Cleaning up after corrosive ammo?

T

texgunner

New member
Here's my question. What is the best way to clean up after shooting corrosive ammo? I have recently a Mosn-Nagant M44 and a Yugo M24 Mauser. I found some incredibly cheap ammo on the net (.09 - .11 cents/round) but it is all eastern European manufacture and corrosive. How do you all clean your milsurps?

Tex
 
NOTHING works better than hot, soapy water.

The corrosive element in the ammo is a salt. Nothing will dissolve the salts BUT water. Some people use Windex, thinking the ammonia helps but it does no good since ammonia cannot dissolve the salts.
It's the water in the Windex that works.

The old-time technique is to boil some water in a pot, then squirt in a few drops of liquid soap.
Remove the bolt from the rifle, and stick the muzzle in the pot of hot water.
Put a tight fitting patch on the cleaning rod and run it down the barrel.
When the rod and patch are pulled back out, the suction will draw the hot water up the bore, dissolving and flushing out the salts.

When the barrel is hot, run a dry patch down it and it will dry almost instantly.

Then, clean as usual with brush, patches, and bore solvent to remove the copper and carbon fouling.

Use patches soaked in water to wipe off the bolt head, and the receiver around the chamber, anywhere the corrosive fumes may have come in contact with the metal.
 
I use slip2000 for all my cleaning

And since it dissolves the salts as well....I don't have to do anything different
 
clean-up

Sir:
I answered your question in my mind, before I saw DFARISWHEELs. post exactly as he did! Yes, "nothing better than hot, soapy water!"
Being an old muzzle-loader man I use that exclusively on my muzzleloaders. Scrub toll no coloring comes out and then QUICKLY, very QUICKLY, have a good oily patch ready to coat the bore - it rusts almost instantly!!
When you're going to the range be sure to clean that oil out.
Harry B.
 
O.k., I need a chemistry degree. I've been using Windex for years thinking it disolved the salt. This ain't true? Is it too late to save my Mosin and my Mauser? I've shot them jillions of times and always cleaned with Windex, dry, solvent, dry, oil. AND, I never removed the oil before shooting. Have I destroyed a couple of guns?
 
The point is, it's the WATER in the Windex that dissolves the corrosive salts, NOT the ammonia.

Pure ammonia contains no water and ammonia has no effect on the salts.
When you give the bore a shot of Windex the water in the Windex dissolves and flushes out the salts.
You'd get the same results with a spray bottle full of pure water with a little soap as a wetting agent.
 
What Dfariswheel says. Use water. Lots of water to flush it out. I have an old Lee Enfield armourer's funnel that was made specifically for that purpose too. It's galvanized and is flush on one side (presumably to fit against a flat surface) and the spout fits right into the action. Turn on the hot water and let 'er run & rinse. Boiling water is especially good as it heats the barrel and evaporates quickly.
 
Thanks for the replies, I'm going to need them. The Sportsman's Guide has 8x57 and 7.62x54r surplus for less than $100. On their menu click on ammunition then click on military surplus.

Thanks, Tex
 
You would know if you had screwed up

I saw pics of an AK that did not get cleaned after shooting corrosive ammo...not a pretty picture

Water is great...but it is an extra step IMO
 
OK then what is all this I hear that Hoppes is the same formula that was around in corrosive ammo days and will neutralize the salts? Seems I have read old accounts of people using Hoppes exclusively in the old days and not having any problems with rust. Assuming that no. 9 is still the same stuff. And it would be one less step if it works. :confused:
 
The old-time technique is to boil some water in a pot, then squirt in a few drops of liquid soap.
Remove the bolt from the rifle, and stick the muzzle in the pot of hot water.
Put a tight fitting patch on the cleaning rod and run it down the barrel.
When the rod and patch are pulled back out, the suction will draw the hot water up the bore, dissolving and flushing out the salts.
Click to expand...
That's genius! I'll have to try that.
 
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