Mauser with bad smell

[Battis]

I have a Mauser .32 ACP (1914) that has a bad smell. When I bought it a few years ago, the salesman said that it smelled like the inside of a tank. I'm not sure if it's the wooden grips or the metal. I'm pretty sure I soaked it in mineral spirits when I got it. Any other ideas? The other guns are making fun of it.
I have a new ultrasonic cleaner that I could try - what could I add to the water? Or is mineral spirits the best way to go.
Too bad I can't post a scratch and sniff pic.

[JimB..]

Could be a great many things. I’d remove the grips and take them out of the room, then clean the gun thoroughly. Smell could be that someone used a lube that went rancid, but anyway once you clean up the metal it shouldn’t have a smell. No reason not to use the ultrasonic.

[NoZombies]

If you use the ultrasonic, make sure that whatever cleaning agents you're using are finish safe.

[Petrol & Powder]

Take the wooden grips off, scrub them in something light, such as alcohol or mineral spirits, etc. and put them out in the sun. Turn them over from time to time and give them a good dose of sunlight.

The metal parts can then be cleaned (degreased) and re-oiled. It is likely some rancid grease. The metal will not hold the odor but the porous wood will.

People will use all sorts of strange substances to lubricate firearms with. It's very possible someone used some type of vegetable oil or grease, which can smell horrible when it becomes rancid.

[Jedman]

Excuse me for being silly but when I read your post it reminded me of the many stories of corvettes being sold for $200 because someone died in them and they smelled so bad the owner was practically giving them away.

Jedman

[historicfirearms]

If it smells a little like rotten eggs, could be someone used cold blue to touch it up. I "refinished" a barrel on an old single shot shotgun once with cold blue. The smell bugged me so much I wound up parting out what I could and destroying the barrel and receiver just to get rid of it.

[415m3]

It's clearly haunted. Send it to me for proper cleansing.

[Outpost75]

Reminds me of the GI .45 owned by Maj. J.B. Roberts which was fished out of a latrine.

Despite complete disassembly and cleaning the odor of that pistol on a hot and humid day would still give you flashbacks...

[redhawk0]

I agree...its either rancid grease...or its in the wood. I'd remove the grips, then soak the metal parts in gasoline (outside) then ultrasonically clean them in denatured alcohol. The wooden grips if they have finish on them, you will need to soak them in just alcohol. If they are unfinished (or completely worn down) soak them in mineral spirits...then alcohol. Let them air dry and as suggested above, let them out in the sun for a day or two.

redhawk

[Earlwb]

I remember the Russians using some kind of a smelly stinky fish oil as a preservative for metals. Gasoline, kerosene, etc would not touch the stuff. I had to soak the things overnight in acetone, and even then you had to scrub the stuff and soak even more. Whatever that stuff was it preserved the metals really well.

[TNsailorman]

Some of the old gun cleaners which were made specifically for removing residue from the old corrosive primers smelled terrible and once you got it into the wood, it stayed there until the wood was soaked in a good cleaning agent. I would try simple green on those grips if it were me, it has always been my "go to" for bad odors. I have used it on a couple of old mausers to remove hardened grease and rancid grease odors. worked for me anyway, james

[redhawk0]

I remember the Russians using some kind of a smelly stinky fish oil as a preservative for metals. Gasoline, kerosene, etc would not touch the stuff. I had to soak the things overnight in acetone, and even then you had to scrub the stuff and soak even more. Whatever that stuff was it preserved the metals really well.

Are you referring to Cosmoline? If so...It can be cut with gasoline...its what I used when I got my Mosin Nagant from the Russian Arsenal. Maybe there was another preservative...but Cosmoline is the only one I know of.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I worked for the phone company for many years where we had to adjust the relays and lubricate them on a regular basis. One of the oils we used was highly refined fish oil. We went on strike in 1963 and were out five months. A friend of mine had a bottle of the fish oil in his tool box that leaked. His tools soaked in the oil all the time we were out. When we came back to work he tried everything to get rid of the odor without success . Finally the company gave him a new set of tools.

[Battis]

Getting there. I soaked all the parts in Ballistol, cleaned it all off and put the parts in the ultrasonic cleaner (with heat), then gave them a hot water bath (even the grips). Then I let them sit on a piece of soapstone on top of the woodstove (still chilly here), then reapplied some more Ballistol. So far the smell is almost gone.
I did try the mineral spirits last year, and I'll try it again if I have to.

[gwpercle]

Soak both the metal and wood in K-1 Kerosene , try one week ...if still smelly go two , three or four weeks in the K-1 soak.
Ed's Red Bore Cleaner would be a good soaking agent ...ATF - mineral spirits - K-1 kerosene - acetone in equal parts .
If you are wanting to get real serious ...use straight Acetone on the metal .
Acetone might be too harsh to soak the wood grips in .

Your's is the first gun I've heard of that had GO...Gun Odor !!!
Good luck !
Gary

[Petrol & Powder]

Sunlight is your friend

[Tokarev]

Tread carefully, but here is my method. A decade ago I bought an 1885 antique revolver from Argentine. It looked like a rust pile and its grips had caked on black crud. Skipping the cleaning of its metal back to nice bluing, I'll tell you about the grips. I had taken them off and wrapped them in natural cotton, then in cotton twine. I soaked cotton in acetone, sealed the grips in a zip lock and wrapped the zip lock in aluminum foil. They sat like that for three days. When I removed the cotton, it was brown and gunky. I repeated the treatment with fresh ingredients for two more days. They cotton came out yellow to brown. After two more days, cotton was only yellowish and the grips looked like new.
If you suspect that the smell is from bacteria eating organic matter, you can put the grips into a zip lock with a paper towel soaked in Lysol for several days. Check every 2-3 days, but do not throw away the paper towel because Lysol in a zip lock works for a very long time.

[Battis]

It's at the point now where it smells like a used gun. Not bad, just used. I'll keep my eye (nose) on it.
I bought a new grip last year (plastic) and it looks good but the original wooden grips are still in great shape. Not sure why I bought the new grips.

[Earlwb]

Are you referring to Cosmoline? If so...It can be cut with gasoline...its what I used when I got my Mosin Nagant from the Russian Arsenal. Maybe there was another preservative...but Cosmoline is the only one I know of.

Nope, it wasn't cosmoline. The Mosin I had had the stuff on it. I also encountered the stuff on several Russian made model airplane engines too. I found out it was some kind of a fish oil base preservative but that was about it. I think they were using the stuff before the iron curtain fell during the Soviet Era. Cosmoline was sort of a USA kind of thing so they likely would not have had it then.

[Battis]

It's definitely the wooden grips. I'll try some of the posted methods to get rid of the smell.