I am just wondering if what I do to clean my mosin nagant after shooting surplus ammo is adequate. I basically wet a cotton patch with windex and run it down the barrel, then I use another cotton patch with windex and wipe the bolt face, and try and get the chamber with it. Then I resume cleaning with powder solvent as I usually do with my other guns. I occasionally shoot factory ammo like PPU or Winchester, but you just can't beat the cost of shooting surplus corrosive ammo.
7.62x54R Corrosive Ammo Question
- Thread starter SC4006
- Start date
A lot of people immerse the muzzle into a can of shallow water and swab the bore from the breech, drawing the water into the bore. I imagine that is how it was done in the field. And use a toothbrush with water on the bolt face.
You are trying to remove the salts left from the corrosive ammo. Water works best for this.
Oil it up when done.
You are trying to remove the salts left from the corrosive ammo. Water works best for this.
Oil it up when done.
I have a WPA VEPR in 7.62X54 and it's a considerably more involved process to clean vice a bolt gun.
That said, I use Hoppes #9 on the bore, bolt and bolt carrier, oprod and gas tube and have never had a proiblem with corrosion.
Takes me about 45 minutes to clean and oil and it's good to go.
Windex will most assuredly remove the salts left behind behind corrosive priming but I don't know how well it removes carbon and powder fouling.
Hoppes will cut that junk to the quick, fast, and it's smell takes me back to the days of my youth.
That said, I use Hoppes #9 on the bore, bolt and bolt carrier, oprod and gas tube and have never had a proiblem with corrosion.
Takes me about 45 minutes to clean and oil and it's good to go.
Windex will most assuredly remove the salts left behind behind corrosive priming but I don't know how well it removes carbon and powder fouling.
Hoppes will cut that junk to the quick, fast, and it's smell takes me back to the days of my youth.
ATCDoktor said:
You might want to rethink that.
Using Hoppes no 9 to clean after firing corrosive ammo comes up fairly often, and one of the previous times this came up, a guy on Calguns ended up calling Hoppes to get the straight answer. Which was: "No"
The old formula worked fine, the current formula, not so much.
This is backed up by the excellent test Surplusrifle.com did a while back, testing various cleaners on removing salt from test strips of steel.
Introduction here:
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/alittlesalt/index.asp
The page you want is here (scroll to the bottom):
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/alittlesalt/index2.asp
Hoppes No9 plus is formulated for Black powder, and should work fine on corrosive primers. http://www.hoppes.com/bore-cleaners/no-9-plusl[/url]
Mike Irwin
Staff
Technically speaking, NOTHING will "neutralize" the salts in corrosive priming residue because they are, like table salt, a stable compound.
Water DISSOLVES the salts and flushes them away.
Russian cleaning kits often contained a two-compartment bottle.
One side held a strong alkaline and water solution, and the other side held oil.
The alkaline and water solution removed both the primer residue and any residual oil from the bore.
Here's some more information on the Moisin Nagant style cleaning kit: http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirear...9/Re-The-Famous-M-N-Cleaning-Kit-Information-
Water DISSOLVES the salts and flushes them away.
Russian cleaning kits often contained a two-compartment bottle.
One side held a strong alkaline and water solution, and the other side held oil.
The alkaline and water solution removed both the primer residue and any residual oil from the bore.
Here's some more information on the Moisin Nagant style cleaning kit: http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirear...9/Re-The-Famous-M-N-Cleaning-Kit-Information-
Mike Irwin
Staff
"Hoppes No. 9 -- The old formula worked fine, the current formula, not so much."
Yep. This comes up frequently.
Hoppes does have SOME water in it, a component of the ethyl alcohol, but it's not nearly enough to ensure that it will remove corrosive priming salts.
Old forumula Hoppes had benzene in it, which is pretty effective at dissolving salts, but it's also a damned wicked chemical and is now highly regulated.
Yep. This comes up frequently.
Hoppes does have SOME water in it, a component of the ethyl alcohol, but it's not nearly enough to ensure that it will remove corrosive priming salts.
Old forumula Hoppes had benzene in it, which is pretty effective at dissolving salts, but it's also a damned wicked chemical and is now highly regulated.
For corrosive ammo...I like the Simple Green Solution that I buy at Home Depot ---- or a 1/3 mixture of --- Simple Green, hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol; in a non-clear plastic spray bottle.
When cleaning: use cotton flannel rod patches soaked with Simple Green {or the 1/3 solution} ---- till patches come out clean --- then use bronze core brushes soaked with copper remover {run thru bore six to ten times, repeat process...wait six minutes, then run non-soaked brush six to ten times --- 3 dry cotton flannel patches --- 3 patches soaked with Hoppes #9 --- 3 dry patches --- one oily patch; then one dry patch. Run cotton patches, only once thru the bore --- brushes --- back a forth.
When cleaning: use cotton flannel rod patches soaked with Simple Green {or the 1/3 solution} ---- till patches come out clean --- then use bronze core brushes soaked with copper remover {run thru bore six to ten times, repeat process...wait six minutes, then run non-soaked brush six to ten times --- 3 dry cotton flannel patches --- 3 patches soaked with Hoppes #9 --- 3 dry patches --- one oily patch; then one dry patch. Run cotton patches, only once thru the bore --- brushes --- back a forth.
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While I am sure that works, simple green has a lot of water in it, and it it makes you happy, knock yourself out.
All you need to clean after firing corrosive ammo is water. I use hot water, right from the faucet. I occasionally boil it, but it isn't necessary.
--Fix bayonet and plant the rifle in the ground. Pour hot water down the barrel and let it water the grass.
--put a catch pan under the rifle.
--Spray the chamber and down the barrel with WD40 (WD="Water Displacement"), until it drips into the catch pan. If you want, run a patch through to push out the excess
--Spray the chamber and down the barrel with CLP/Break Free, until it drips into the catch pan. Run a patch through to push out the excess
Done. The corrosive salts are gone, and you can now put the old warhorse back in the closet/safe/rack/whatever.
If you want to do a full cleaning with powder/copper solvents, you certainly can, but all you need to use after shooting corrosive is water.
reynolds357
New member
I always used black powder solvent then finished up with barnes or Montana extreme. Have never shot the Mosin, but have dealt with a lot of corrosive 8mm.
sirdiealot
New member
that looks about the easiest way ive seen to clean the mosin emcon....quick cheap and if it does the job the way im going to do mine now
Bamashooter
New member
Mike Irwin nailed it.. Plain ole H2O down the barrel and on the boltface and clean it the way you would normally clean a rifle. I used to disassemble my bolt and clean it but its not necessary. I was also told many years ago that the hoppe's was all one needed to avoid rust but that isnt true. Found that out the hard way. No need for windex, simple green, crud eliminator 1000, or comet. Water and your favorite cleaning product and you are GTG.
Mike Irwin
Staff
Once again, I'll make the point that (one I make every time this discussion comes up), if there is oil or other lubricants in the bore of your gun, or on the bolt, etc., plain water may NOT be enough to remove all traces of corrosive fouling.
That's why bore cleaners used by most militaries contained alkalies, soaps, etc.... to REMOVE any oil that might be hiding traces of corrosive priming.
That's why it's a good idea to adopt the same cleaning process that served well militaries world wide for many decades.
Adding a little bit of soap or ammonia or whatever to your cleaning solution isn't hard, its not going to hurt anything, and in fact, it may well stop PREVENTABLE damage to your gun.
That's why bore cleaners used by most militaries contained alkalies, soaps, etc.... to REMOVE any oil that might be hiding traces of corrosive priming.
That's why it's a good idea to adopt the same cleaning process that served well militaries world wide for many decades.
Adding a little bit of soap or ammonia or whatever to your cleaning solution isn't hard, its not going to hurt anything, and in fact, it may well stop PREVENTABLE damage to your gun.
Bamashooter
New member
If... Water by itself works just fine. But you guys go ahead and mix up some lame ass concoction if it makes you feel better. Who shoots a rifle lathered up with oil anyway? Kinda like the windex crap, not necessary. Why wouldnt water alone clean the corrosive salts out of the barrel including the corrosive salts trapped in minute puddles of oil? It will. You can use hot water if you want. Either way water will do its job and regular cleaning after the water will do its job.
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Mike Irwin
Staff
OK, it's pretty obvious that you have absolutely no clue about the history of corrosive priming and the pervasive issues, including that cropped up in the 1920s.
Investigation into those problems revealed the issues with corrosive priming, the cleaning regimes of the day, and the fact that in order to prevent rusting, a change in how cleaning was done AND a change in the bore cleaners was needed, which included adding either ammonia to the cleaning solution or, later, other types of surfecants.
I guess, though, what you're saying, is that you're so much more "larned" then those dumb military hicks from days gone by. Obviously you have some sort of "new science" knowledge that tells you that water is an effective solvent for gun oils.
You must have discovered some new and previously unknown type of water, so I'd suggest that you run out and patent it lickety split and market it as the newest cleaning solution.
Either that or somehow the laws of chemistry are different where you are.
IF water "worked fine," military and civilan organizations around the world wouldn't have spent years developing, fielding, and marketing specialized cleaning solutions to combat the known problems caused by corrosive priming residue.
Investigation into those problems revealed the issues with corrosive priming, the cleaning regimes of the day, and the fact that in order to prevent rusting, a change in how cleaning was done AND a change in the bore cleaners was needed, which included adding either ammonia to the cleaning solution or, later, other types of surfecants.
I guess, though, what you're saying, is that you're so much more "larned" then those dumb military hicks from days gone by. Obviously you have some sort of "new science" knowledge that tells you that water is an effective solvent for gun oils.
You must have discovered some new and previously unknown type of water, so I'd suggest that you run out and patent it lickety split and market it as the newest cleaning solution.
Either that or somehow the laws of chemistry are different where you are.
IF water "worked fine," military and civilan organizations around the world wouldn't have spent years developing, fielding, and marketing specialized cleaning solutions to combat the known problems caused by corrosive priming residue.
Bamashooter
New member
I dont really care about the history of corrosive salts including that cropped up in the 1920's ???. I know for a fact if you rinse the chamber and barrel with water and clean with hoppe's you will remove the corrosive salts and not have to worry about rust. Water removes the salts and hoppe's takes care of the ''oils''. I never said water alone was the magical solution but water and good ole hoppes #9 seems to be. Could be the chlorine in the water aiding in the salt removal. Its been working for me and my three mosin's for over 10yrs. Dont know jack about chemistry, just what works on corrosive ammo in my rifles. 
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reynolds357
New member
Black powder solvent is by far the best. It takes care of oil and corrosive salts. It is also simple. I even store my rifles that shoot corrosive with bore butter in them. The water cleaning I used to do let me down and I lost a $480 barrel on a Ruger 1H Tropical.
m&p45acp10+1
New member
A squirt bottle of water works well. Pull bolt, point barrel down. Squirt watter through bore. Run a couple of dry patches through the barrel. If you feel like it repeat witht the water, and a few more dry patches. Follow with a couple of patches soaked with your choice of gun cleaning solovent. Patch out the solovent. Dampen a patch with oil. Run it through. Follow with a couple of dry pathces. Wipe the rest of the rifle, and the bolt down with an oil soaked patch. Then wipe with a clean dry patch. Replace the bolt. Done.
Takes about 10 to 20 depeinding.
Takes about 10 to 20 depeinding.
Heavy Metal 1
New member
I keep some h20 in a well cleaned out nasal spray bottle & keep that in my range box. I use it to douse the bore and run wet patches thru it & the bolt face, then clean w/ conventional cleaners, then oil. I use 5-20w synthetic motor oil as it has more "stick" to it than say Rem oil and it seems to have some cleaning power of its own. It is also substantially less expensive than commercial gun oils and a quart lasts for years. About every other range session or so I use Wipe Out foaming bore cleaner instead of Hoppes, etc and that really gets the crud out. I never thought about black powder solvent...that seems logical and when I run out of the Hoppes in my range box I will try that.