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...So, it's generally agreed upon the bore and chamber are cleaned with warm water, some folks add windex, and others use soap, but what about the bolt? How many of you disassemble the bolt and scrub it down?

Seems to me you can get by with just cleaning the bolt face, but I don't want to risk damaging an old piece of history.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Shouldn't need to as everything goes forward unless you have a loose chamber and it doesn't fire form properly but then I wouldn't be shooting that anyway.
 
Don't know about the new stuff but the original Hoppe's #9 was water based for the purpose of cleaning after the use of corrosive ammo.

The pitting comes from powder residue left in the bore that attracts moisture and that leads to the corrosion.

Not sure how that scenario applies to bolts and their internal parts.

Smiles,
 
My regimen for AK's after corrosive ammo use is:

Simple green diluted beyond normal in a hand spray bottle. Just plain water works fine as well, simple green just helps clean things up a bit more is all.

WD40 in a hand spray bottle (WD40 bought by the half gallon). Used as intended, to displace the simple green/water.

Canned air.

Canned air at home again, to further displace any remaining simple green/water.

Clean & lube as normal.

May be fine for milsurp bolties as well, however dunno. Care should be taken initially with the WD40, to assure it won't cause any issues with the wood Finnish tho.

This system has worked well for our AK's, including the bolt/piston etc. So I'd assume it would work well for your style of rifle.

The spray bottles, canned air & such have a committed bag I take to the range with us. Just a cheapo harbor freight tool bag, maybe $5-$10. Easy enough.
 
My regimen for AK's after corrosive ammo use is:

Simple green diluted beyond normal in a hand spray bottle. Just plain water works fine as well, simple green just helps clean things up a bit more is all.

WD40 in a hand spray bottle (WD40 bought by the half gallon). Used as intended, to displace the simple green/water.

Canned air.

Canned air at home again, to further displace any remaining simple green/water.

Clean & lube as normal.

May be fine for milsurp bolties as well, however dunno. Care should be taken initially with the WD40, to assure it won't cause any issues with the wood Finnish tho.

This system has worked well for our AK's, including the bolt/piston etc. So I'd assume it would work well for your style of rifle.

The spray bottles, canned air & such have a committed bag I take to the range with us. Just a cheapo harbor freight tool bag, maybe $5-$10. Easy enough.

Get a cheap compressor for at home, if you don't already use one you'll love it;)
 
The Balistol mix for this is basically watered down balistol, it has the water to get rid of the salts, and the mix ratio they specify (and the way balistol works) stops it from rusting while you're cleaning it.
 
My routine after shooting corrosive ammo through my AKs and Mosin Nagant is to take them home and within that first few hours:

1. Strip the firearm down including the bolt. Small parts are soaked in the hot soapy water solution.
2. Using hot soapy water I'll clean and brush the metal parts, including the bore.
3. Look over the wood, as cosmoline might still be oozing out from the wood. I clean it off. I use a patch with a bit of Hoppe's No 9.
4. If I feel like it, I'll also do the Hoppe's No. 9 w/ bronze bore brush through the bore to work on the copper build-up.
5. The parts are looked over/checked for defects and dried off. The drying process is helped along by the hot parts sort of flash drying and/or with a wipe down with a dry rag or blowing with compressed air.
6. The dried parts are lightly oiled (and/or grease applied where necessary/needed), then reassembled correctly.
7. I'll also check back in a day or two. To see if there is rust developing and sometimes I'll run another oily patch through the bore just for good measure.

LOL...many youngsters are probably wondering about this "corrosive ammo" stuff and wondering, "Why shoot corrosive ammo at all?"

Well, I can still remember when surplus ammo was plentiful and cheap. But, it was corrosive. Yup, I bought a lot of it and stacked it deep. It still serves my purpose, at a very cheap price compared to the new stuff. Though with a necessary cleaning routine.

And, cleaning with expensive formulas is not how I roll. Hot soapy water is just that. Hot water with a little squirt of dish soap added. I say hot water because it helps in the drying off the parts. Cold water has a way of just sitting there. So, if you're using cold water, you'll have to make sure to wipe the parts down (drying it off) really well.

Aloha, Mark
 
Last Edited:
Go old school, urinate down the barrel; the ammonia negates the copper salts.

Seriously, just a normal clean with Hoppes 9, Balistol, or CLP is all that's needed. Spray it in, run the snake through, and you're good to go. Just don't put it off for a day or two. Nothing really arcane is needed.
 

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