Corrosive ammo cleanup

[taylor]

What do you Mil-surp ammo shooters do or use after shooting? I've heard about the ammonia based theories and some that say ammonia makes it worse. Hot water, just water,soapy water,piss etc. Does anyone know what works?
Also can you rate the Mil-surp ammos in order of their accuracy? Personally I think the Romanian is pretty decent, and some early 40s Czech ammo I just bought from Liberty tree.

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[trainsktg]

Modern corrosive primers use potassium chlorate as an accellerant, which results in a potassium chloride residue being deposited on any surface that comes in contact with exhaust gasses...barrel, bolt face, in some instances the magazine, and in the case of semi-autos gas blocks, gas tubes, etc. Since KCl is a salt, anything that dissolves the salt into solution is a good way to get rid of it. Hot soap and water, just water, etc. Ammonia, as found in products like Windex do not affect the salt in any way (the 'neutralization' myth is just that), but does act as a 'surfricant' that allows the water to get deeper into pores and cracks, where salt deposits may otherwise be unreachable. It also has the added benefit of being able to dissolve layered copper. There are other commercial products out there that remove salt, and they work, but I'm cheap and use what has worked for 200 years. I do use products like Hoppes on bores that have been neglected, but by and large stick with just the Windex treatment after range sessions. (Ammonia does 'dry out' the metal, so apply a thin coat of gun oil after cleaning.)

Except for my Finn M28/76, which has only seen $2.50 per round Lapua 7.62x53r (not x54r), all of my milsurp bolt action and semi autos routinely get shot with both mainly combloc surplus and some occasional commercial brass. In x54, I have found that 1986 Czech lightball works best in most of my rifles, although my M27 Finn Mosin strangely excells with 1954 Bulgarian heavyball.

Keith

 

[just dan]

In my Mosin its just a quick barrel wipe at the range, dish soap and water when I get home... followed by hoppes or gibbs and a normal cleaning.
All it gets fed is whatever Russian surplus that I find.

I occasionally shoot Russian surplus 9mm in my CZs... which isn't supposed to be corrosive, but who knows. Same deal there... wipe at the range, soap and water, gibbs, full cleaning when I get home. Factory brass in comparison: minor cleaning, call 'er done (unless its going in the safe for a while)

 

[Unka-Boo]

http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com...and/windex/windex-original-glass-cleaner.aspx

Refer to the first listed ingredient. That is the magic of Windex.

What I do: ( shooting Yugo M67 through an AK )

Water with a bit of dish soap, or a mix of water and Ballistol, scrub everything well. I do hose down the gas block with WD40 to make sure I get all the water out ( paranoia, mostly ) then clean as normal with bore cleaner ( I like Ed's Red, or plain ol' Hoppe's ).

Lube with CLP and put away for next time.

 

[saxon]

been shooting that stuf for years started with DEN 42 / 30-06 when i was 12
i have shot 90 year old ammo out of 100 year old guns,
get done shooting go home and clean with military cleaner or hoppes and clean well till patch comes out white
and give a good oiling never had issues

 

[Blitzkrieg]

It's a very good idea to also clean the bore again a few days later

 

[SAR1846]

I like to use diluted down simple green to remove the corrosive stuff. Then a basic clean & oiling afterwards. Make sure to pay attention to the bolt face and muzzle. HtH!

 

[Ballistic]

All my shooting is with surplus ammo. After shooting i go home and clean thoroughly. I use Hoppe on all metal parts and foaming bore cleaner for hard to get parts (like the muzzle brake on a Hakim). Rinsing with boiling water has the added advantage of drying in seconds, since it's so hot. Then a film of oil or Break Free and put it away.

 

[pioneer461]

I just spend a few extra obama-bucks on US manufactured ammo.