Corrosive cleanup??

[Spanky]

What is the best way to clean up my Mosin after shooting mil. surp. corrosive ammo.
The man at the gun shop said that not all mil. surp. is corrosive but I think otherwise.



Spanky

[woodchukhntr]

Consider all 7.62x54R surplus to be corrosive and you won't have a problem.  I use a good bore cleaner and clean the rifle as with non-corrosive ammo.  Then I get some hot water and mop out the barrel and chamber.  Then I clean off all accessible metal with wet rags or patches.  Run dry patches through the chamber and bore, and dry off everything accessible.  Then I run a patch with T/C Bore Butter through the bore, and use a gun oil on everything else.  I always check the gun a few days later, just to be safe.

[ECV Slick]

The man at the gun shop said that not all mil. surp. is corrosive but I think otherwise.

I treat all mil-surp ammo as "corrosive" until I know otherwise.  When I get done shooting (while the rifle is still warm) I mop the chamber and bore thoroughly with Windex.  I clean with the Windex again at home then I clean the gun as I normally would.  I always go back a day or two later and check to be sure the bore is still clean and so far I've had no problems using this technique.

That said, I've seen rust begin to form just a few hours after firing corrosive ammo - so I think the warm mop-down REALLY helps.

[TribReady]

I do a mix of each.l I'll run some Windex (although plain water has been shown to do the same thing-the ammonia in the solution is supposed to neutralize the corrosiive salts, but unproven)   down the barrel right at the range. I do that to "rinse" out the corrosive salts.
Then, once at home, a thorough cleaning like normal. Oil like normal and put back into the safe. No problems yet.

I think the key to all of this is a relatively quick cleaning.

BTW, Windex can affect bluing so be careful to get down the barrel only.

[Kmrere42]

HI,

Here is my thing for Corrosive ammo,




I took an old gallon milk / water jug,  cut the top just above the handle and down a bit on the other side.  Boil some water in a pot that has a pouring spout or use one of the new electric kettles, ( Use it for tea and coffee also )  Put 2-3 tablespoons of dish soap into the jug and put the jug on the floor with one of the cheap boot mats between the jug and the floor.  Take the now boiling water and fill the jug,  Remove the bolt from the rifle and place the muzzle into the water and rapidly stroke a tight fitting bore mop through the bore into the water/soap mix for about 5 min.  Get the barrel good and hot and then set aside till dry and clean normally. 


Use a boot mat so if the water spills, the wife doesn't beat you with the now cleaned rifle.  Keep the jug to reuse later.





Paul

 

[TribReady]

Kmrere42, that's my Muzzleloader process! Works great for it and will definitely work here for milsurps.  Again, the key is doing it relatively soon after shooting.

[iiranger]

#1). How soon will you be home? The salts in corrosive primers start sucking humidity out of the air immediately and starting rust and If you will be home quickly, you can suppress with a long squirt of WD 40 or other rust preventer that will interfere with the water in the air being used. Obviously, in the desert, low humidity, this is less of a problem. Seashore, the quicker the better.

Let's see, the 30 carbine was never corrosive. Neither was the US .308 ammo. More recent. .223. 9mm. But anything else? Why risk it?

If not--the getting home, then you want to address removing these salts as quickly as possible. The Windex which has lots of water and some ammonia is convenient. The black powder bore cleaners/tools are also good. Black powder leaves similar salts. Kettle of boiling water down the barrel is great. Washes out the salts and heats the metal to dry from that heat.

As suggested, best, when you get home, hot water, soap if you wish, and pumping in and out of the bore to scrub the salts off the steel. THEN you worry about copper fouling and powder residue. Then oil lightly or whatever preservative you prefer. luck.

[Victor3]

 I don't know WHY it works, but I've been using the ammonia/water mix for years with good results, ever since reading this:

http://64.82.96.51/clean.htm

 However, I suspect that ammonia just cleans stuff good; regardless if it's a toilet bowl or a rifle bore. I've never been able to find any info proving that ammonia kills the salts that corrosive primers produce. It is a convenient (and effective, for whatever reason) way to clean a bore of corrosive gunk though.

 I tend to be practical and stick with what works - If I find that chicken blood and and a voodoo incantation works better than ammonia in the future, I'll switch over. Can't be any less scientific than some of the goofy procedures I've read for breaking in a target barrel that some swear by

[NickSS]

Water, soapy water, windex with amonia, Sweets 7.62 bore cleaner and Ballistol all work for eliminating corrosive salts from priming.  I have used all of them and they all work.  What I use now is Ballistol and water mixed 50-50.  This cleans the bore and leaves an oily coating on the metal to prevent rusting all in one.  I also use Sweets to remove copper fouling it also kills any corrosive priming as well.