Question about cleaning out corrosive ammo

M

Mosin-Marauder

New member
I was wondering if this would be a good way to clean after shooting corrosive ammunition in my Mosin. First I put a funnel down the bore and dump boiling water down it. Then I take a .30 Cal Boresnake and put solvent on the section before the brushes and then oil the last section and run it through twice or thrice, however many times I see fit. I'd also wash the Boresnake after each use so I'm not putting deposits back into the bore. Would that keep the barrel from rusting? I figure I would do a full length cleaning job (rod and patches and brushes) every 400 rounds or so. Just wondering if this would keep the bore from rusting. Thanks for your help.
-Mo.
 
I personally don't like the idea of using water for anything in a gun because it seems too likely to cause rust to me. I've heard that something ammonia based like windex is preferred. But I haven't shot corrosive out of mine yet so maybe someone will come along with a better idea
 
Ammonia does nothing to corrosive salts. You'll need something water based. I take a funnel and pour boiling water down the bore so it evaporates quickly then run a clean patch through the bore to wipe out excess. A good subtle way of removing the salts is Birchwood Casey's Muzzle Magic No. 77. It's water based and if you don't like pouring water down the bore it's good.
 
Mo,
Discussed ad nauseum.
On the last go-round you were saying you did NOT want to use the water-down-the-barrel method.

Just clean the blasted thing in any of a number of different ways already gone over endlessly, leave a light (very light) film of oil in the bore when you're done, run a patch through before shooting again to make sure you don't have TOO much oil in there, and get on with life.

Honestly Mo, you're just asking the same old questions over & over and obsessing needlessly over that Mosin.
Denis
 
I just want the blessed patches to stop coming out black. I've got some of that JB paste on the way, so I'm hoping that takes care of it. I literally went through 78 patches the last time I cleaned it after 5 rounds of corrosive. And they still weren't completely clean. How do you use that bore past stuff you told me about?
 
You smear a very light bit of it across most of the patch & follow the instructions on the little tub it comes in.

I run a "smeared" patch through about 10 times, followed by a couple dry patches, followed by a couple CLP patches, maybe repeat a half-dozen or more times.
On a new-to-me Mosin in clearing out previous accumulated gunk, I'll brush it a bit ,too, AFTER removing the paste with patches.

One thing with the paste- do NOT keep going till you get a "clean" patch.
It's a mild abrasive, it can wear on the rifling with excessive use, and it will ALWAYS produce a blackened patch.

I'm totally mystified about why you're having so much of a bore issue with your gun.

I have three currently.
After doing the initial JB/brush/copper remover cleaning on acquisition, I just use the four or five Windex patches I've mentioned to you previously when I'm done with a shooting session, followed by a few CLP patches, followed by a dry patch.

I don't go back to those guns three times a week looking for dirty patches through the bores, I've never run more than 20 patches at the most through one at a single session, and I've never seen anybody have as much of an on-going struggle with a Mosin as you do.

One thing to consider- I've never in my life cleaned a bore on ANYTHING till it came out with an absolutely spotless white patch.
I'm not going to, either.

I patch till the patch only has traces of black on it & call it good.

There comes a point, which I think you've reached, where it's senseless to continue on.

I can get a "clean" patch with very minor traces of black carbon, then run a brush through, and the next patch will be quite dirty again.
The brush contributes.

I can get a clean patch, run the next one through with JB's & it'll come out absolutely black again.

I can continue on, depending on what I'm doing, for quite a while & still come out with "dirty" patches.

In doing that, I'm not cleaning the gun, I'm just creating my own endless cycle & there's simply no point.

I have guns I've gotten "mostly" clean (as opposed to spotlessly clean) for 40 years & their bores are fine today.

Mo, not trying to embarrass you, but really- your rifle has become an obsession for you.
That's neither necessary nor healthy.

Ease off on the thing.
Denis
 
Mosin, you have washed out the salts by now. If your patches are still coming out black, the best thing you can now do is soak the bore in a good water based copper remover. There are many out there and all of them I have tried work well. Plug the muzzle of your rifle, fill the entire barrel up with the water based copper remover and let the thing set for several days. Kepp topping it off. After that, get a good bronze brush and run wet brushes through it until it gets clean. If that does not get it clean, It aint cleanable.
 
Mosin-Marauder, You open a thread to ask advice. Then correct people with real experience, when they share advice.

I know when I was 14 I was much more excited about girls, than the all the cool guns my father left me.

I think you have your priorities slightly out of order. You own at least two guns. I know you want to take good care of them and I applaud that. Obsessing over the bore in a mosin it's not really worth your time or that much effort. The rifle was made for illiterate peasants to drop on the battlefield.They didn't care about corrosive primers and the soldiers life depended on that rifle.

The ammonia in Windex is so diluted with water, the solvent you can't decide if you should or shoudn't use, that one or the other will dissolve any salts of K or Ag, and mercury, as well as reduce copper deposits. I have read that more rifles have been ruined from incorrect cleaning, than by over shooting.

You have made over a thousand posts in six months, I haven't made 300 in 4 years. You need a girlfriend or something more important to worry about than corrosive primers in a relic rifle.

You shoot it, clean it if you want to, then forget about that part. Any gun is just a tool. They come and go. I have sold and have had guns stolen that cost over ten times what a surplus rifle is worth. I was angry, but it's still just stuff.

Get out there and get a hickey or something and calm down about ammonia in Windex.
 
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Like I said before...I use patches soaked with Simple Green till it comes out clean --- then do rod an brush work with copper remover, then get the gunk out with Simple Green or Hoppes #9 ---dry patch then oil down.

Gunzilla can also remove the primer salts and is non-explosive; but it can also remove a stock's finish.

I also use an AR chamber rod, with a 308 stainless steel chamber brush; soaked with brake cleaner fluid.
 
Solvent

H2O is what is known as the Universal Solvent.
Water (H2O) will hold just about every other chemical compound in suspension.
Hot water is more energetic toward solids, cold water will hold more gaseous chemicals, like O2 oxygen.
How old is the rifle in question? How well did the conscripts that handled this rifle care for it and lastly just how many rounds of com-bloc ammo went out its muzzle? If you never shoot another round and just clean this rifle for the next fifty years what will you accomplish? Even the most careful cleaning methods will cause wear.
Just shoot the dang thing and enjoy the experience. Care for it as described in the posting before these and you'll have more hours of fun than cleaning that old abused military surplus rifle. We all have a tendency to over analyze. Notice the root of ANALyze is that for a valid reason.
 
The Mosin is clean. The 10/22 is clean. Put them away and go do some serious chores.

Boiling water and some solvent, with a brush, will work on any rifle. If you want white patches, it's not going to happen.
 
So, I decided to try something I'd heard about quite a bit. I plugged one end if the bore with cork gasket and poured about half an ounce of Hoppe's 9 down the bore and filled it completely. I waited 2 hours and uncorked it. Ran two dry patches down the bore and 1 oiled patch followed by another dry patch. The bore is now very clean. It's almost as shiny as the K-31. The grooves and lands also look a lot better. The Hoppe's came out very green with carbon and powder residue mixed in (black "clouds" over part of it). The patches weren't completely white but I don't care. The bore is clean and no particles or anything are there. I'm happy. Thanks for your help. Sorry for so many threads. I'll stop now. Promise.
 
Bolt out. Muzzle down into a small container of hot soapy water. Patch on cleaning rod: Push down from chamber end. Pull back like unto a suction pump. Half a dozen strokes. Change to hot clean water. New patch, repeat pumping. Run a dry patch through. Then run an oily patch through. Then go take a nap.
 
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