water based cleaner corrosive ammo

[wally]

I've got the S&W 5.45x39 upper and shoot pretty much nothing but corrosive ammo in it.

Hot water followed by a normal clean and lube is all you need to do. Water won't hurt it, unless you somehow prevent it from drying out. A few minutes in the sun does the trick around here, and my solar powered garden hose hot water heater solves the washing problem

 

[Afy]

I use KG -1 in my .45-70 after shooting black powder (Swiss 3FG) and in my Vz after corrosive S&B. Have had absolutely no issues.

 

[gb0399]

We used to use what we called the parts washer to clean our MGs after extensive use. It was basically an industrial size washer machine. You could strip down multiple .50s, put the small parts in wire mesh boxes and put the barrel and receivers on the racks. You had to lock the SS door. The thing would wash the guns with scalding hot water at high pressure. When it was finished the parts would come out dry and ridiculously hot. You had to use leather gloves or barrel mitts to take the parts out. After they cooled down, we would as my boss said "oil the piss out of them" which meant copious amounts of oil on all surfaces. The oil would "soak in", if that’s possible, and we would assemble them and put them up. After the whole process they actual looked and worked like brand new. The process is not much different than what everyone is describing what they are doing at home.

 

[Col. Plink]

Water & guns just sounds like a bad combo...

I use Montana Xtreme bore cleaner, which does a one-stop job on any kind of ammo residue and is also copper solvent.

 

[wally]

Water & guns just sounds like a bad combo...

I guess in the history of firearms, none of the designers ever figured they'd be used in the rain?

Water will only hurt your gun if you obstruct the bore with it or leave it soaking in it until it rusts. With modern lubes and rust inhibitors this will usually take several days.

Waste your money on fancy solvents if you wish but water rinse (hot is faster), let dry, and normal clean and lube is all you really need to do. What you can't do is shot corrosive ammo and set it aside and forget about it for a while -- this will result in surface rust cosmetic damage and a dark bore, but the gun is far from ruined.

On the "Handguns" TV show as part of an XDm "torture test" they let it soak overnight in tap water, drained it out and it shot fine while still wet. Any decent firearm will do this. Sea water would have been a better test and I'd bet it would pass.

 

[GRIZ22]

Water & guns just sounds like a bad combo...

Shooter's prejudice against water as a gun cleaner is not new. Julian Hatcher mentions it in "Hatcher's Notebook". This is one of the reasons ammonia base cleaners were developed. Hatcher also mentions nothing cleans corrosive salts better than water. There are a variety of non-water commericial cleaners that will work. Hoppe's #9 is one of them. Check out the link for how well they work. You will note none works better than water.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/alittlesalt/index.asp

 

[Snowdog]

I've been shooting corrosive military surplus ammunition for years without any issues. All I do is run a couple (generic) Windex-soaked patches through the bore, put a couple dry patches through and then clean as usual with petroleum-based cleaner. I only use a spray window cleaner as it's convenient.
Honestly, with a bolt action rifle, it takes a whole extra 3 minutes of cleaning per firearm. Not a single speck of corrosion anywhere on any of my milsurp rifles or handguns after thousands of 7.62x39, 7.62x54, 7.92x57 and .303 British over the years.

I suspect some people equate the corrosive properties of Berdan/"corrosive" ammunition to that of black powder and I don't believe this to be anywhere close to the truth. Some folks like using boiling water and I used to do the same (it does a heck of a job cleaning and it the heated metal evaporates the the moisture quite nicely) but have had identical results using a window cleaner.

I do, however, use boiling water on my black powder firearms.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Back in the 1980s and early 90s virtually all of the available 7.62x39 was corrosively primed. I shot a few thousand rounds of this stuff through my Chicom SKS. The only cleaner I ever used was Hoppe's No.9. I never had rust.

YMMV.

 

[menacingsquirrel]

Hmmm, I use the old WWII vintage GI bore cleaner. I got a case off ebay and transferred to some plastic bottles. Works great.

 

[jeepguy]

i don't have any experience with corrosive ammo, so this may sound like a dumb queston. but you dont have to do anything special with the bolt or firing pin.

 

[Al Thompson]

Jeep, they need cleaning too.

 

[Col. Plink]

"Waste your money on fancy solvents if you wish"

Gimme a break... I got 2-for-1 on a solvent at Hoppe's prices that does any ammo type and dissolves copper. What a terrible mistake I made! [sarcasm]

 

[Joe Demko]

You didn't make a mistake. It's just that if removal of the salts is the primary concern, water is orders of magnitude cheaper yet than the solvents you bought. I have several guns that see nothing but corrosive ammo. Typically, after a session at the range, they get some hot water dumped through them and a wipe down with my Balistol rag. Cleaning with copper-dissolving solvents only happens when fouling is the primary concern.

 

[briansmithwins]

i don't have any experience with corrosive ammo, so this may sound like a dumb queston. but you dont have to do anything special with the bolt or firing pin.

Yep, anything that get gas residue on it.

I usually break down the AK's bolt every 3rd time or so after shooting to thoroughly flush it out and re-oil.

There was a reason that the old military standard Mauser rifles had bolts that could be easily stripped.

BSW

 

[jeepguy]

even i know they need normal cleaning, but i ment special cleaning from the corrosive ammo. like water down the barrel. water in the barrel makes since though as soldiers would have acces to this in the field.

 

[Al Thompson]

JO, IMHO, yes. I do a quick clean on the bolt face as it's usually a few months between range trips for my mil surps.

 

[-v-]

Hot Tap Water. If that fails, take the gun outside, pull and lock the action open. Take a garden hose. Run water through the gun for a few minutes, shake dry, oil as desired.

Remember, its a ****ing gun, not a lolipop that melts in water.

 

[Dr T]

Note that Sweet's 7.62 contains 5% ammonia (one of the ingredients of Windex).

It works on corrosive residue. Plus, it will double as smelling salts.

 

[menacingsquirrel]

-v-

Well said. I do baby my guns more than is needed.