Hello, I am long time black powder shooter and when cleaning up after shooting , wash some parts in pure water or soapy water, and then dry in oven over low heat.

Am planning on getting an SKS, not real familiar with such modern guns.

If I have to clean cosmolene out of a new SKS, with a solution of water and simple green for instance, is there any reason not to dry the metal parts after cleaning in a kitchen range oven over low heat? Any thing to watch out for on an SKS when doing this? Thanks!

Shouldn't be any problems with doing so. Just laying all the disassembled parts out on a towel overnight would probably work equally well.

Mineral spirits also works excellent on cosmoline. I use a large plastic pan and a stiff paintbrush to get it off of the various parts.

Simple green can be very hard on wood.  

Mineral spirits on the wood, put metal parts in oven on low heat, removing often to wipe off the cosmoline that weeps out.

Wipe off as much gunk as possible. Put your wood parts in a black plastic garbage bag, and place it on your roof for a few days.

I'm nervous about using ovens, heat guns, or torches to dry guns.
Things can happen, like an oven that's hotter then it appears, etc.

For that reason, I use a common hair dryer to warm guns and dry them.
This works well, fairly fast, and is safe to use.
You can also spray in a water displacement like WD-40, blow it out with compressed air then spray in a fine mist of lubricant.

To clean Cosmoline from wood, use cheap Walmart paint thinner on a rag or paper towel to wipe it down without getting it sopping wet.