[Pancho]

Am not new collector, but this seems to be the best place for this question.

I need advice re. cosmoline.
Issue:
WW2 pistol seems to have a lot of thick cosmoline (photo attached). Rubbed a "pasty" substance off of underside of barrel with my thumb before I realized what it was. This is a fine example 99% condition M1934 E/L Var. 2, very, very rare. Will post additional photos later.

Have been told two things re. cosmoline, and need opinion/advice on how to handle this.

1. Cosmoline adds to value, credibility of pistol, and should not be removed.
2. Cosmoline, when it ages, retains moisture and can damage pistol, and should be removed.

In the past, I have always done a detailed stripping, coating all parts with "Break Free Collector.

What should I do?
What should I do?
Download Attachment: 111M1934-EL-572067-Cosmoline.jpg
73.48 KB

 

[huggiebear]

IMHO, throughly clean your weapon as cosmoline will produce or rather be the mechanism to promote rust if surface not fully coated. If the weapon is fully , and I mean fully coated with cosmoline, then there is not much of a problem but therein lies the problem . You can't always tell or determine whether entire surface is coated. Many years pass with one thinking you have 100% coverage only to find that, horrors of horrors , rust or even pitts have emerged. This is particularly true when discussing the barrel bore.

 

[Edward Tinker]

I take the cosmoline bit of aging with a grain of salt, so I clean a new gun as soon as I get it. Reason I doubt cosmoline and age is that prior to going overseas for 7 years, I coated my guns with a brand new gun grease and when I came back, you would have sworn that it was from 1945....

So, to me, as KK said, I'd clean it off, as I don't beleive it adds much to the value, but that is a personal opinion,

Ed