline off the metal bits.
Save the hard work for the wood.

[newchi]

i resorted to spray engine degreaser, took about 15 mins to seperate the stock! i even went back inside and took another one apart to make sure i was doing it right.

But on the plus side, if you ever hear of a ship full of them that sunk to the bottom of the ocean, i am sure they will still be in perfect condition.

[newchi]

Heres a question for you yugo owners, do yugos have a kinda not really finished all the way look/feel to the stock?
Its like it wasnt shellaced/varnished/whatever.
All i did was a couple of quick wipes with mineral spirit to try and make it less sticky so i dont think it was me.

[Phosphorus32]

Heres a question for you yugo owners, do yugos have a kinda not really finished all the way look/feel to the stock?
Its like it wasnt shellaced/varnished/whatever.
All i did was a couple of quick wipes with mineral spirit to try and make it less sticky so i dont think it was me.

You're correct. They are basically just elm, presumably with a petroleum-based oil. Of course I've never seen a Yugoslavian that didn't come into the states in Cosmoline (or in modern times, Tectyl 502-C), so the petroleum oil could be due to the leftovers from the preservative oil. Post-WWII Yugoslavian Mausers (M48s especially but also M24/47s and M24/52s that have replacement stocks) have a similar oil based "raw" feel to the stocks.

[Larry D.]

You're expecting an American or "civilized" European finish.

Some countries did what they did to get stuff in the field.

[newchi]

Oh, thanks.  I was worried id screwed something up.
Is there anything i should do to the wood if the sticky tetris 501-k ever stops coming out?

[Phosphorus32]

Oh, thanks.  I was worried id screwed something up.
Is there anything i should do to the wood if the sticky tetris 501-k ever stops coming out?

Personally, I would stick with petroleum based products on a Yugoslavian stock. Keep sweating out the Tectyl with mild heat. Wiping down with mineral spirits is fine if you don’t like the oily feel but it may look “dry” (the surface oils are depleted). If you don’t mind the oily feel I’d use Ballistol or mineral oil to wipe it down and rub off the excess.

Ballistol is basically just mineral oil and isobutanol. The isobutanol is a somewhat polar solvent so it can help pull out some dirt but some people think it smells like licorice and others rancid butter. I’m in the middle it’s not a really pleasant smell but it’s not terrible. In any case, the isobutanol evaporates within a few hours.

[newchi]

i had it in an old pickup on the dash in a black bag and towel for 2 weeks and very little happened, of course it wasnt been super hot yet but i was hoping for more, which is why i went with mineral spirits, something ive never had to do before.
Supposed to be stupid hot this weekend, maybe it will go back on the dash for a bit.

Yep, it does look a little dry.

[Larry D.]

We can sweat stocks out fairly quickly here in Arizona.

A black trash bag and a mess of paper towels makes a pretty quick job of it.

[ffjoey]

Beautiful rifle! Congratulations!

[newchi]

im embarrassed to ask this but how the hell do you get the grenade sight down again?
It was a **** to get upin the first place, because of the cosmo (i assume)

[running-man]

You mean to rotate the ladder back down?  I don’t believe there is a catch, it should just rotate right on back down. To lock it in place once it’s down the gas cutoff needs rotated, but I’ve always assumed that was the hard part in the process, not the initial rotation.  I’ll pull my yugo tomorrow morning before work and verify for you. Maybe you need a bit more persuasion?

[Larry D.]

It's just a detent holding it in place.
Give it a gentle slap with the heel of your hand and you'll be good to go.