I bought a beater Yugo M48 with a pitted barrel around 2004 for $100, it was my first surplus rifle buy. After melting most of the cosmoline off in an oven I shot several thousand rounds of corrosive surplus ammo with it. You could buy 700rd-ish spam cans at gun shows for $90-150 with ammo from the 50s, 60s and 70s back then. I have not shot it in a long time, but it is the "gun I have had the most cumulative fun with ever".
It took forever to get all the cosmoline off. Every time I thought it was clean, i would either leave it in a hot truck, or shoot 20rds off and the pine sap like crap would start flowing and make a mess. I read online that the oven was the best way to clean it, so one day when no one was home took the whole thing apart and baked it on low for a few hours with the door open. That did a pretty good job.
You need to take the whole bolt apart to get it reliable after sitting for 70ish years in cosmoline. I had a constant light strikes and hang fires, part of this could have been the old ammo though. While you are in there I would replace the firing pin spring.
The surplus ammo made some nice fireballs in the evening.
It took forever to get all the cosmoline off. Every time I thought it was clean, i would either leave it in a hot truck, or shoot 20rds off and the pine sap like crap would start flowing and make a mess. I read online that the oven was the best way to clean it, so one day when no one was home took the whole thing apart and baked it on low for a few hours with the door open. That did a pretty good job.
You need to take the whole bolt apart to get it reliable after sitting for 70ish years in cosmoline. I had a constant light strikes and hang fires, part of this could have been the old ammo though. While you are in there I would replace the firing pin spring.
The surplus ammo made some nice fireballs in the evening.
