Corrosive ammo

[WyrTwister]

Corrosive ammo does not damage firearms .

I have shot a lot of corrosive surplus ammo ( to be safe , I consider all foreign surplus ammo corrosive ) .

Here is the deal . Clean the gun PROPERLY before the sun goes down . That way the corrosive salts do not have time to start corroding the metal .

PROPERLY ? There are lots of methods that work .

Hot soapy watter . Windex with Ammonia . WWII GI bore cleaner is said to work .

I use Shooters Choice Copper Remover Bore Cleaner ( any of the copper removers that smell of ammonia will work ) . I clean untill I no longer get blue green stain on the patches , or until I get tired .

I then use a few patches wet with Hoppies # 9 , to kill the ammonia . This leaves the bore wet with Hoppies . I close the bolt and stick a wet Hoppies patch part way in the muzzle .

I repeat this process each nite until I no longer get blue green patches , with the Shooters Choice .

One cycle of this is probably enough to kill the salt . But I also want to remove the copper .

You are correct , if you shoot cast bullets , current production American non-corrosive primers and smokeless powder , you avoid most of this .

And it takes a long time to wear out a barrel with lead bullets . And lead bullets loads usually use less powder , less fire to burn out the chamber throat .

Lastly , if you have to clean from the muzzle , be kind , use a guide on the cleaning rod .

God bless
Wyr

[oscarflytyer]

Nice to know ammonia will work as well as soapy water. Hate to put soap and water in a bore. thanx

[stubshaft]

I've use hot soapy water to kill corrosive salts for years. The trick is to use HOT water it heats up the barrel and makes it easier to dry out.

[Hip's Ax]

Its the water that is necessary to neutralize the corrosive salts, the ammonia is good to get the layers of copper out so that the water can get at the salts under the copper. Don't forget to wipe down the bolt face. If your shooting a semi don't forget the gas system.

I keep a squirt bottle of ammonia and water in my shooting kit. After shooting corrosive I run a few wet patches of water and ammonia down the bore, use one wet patch to wipe down the bolt face (I'm shooting bolt guns obviously) and then oil the snot out of everything and then clean as usual when I get home. Never had a problem with rust.

Here is where I got my info 10 years ago, I still do it this way. Hope this helps.

http://www.empirearms.com/clean.htm

[Gerry N.]

I learned to clean a rifle from my insane uncle who was a USMC DI before the gummit used non corrosive priming. I'm not going to go into the whole protocol, but it involves water, Hoppe's #9, oil and foul language, lots of foul language. I'm pretty sure it's necessary. Cleaning my Yugo M48 or #4MkI* after a session with corrosive primed ammo takes no longer than cleaning any other rifle.

Gerry N.

[Nose Dive]

yep, water does the job. No water, no good. It works and puts the salts in solution and washes them out. Soap is good to,,it helps keep all the bad stuff in solution. Ammonia is for the copper. No ammonia,, not copper cleaning other than the elbow grease. The HOT water is a neat idea. Am gonna try that way next Saturday. I doo the soapy water and brushes... dry it out with a few patches..then a bit of ED's RED and more brushing. Then the Hoppes or COPOUT stuff from the fellas (Barnes is the name I think) who make the lead free bullets. Or, could mix up a bit of soapy ammonia solution and skip a step or two. Then,,finish with oily patches to combat the rust. Here again, my final patches are swabs of ED's Red. Lot of heavy hydrocarbons and my solution features Marvel Myster Oil...which,,in reality...has no oil in it. Anyway, keeps the sheen on and the rust out. Did I mention i blow the pieces off with air between steps... Also, soak the bolts and other exposed parts, (SLIDES and cylinders in pistols) in soapy water while doing the barrel brushing,,, then blow off, then soak over night in Ed's Red. Scurb'em, blow and towel dry..ready for re assembly.

"advanced skills are those employed while performing the basics while your leg is on fire"

[Sailman]

When taking basic training during the Korean War time, after we shot on the rifle range ( all the ammo was corrosive ), we woul take the M-1 barrel into the shower with us and wash the barrel and ourselves. We never had any problems with rust in the bore.

Sailman

[Ricochet]

Marvel Mystery Oil is a very light petroleum oil. According to the MSDS it has trace amounts of mineral spirits, napthenic hydrocarbons and chlorinated hydrocarbons in it.
http://images.shipstore.com/ss/image...mavmmomsds.pdf

[dromia]

I use Aquoil made with 3-1 water and Youngs .303 oil.

[markinalpine]

I learned to clean a rifle from my insane uncle who was a USMC DI before the gummit used non corrosive priming. I'm not going to go into the whole protocol, but it involves water, Hoppe's #9, oil and foul language, lots of foul language. I'm pretty sure it's necessary. Cleaning my Yugo M48 or #4MkI* after a session with corrosive primed ammo takes no longer than cleaning any other rifle.

Gerry N.

Those are actually Magic Words.
After using H2O based liquids, soapy water, Windex, etc., use WD40.

Mark

[Bullet Caster]

I have been cleaning rifles and handguns for a long time now and esp. when I was on active duty in the US Marine Corps. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use WD40 on any firearm as it induces rust. I have tried WD40 on a suggestion and have found rust on my rifle after using it. The best surface protectant for any firearm is the Remington gun oil with teflon as this oil has been proven to penetrate the metal itself. I've never found any rust whatsoever after using the Remington oil. This has been proven in a thread on this forum. Thanks, BC

[dromia]

I agree the WD40 is useless for protection against rust and it is folly to use it so.

However in the context of this thread and the use of water based solutions to remove primers salts WD40 has a place as it is intended to displace water.

Therefore its use after water based solutions is sensible so long as it is then cleaned out along with any displaced water and the firearm then oiled appropriately for rust prevention.

[Janoosh]

I shopped at tag sales and bought an "antique" coffee pot, the kind with the guts inside. I boil water in it and pour the "hot" water down the bore after shooting corrosive ammo. I use Simple Green to scrub the bore with brushes. Follow up when dry with either Hoppe's or GI bore cleaner. Works every time. Also needed to take apart the bolt to clean the insides. I had a major problem with rust forming inside and slowing things up.

[Reload3006]

I do what I was taught in the military My piece Betty goes to the shower with me and we both get a good scrubbing. Hot water is not necessary just good ole warm soapy water will take all the corrosive salts out. re-oil and your good to go.

[Rokkit Syinss]

Field expedients from at least the Civil War on:
Piss down the barrel.
Creek water.
Stale coffee (I can verify this one works and with BP fouling too).
USGI bore cleaner with a part number that starts RIXS (looks like tobacco spit and smells much worse). Again I can verify this does work and works on BP fouling too.
Blue windshield washer stuff, works on corrosive primer salts and BP fouling.
If the water isn't hot enough to heat the parts and rapidly dry them use Birchwood Casey Sheath or Barricade as it work as well or better than WD-40 and does not adversely affect resulphurized stainless.

[JudgeBAC]

Ballistol is my favorite cleaner for black powder and corrosive ammo. It is water soluble so you mix it 50/50 with water, clean whatever needs cleaning then follow with 100% Ballistol for rust protection. Never had any rust using this product. The only downside is it does not smell very good, sort of like smelly socks.

[felix]

There are some polymers out there used in the cooling/tooling industry which should/will work just fine. It should have been used on a Yugo barrel here as it is religiously used after shooting the BP flinter. The 8mm ammo was reported to be non-corrosive, and we all know how that goes these days. So, I never told the boys to clean that gun afterwards. Barrel HAD to be exchanged. ... felix

[kywoodwrkr]

Ballistol is my favorite cleaner for black powder and corrosive ammo. It is water soluble so you mix it 50/50 with water, clean whatever needs cleaning then follow with 100% Ballistol for rust protection. Never had any rust using this product. The only downside is it does not smell very good, sort of like smelly socks.

This was good enough(actually developed for) for the German army.
It was developed for black powder guns(corrosive if there ever was corrosive) at beginning of 1900's.
I have used it to clean up fire, smoked items.
Does not harm plastic, wood, paper etc etc.
As stated it does have an aroma of it own.
Use it to clean mill tools and other items around the shop.
FWIW

[MasS&W]

I've been shooting surplus 7.62x25 for a while through my CZ. I actually don't have any special cleaning regimen, just the standard anal-retentive-clean-until-patches-come-out-clean thing. Hoppes 9 or hoppes copper solution, generally the former, both if its been a heavy shooting day. All my guns get similar treatment, minus the copper solvent because they never see copper

[9.3X62AL]

Mas, the CZ-52s usually have chrome-lined chambers and bores in OEM form. This is a feature of many Soviet Bloc firearms to guard against bore corrosion, though I don't entirely trust ANY anti-corrosive other than LOTS of hot water, followed by Hoppe's and re-oiling.

Non-corrosive priming and air conditioning are two modern innovations I support whole-heartedly.