Proper handling of Mosin-Nagant cleaning

[Drame22]

Hello NW,


I recently got to take my Mosin-Nagant shooting, and I used mostly corrosive ammunition. I've read a lot of different methods on cleaning a Mosin, and I'm really just looking to boil them down into a simple step-by-step.

According to the forums, hot water or ammonia dissolves the salts from the primer. But after that, most sites simply say 'and then clean as normal.' Which would be great, but I'm a brand new shooter, what's normal?

I have a Hoppes #9 kit. Bore brush, bore cleaner, gun lubricant and a ton of patches. Is there a difference between gun lubricant and gun oil?

I'm basically asking for help on the correct procedure for cleaning a Mosin. I'm scared to death of ruining this 90+ year old gun with my inexperience. I'm a history buff and gun-nut to boot, I don't think I could forgive myself if I destroyed a piece of my own history(I'm half Russkie).

Any help is appreciated,


Cheers all,
Drame22

EDIT: I should note that though this is my first Mosin, I also have a Type 53(I haven't shot yet) and I'm planning on getting many many more. So a simple step-by-step to save time would be lovely.

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[JV100]

Clean the bore as you would any gun, clean the bolt and action. Remove bolt and give it a heavy spray down of windex window cleaner. The windex will remove the corrosive crap from the bolt. Let the bolt set a while then wipe it down again. Re install bolt. Remember, its a tough old gun, you can't hurt it. I wouldn't boil the bolt myself. End lesson

 

[GOG]

I like to spray the bore with windex and run a few patches down as well.

Drame, I'm sending you a PM.

 

[EMP9596]

How to properly clean after using corrosive ammo. I got this from Dennis a long time ago and it has worked well for me...

mjd.

This is how I do it... it's easy, it's fast, and it's effective. Best of all you can do it while still on the firing-line and thus not offend your significant other with the usually pungent stench of commercial cleaners in your home.

Dilute regular household ammonia (sudsy is best but regular is OK too) to 2/1 or 3/1 with water (it can be as much as 10/1 if the smell really gets to you).

Keep in a small bottle to take with you to the range but label it well so you don't mistake it for contact-lens solution or something (yeeeowww!)
After you are done firing and while still at the range moisten (not dripping-wet, but sorta-soaked) a patch and run it down the bore and back once. This instantly will neutralize and dissolve the corrosive salt-compounds from the primers and start in on the copper and powder fouling with a vengeance.
Let stand for thirty seconds or so (just enough time to take off and throw away the ammonia-patch you just used and put a new, dry patch on your rod). Run the dry patch (or several) down the bore and you are most literally done.

DON'T OVERDO IT! More ISN'T better in this case...
You really don't want to slop ammonia (especially if heavily concentrated) all over the blued parts of the gun (as it will likely start to remove bluing after 30 minutes or so) and you also shouldn't leave the ammonia in the bore for an extended period of time (like hours, although I do know folks who do that anyway) as that may (not WILL, but MAY) cause "crazing" (microscopic pitting) of the metal. I also have to caution against slopping ammonia on the wooden parts of your rifle, as it will usually strip the finish down to bare-wood, BUT if you follow my advise on HOW MUCH ammonia to use (only enough to dampen, but not soak, a single patch per gun) you will not EVER experience ANY problems at all...
If you are worried about primer residue getting on the bolt-face you may want to quickly wipe it with the wet patch before throwing the thing away and quickly dry it. Same thing with the gas-tube in a semi-automatic rifle... don't go overboard, just wet it and dry it and get done with it.

As a final precaution (since the ammonia will also kill all lubricants and leave the metal very dry) you can run a patch of gun-oil down the bore and leave it like that for protection from the elements (just be sure to run a dry patch down the bore before shooting it again).

I've been cleaning guns this way (including *every* gun we sell) for nearly thirty years, and have never had rust form in any bore (even here in humid Florida).

However, if you are (like some folks I have met) completely obsessed about leaving traces of ANY powder or copper residue in the bore of your weapon, you can certainly follow up your "field-cleaning" with a detailed, strenuous, traditional cleaning once you are home (or in a week or month from then). But I warn you... your bore is much more be likely to be damaged from your over-enthusiastic scrubbing to get out that "last speck of copper" (which has no affect on the actual accuracy of your firearm) than it will with all the rounds you could possibly send down it during your lifetime.

Dennis Kroh
Empire Arms
http://www.empirearms.com/

 

[Drame22]

So it doesn't hurt the gun to have those little specks in there?


Also, what exactly is a 'normal cleaning'?

And is gun oil and gun lubricant the same thing, or do I need some of both? Also a friend of mine suggested cutting up my old 100% cotton t shirts to use as patches. Is this a good idea, or will it leave fibers in the barrel?


Cheers all, thanks for the responses, especially you GOG.

Drame22

 

[DieselScout]

Ammonia isn't required, it's the water in Windex and other ammonia solution that breaks up the salts left behind by corrosive ammunition. Hot water will work if you don't have any Windex or ammonia around. Ammonia, does provide a bit more cleaning power, but it is not required.

Here is a good explanation from another forum, if you'd like to get your nerd on.

What happens when a corrosive primer is lit off:
The active ingredient in a corrosive (non mercuric) primer is potassium chlorate. (KCl3 in lab geek speak)

When you light it off, one of the potassium-chlorine bonds is broken, releasing energy. This energy is what makes the fire that lights off the powder.

What is left over is potassium chloride, it sounds sort of familiar because it's the same chemical as salt substitute for people with high sodium level in their blood.

It has a very similar makeup to table salt(sodium chloride) except that the sodium is replaced with a potassium. This potassium-chlorine molecule deposits in the bore as a salt crystal, which behaves very much like a regular table salt crystal. It absorbs water, holds it against the steel, and creates a galvanic cell.(this is the electro chem part of college chem 2 that you probably slept through, it's boring) This causes rust, just like any other piece of steel/iron/etc exposed to salt water, or any other water with dissolved stuff in it like sea water.

That said, the potassium chloride is very soluble in water (even more so in hot water), which is why the water bath is suggested to remove it. (windex is just ammonia with water and a few other items, the active ingredient here is actually the water) Pour some water over the metal coated in potassium chloride, and the salts dissolve, leaving bare metal. Dry it and run some oil over, and you're good to go.

For you guys using other "ammonia" solutions, you're really using something that is mostly water with a bit of ammonia added to it. Again, the water is the active ingredient, but the ammonia helps break up oils and such that could be covering the salts. Not a bad way to do it, but in the bore, there isn't going to be much, if any oil to break up.

 

[jordanka16]

I use warm water first, pour some in the bore onto the ground. Then use a wet patch and run it through, followed buy a brush a few times, then another wet patch. After that I use a regular powder solvent, put some on a patch, then run a brush through a few times, followed by a patch. If I'm not going to be shooting it for a while I put a little oil on a patch and run it through to get a light coat on the bore. Make sure you wipe down the action too, as residue can get all over it.

I would get something thicker than oil to use in addition to the oil, if you ever get an automatic rifle or handgun the action can sling the oil off, something thicker will stay better. For a bolt action rifle oil will work just fine though. The hoppes kit is perfect, it will get anything as clean as it needs to be. I used the same stuff until just recently, and I still keep some around just in case.

Old T shirts make great patches, those cloth restaurant napkins also work really well if you can find any.

Keeping them clean isn't all that difficult, just make sure you clean it every time you shoot it, and as soon as you can.

 

[accessbob]

and I'm really just looking to boil them down into a simple step-by-step.

Whenever you ask a bunch of people on a forum for a solution you will get myriad responses. I follow the path as Diesel Scout has posted in post #6 (http://www.northwestfirearms.com/ri...andling-mosin-nagant-cleaning.html#post889779). But as you can see by the many posts already, it is not likely you will find a single solution. You'll need to take what is given and go with what you perceive as is best.

 

[accessbob]

just make sure you clean it every time you shoot it, and as soon as you can.

I will say that it is my opinion that "as soon as you can" should not be construed that you need to do it immediately upon finishing shooting. It is quite alright to go home first. It isn't going to rust in the time it takes to get home, or probably for a while longer anymore than dipping a steel rod in salt water and then leaving it out in the elements is going to rust in mere hours. I think many people just get too paranoid about how fast to do it. I do suggest cleaning after you get home and not to leave it for days at a time.