FYI: I wipe the rod down with a paper towel after each cycle to avoid re-distributing corrosive residue. I learned that bitter lesson several years ago.
love your channel and videos. just wanted to address the care of firearms after corrosive ammo use from a science nerd's perspective. salts are formed from mixing an acid with a base, a process called neutralization. the point here is that you cant neutralize salts, since they are already neutral (pH=7). you can only dissolve them and flush them with water. using ammonia( a base) does nothing for the salts. In fact bases are as corrosive to metal( or to anything else) as acids are. The lucky thing here is that ammonia is a weak base and is further diluted in water in windex so it really doesnt harm the metal. The water in windex is what actually works on the salt deposits in our rifles by dissolving and flushing them. What i do is take apart my rifle( happens to be an sks), and i run the parts under water in my laundry tub, scrubbing them with a tooth brush to help remove the salts. I also use soap to remove the carbon deposits. I then make sure to dry every nook and cranny on it with paper towels and cotton swabs. i then lube the rifle. Im sure your method ends up working but is not as great for your rifle due to the ammonia. Your buddy tim from Military arms channel has a great and scientifically accurate video on it. he uses water to dissolve the salts, wd40 and compressed air to displace any remaining water and lube to coat and protect the rifle. keep up the awesome work on the channel. I watch all the videos you put out. thanks!
Yes,thanks for a good reply.I am a chemist also.Potassium salts are very corrosive.Water is the best solvent.If any moisture remains rust will occur so its wise to examine the guns a few days post cleaning to check.
The corrosion wouldn't happen "any where." I would occur in the bore, and I'm willing to bet if we bore scope your rifle, it would be a goldmine of corrosion.
Is there some way you can make a youtube video with the teslong bore scope? The borescope is about 50 bucks and you can post a video of it to show the world just how clean it is.
@@Dan-di9jd the bore looks like a mirror. It's a Russian with a chromed bore. But back to basic chemistry. The corrosive deposits left by corrosive ammo is potassium salts. Salt is water soluble. Windex barely has any ammonia and works because it's mostly water and water cleans the salts away. Hot water evaporates faster so it's better than windex. Follow up with patches until dry, oil and done. Can you post a reason why a weak ammonia solution is more effective as dissolving salts than plain water?
@@justinbuchowski Why not post a picture of the mirror like chromed bore? Did you buy the bore camera? Can you show the entire bore with it with a youtube upload? It's not basic chemistry, it's common sense based on what I've seen. I'm sure 80% of your barrel is fine after the chamber and throat. Even the most well worn bores I've seen tend to have 80% of the bore nice and clean while the throat and chamber areas are eroded and carbon covered. You can't really see this by eye sight alone and holding it up to the light will appear shiny because as I said 80% of it is good looking.
Follow Up - The warm/hot water does not "neutralize" the salt deposits, it just brings the salts back into the solution and washes them away. This process works well with all black power and corrosive fowling. Don't forget to apply a light oil coating to the bore as the last step. Semper Fi
SwaffyX. Skip the water. Get a 30 cal bore brush. When you get home use hoppes with bore brush. Do a bunch of passes. Then patch it clean like normal. Then dry patch. After that take a patch soaked in hoppes copper solvent. Let it soak for like 15 min. You will be amazed how much more crap comes out. Patch it with the copper solvent till clean. Then dry patch. A quick pass with reg hoppes to clean out copper solvent then dry patch then oil. Never have an issue with corrosive ammo and my bore is super clean and brite.
I own a 1943 M91/30 Mosin Nagant, and What I use to clean out the salts is US Military surplus 1960's style .30 Cal Machine gun cleaning solution that I picked up at a military surplus store. It was designed to handle corrosive salts, and mentions them on the canister. Wonderful stuff, cost me maybe 10 dollars for the whole can.
I just take a bottle of Windex with me when I go shooting, and immediately afterwards flush it through the barrel before I pack up and head home. Back at the house I'll run a brush through a few times, then flush it out with warm water, before patch-drying and oiling. As IV8888 mentioned, you don't really "neutralize" corrosive salts, you dissolve the stuff and get rid of it. Brush it and flush it!
I bought an M-44 from a guy. He said he hadn't fired it in 6 years. The barrel hadn't been cleaned in as long from the looks of it and he gave me the surplus ammo he had left over which was corrosive. I used gun scrubber foam on it and let it sit for 30 minutes each time. I did get all the crud out of the barrel and it is looking pretty clean but I still get a little bit of grey coming out when I punch the bore with the cleaning jag. I don't see any damage to the lans and grooves so I think it is a good purchase. I also use dawn dishwashing liquid on my other rifles when I use surplus ammo, it works well and I haven't had any issues.
My Grandfather was in the Soviet army in WW2 , a few years before He passed away I bought a Mosen Nagant, He said that Soviets used to urinate down the barrel then simply oil it. got rid of the salts and rust.
Yes ,that apparently was an old soldier's method for many years. Urine is mainly water but also contains traces of salt. Its wise to follow the "pee rinse" with a bit of water from a canteen. 😁😁
Ive shot probably 400 corrosive rds through my K98. My method is a funnel, hot water (I might add dish soap next time) then regular cleaning. Still has a mirror finish!
I've owned and shot old blackpowder rifles over the years, some well over 100 years old and Windex works great, even better when you can get glass cleaner mixed with vinegar, not ammonia. That stuff cuts the salts down amazingly well. Another thing I have used for years is Thompson center black powder cleaner. I've used that to clean black powder guns and guns with black powder cartridges and it works great. I have an original 1871 Gehehr Mauser that when I got it, couldn't tell when it was cleaned last. I got to work on it and it not only cleaned up, it cleaned up well enough I got a silver medal shooting a match with it.
I disagree with the windex method. I believe the only reason windex works is because it is mostly comprised of water. I personally just pour boiling water down the barrel, followed by a bore snake with some g96 . never had an issue.
jeff ferguson so on my SVT 40, do I just pour hot water down chamber then clean with bore brush and then oil? Any other parts that need Windex or. Boiling water?
The important thing is to use a water based solvent... like water. Salts are polar compounds which can't be dissolved by non-polar solvents like those that are petroleum based. Ammonia doesn't do anything for the corrosive salts, but it will probably help with copper fouling. I just flush out the bore and rinse the bolt with a kettle of boiling water, then clean as normal.
FYI, the new production Wolf brand ammo is just as corrosive as the old military surplus. Most people do not know this because they have chrome lined barrels. I bought a cheape upper from Sherluk at an Indy gun show and broke it in on Wolf .223 ammo. I cleaned it properly with Hoppes #9 and inspected about three months later and the barrel was nearly corroded shut. Don't be fooled just because you fire Wolf in a chrome lined barrel. Same issue with my AK47 chromed and AKM not chromed.
The best way I've found is to flush the weapon out with emulsified ballistol and water (1:8 ratio) from a spray bottle immediately after you fire your last corrosive round. While the weapon is still hot/warm. The ballistol help breakdown and neutralize the salts and the water flushes them out. The heat from the weapon aids in the process. After the flushing, I just quickly blow out the majority with compressed air. Once I get home a more thorough cleaning is done if need be.
"Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner"- for those really nasty/crusty bores. It's only about $6 including shipping. Take an old worn out bore brush and wrap some strands of the Big 45 around it several times and run through your bore several times to scrub out the nasties. Also good for rust removal from blued surfaces and will not affect the bluing. Works great!
Yes, water based solvents are best for getting corrosive agents out of your bore. A sort of "lost art" is the use of US GI bore cleaner, a water based cleaner from the time of corrosive ammo. GI bore cleaner is on ebay, etc. But, why not use hot water poured into the chamber thru a funnel with muzzle down? Run a patch 2X, then clean with Hoppes 9, etc. or as usual. When satisfied bore is dry, swab bore w/RIG grease from Brownells. Semiautos disassemble enuf to chase salts out thru gas ports.
You want to talk about a nasty situation. I was home from college for the weekend and before going back to school I shot my Mosin, '36 Tula, and I put it up after my dad told me he would clean it for me that evening. He left it for THREE MONTHS. Talk about a nasty bore, I almost had to use a rubber malet to push my .270 brush down the barrel to clean it. A bunch of patches soaked in Hoppe's no.7 later, and it looks a whole lot better.
A couple squirts of Zep 505 from Home Depot and a quart of boiling water poured down my barrel (I use a transmission fluid funnel to get down that chamber) it's still mirror shiny and beautiful of a hex 34'
Table salt mixed with water forms no acid and no base (a neutral solution), just to cite a familiar example, so it depends on which salt is being dissolved whether you get an acidic or a basic, or neutral solution, when you dissolve that salt. The main point is, any salts in your bore is bad because some if not all of them are hygroscopic. They attract and absorb water out of the atmosphere and that water, combined with the salt ions in the water, create a wonderful environment for rusting.
Just fired my Mosin for the first time the other day, 1946 dated surplus on stripper clips. When I got home, I sprayed a bit of windex down the barrel, ran a patch through, and then made liberal use of Hoppes 9. Then I cleaned with Break Free CLP. To be perfectly honest, the bore is probably cleaner than it was before I went shooting.
Ive always used No. 9. I run several wet patches though it, as well as a bore snake a few times. Then I will run dry patches, then one or two more wet patches followed by dry patches...Finally I run one with remoil on it. My mosin has never had a spot of rust in the bore or on the bolt (at least by my doing) and all I shoot is comblock ammo
Good Video. I never wanted to use corrosive surplus ammo for fear of ruining the bore by not getting it peoperly cleaned. A friend of mine a had a beautiful 1895 Styer. He shot corrosive ammo through it an left it unattended for a while, needless to say the bore got really F'd up. I'm glad to see that cleaning this corrosive residue is not that big a deal afterall. I buy some cheap ammo for my Mosin Nagant & my Mauser. Thanks. :-)
one time I let my mosin sit for two weeks without cleaning (non-corrosive) and the bore looked awful. At first I thought it was rust, but turns out it was just copper fouling, so I don't think any damage was done to the bore or its accuracy. But it made cleaning more difficult. Long story short, clean your rifles asap, you don't want the foreign matter inside the bores reacting with the air. but at the same time, you don't have to clean it right then and there at the range.
I use a kettle of hot water and a turkey baster. Blast maybe 6 times down the barrel. Then run maybe 3 water patches through the bore. Never had an issue. Of course regular hoppes 9 is designed to neutralize the salts as well. Ammonia you cannot leave sitting as it can damage the bore.
Solvent-based cleaners will not remove the magnesium/sodium minerals left in the gun. You can't tell by looking at the patches, as these compounds are white or colorless. (ocean water would be the perfect example)
You will leave small gouges where the bristles dig in when they are reversed, sort of like the barbs on a fish hook. Brass/bronze is softer than steel so the gouges will be small, but they'll still be there. It doesn't take much to grab the jacket material off passing bullets & start the fouling process all over again.
+Raf The Impaler Yes you can, there's a low amount of ammonia in your urine. Urine also tends to be acidic which might help break down salts and metals in the barrel. I would suggest to use this as a last ditch resort (survival) and to follow up with washing out with water.
Here In Australia the sweets 7.62 product is the most used I would say. In our service rifle club we shoot the SMLE and sometimes we see some of the Berdan primed rounds and that stuff is horrible. One of the old fellas has an old coffee machine and he puts the steam nozzle down the bore and it will clean just about any crud out. cheers Ross
I cleaned my M48 mauser after I shot some ammo in it, like I normally do. A few weeks later though, I was horrified when I inspected it and saw a bunch of nasty crusty rust in the barrel. It took me an hour to clean it out, it still seems to work good though.
Would the ammunition have any long term effects on a chrome lined barrel? Say make the life of the barrel less than that of a barrel that fired non corrosive?
That should do the trick. Just make sure to get some oil in the bore when you're done. Windex will wash the bore (and any other metal parts) of oil, and dry steel will rust whether it had primer salts on it or not.
You should, as a precaution, as well as the interior and exterior of your action and barrel. Use a cloth moistened with water to wipe what you can, immediately blow dry with a hair dryer, clean with Hoppes, and apply a thin layer of RIG grease from Brownells. Disassembly of components assures success, but I don't go very far with that.
Been going out shooting with my father with my Mosin, been mostly relying on non corrosive but I've been finding Bulk ammo only thing is, it's in corrosive and I don't want to damage my trusty mosin. I'll be sure to use this vid for the further future if I do buy corrosive :)
It is very important to clean after shooting corrosive ammo. My brother shot up my mosin with my corrosive ammo and never cleaned it and I was not able to get to it for a few weeks. the insides were all rusted up. ohhhhhhh was I mad. Ended having to use some blue and rust remover to clean it. ALWAYS CLEAN AFTER SHOOTING CORROSIVES!
Modern day windex and "store brands" contain zero ammonia. They do contain surfactants (soaps basically) and alcohol. I still use windex, but the benefit is that I pour it down the barrel at the range while the rifle is still hot and the surfactants help it clean out the salts and the alcohol helps it dry faster. Then I run a oiled bore snake thru the bore at the range. When I get home, I flush it again with a 1 to 10 mix of Ballistol and water (looks like milk). I also get the chamber, inside of the receiver, and bolt face and firing pin. Ive never had a speck of rust using this method.
I'm pretty sure mercury fulminate (cyanate) hasn't been used since about the 19th century for primers. Unfortunately its known to make cases brittle so I think it was largely abandoned... not to mention mercury is a potent neurotoxin. I just use hot soapy water to clean after corrosive ammo shooting and when possibly like to pour boiling water down to help it dry quickly. I then just clean as usual - solvent, scrub, patches, then light oil.
So the only thing that really requires cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo is the bore? I don't have to worry about anything else, such as the bolt?
YES. its amazing how that stuff gets back into the bolt, but ya completely disassemble the bolt and clean it. i went to the range and just shot 10 shots through it with the bulgarian surplus and the firing pin had a coat of black on it.
Dollar General brand window cleaner or ammonia is great. Try this, clean it and wait a week and run a patch through it. You can see what you get. I shoot surplus ammo in my mosin and I have tried t all. Cabela's black powder "solvent" is good but is no match for straight up ammonia cleaner. I put the " marks in there because it's really just soap and water.
thanks. I did stay away from surplus due to the negative feedback from others. but when it comes to target practice and/or stock. surplus and a good cleaning sounds like the way to go. good vid
the bolt comes into contact with the ammo yes? you need to clean everything that comes into contact with the bullets...trust me i went to the range and cleaned as soon as i got home and didn't clean everything right and my bolt has a few marks showing corrosion. be sure to clean everything like you just bought the gun and its filled with cosmoline. I love my rifle so every time before and after i shoot i clean my rifle.
A great demo video, straight forward and well described, very well done! One question though, do you use Windex on the bolt face, or any other components that could be exposed to primer gas?
How about Hoppe's Foaming bore cleaner? I didnt get around to cleaning my rifle until about 2 hours after firing corrosive ammo, and took about an hour to finish.
My cleaning rod is too short to clean from chamber end. Why scouldn't I clean from mussle end? And can I change direction if I use a plastic/nylon brush?
One thing Eric that I want to bring forward. Great vid as always, bit I thought it was lacking. You said that it was very crusty which I'm sure it was, but it would have been nice if you took some before and after footage, and I know everything takes time, but showed how many times it actually took you to clean out the bore. Thanks again!
How quickly do you need to clean out your gun after firing it with corrosive ammo? Can I drive the 45 minutes to get back home, then the 15 or so minutes of things I may need to do before getting to the gun? So is an hour too long to wait on a regular basis or should I clean it RIGHT at the range if they allow me to do so?
My bottle of Hoppes 9 says it cleans corrosive residue. It seems one of the more common solvents around. I am surprised it wasn't among the products mentioned -- am I missing something about it?
If you treat your Mosin Nagant, including the inside of the barrel, with Frog Lube, will that protect it from corrosive ammo, or do you still have to clean it like you've explained in your video? I figured, if treated with frog lube, you can wipe clean with dry patches with the belief that the frog lube won't allow corrosiveness material can't adhere to metal. Newbie question.
There is no need to use hot boiling water, all it does is just evaporate and dry faster than room temp water. I take a bottle of windex and my mosin cleaning kit or a German g3 pull through cleaning kit I got from centerfiresystems.com they were 5 for $10 a while ago. I spray it down when the barrel is still hot, and run a brush though it, spray it gain and watch the black winded come out the barrel and run a brush through a couple more times, then dry the barrel out with patches and oil the bore. When I get home I finish up with hoppes to clean the carbon and powder residue and haven't had any rust in 5 years. Main thing is to use water or a solvent with water like muzzle magic no.77 or some old surplus bore solvent and you will be fine. Don't be scared of corrosive ammo just clean after you shoot and you won't have any problems.
william gurnsey wouldn't say it's better than boiling water, but it does just as good of a job, boiling water is better in that it evaporates fast, besides that windex does just as well, the only way to flush out the salts is water or something with water in it whether it's boiling water, windex, or Aquafina, I use windex because it's a $1 at the dollar store and has a little bit of ammonia and cleaning agents in it to help a bit with copper and carbon deposits. Just make sure to oil the barrel before you put it away and you should be rust free
+Moses Browning ok sweet thanks, ive been using windex more and i dont use boiling water any more to much of a mess for me. I usually drop the smaller parts into boiling water, but the barrel i use windex. thanks for your help. I havnt bought any corrosive ammo in a bit now.
+william gurnsey yep no problem, just think chances are the Russians Japanese Germans the Brits and the U.S probably weren't sitting around a fire boiling water in a tea pot to clean their guns, all the old bore cleaner was all water based with other solvents and oils mixed together to clean the powder fouling and the salts bonded to the water part to get rinsed out the barrel, if you see the old cans of G.I bore cleaner it says on the back rinses salts from corrosive primers and to shake well before using since eater and oil don't mix well lol
Great video. I wouldn't leave Sweets 7.62 in the barrel for half an hour. It's likely to etch the bore. When do you stop your cleaning? I always finish up with a huge pile of patches, wondering whether I'm being too anally retentive.
Not to sound like Windex doesn't work but i used it in my mosin nagant and my rifle still comes out dirty and with solvent the patches come out dirty. Any other ways to clean it?
Indeed, I don't have an 8MM Mauser but I do shoot a lot of surplus with my M44, no biggie at all. People shouldn't be scared of doing it in a semi-auto.
From what I've heard, no. Anything with ammonia will work. I went through a crash course with my "new" Mosin today (1915 Dragoon). The gun's bore was filthy. I tried hitting it with Zep all-purpose, but that just made it greener. Regular cleaners barely worked either.
FYI: I wipe the rod down with a paper towel after each cycle to avoid re-distributing corrosive residue. I learned that bitter lesson several years ago.
wish this comment got more attention
love your channel and videos.
just wanted to address the care of firearms after corrosive ammo use from a science nerd's perspective. salts are formed from mixing an acid with a base, a process called neutralization. the point here is that you cant neutralize salts, since they are already neutral (pH=7). you can only dissolve them and flush them with water. using ammonia( a base) does nothing for the salts. In fact bases are as corrosive to metal( or to anything else) as acids are.
The lucky thing here is that ammonia is a weak base and is further diluted in water in windex so it really doesnt harm the metal. The water in windex is what actually works on the salt deposits in our rifles by dissolving and flushing them.
What i do is take apart my rifle( happens to be an sks), and i run the parts under water in my laundry tub, scrubbing them with a tooth brush to help remove the salts. I also use soap to remove the carbon deposits. I then make sure to dry every nook and cranny on it with paper towels and cotton swabs. i then lube the rifle.
Im sure your method ends up working but is not as great for your rifle due to the ammonia. Your buddy tim from Military arms channel has a great and scientifically accurate video on it. he uses water to dissolve the salts, wd40 and compressed air to displace any remaining water and lube to coat and protect the rifle.
keep up the awesome work on the channel. I watch all the videos you put out. thanks!
Thank you very much, I'll stay away from Windex
Yes,thanks for a good reply.I am a chemist also.Potassium salts are very corrosive.Water is the best solvent.If any moisture remains rust will occur so its wise to examine the guns a few days post cleaning to check.
I just use hot water to rinse the salts from the barrel and gas system. All I shoot is corrosive from my SKS and there's no corrosion anywhere on it
The corrosion wouldn't happen "any where." I would occur in the bore, and I'm willing to bet if we bore scope your rifle, it would be a goldmine of corrosion.
@@Dan-di9jd I'll take that bet. There's no corrosion or rust on my rifle.
Is there some way you can make a youtube video with the teslong bore scope? The borescope is about 50 bucks and you can post a video of it to show the world just how clean it is.
@@Dan-di9jd the bore looks like a mirror. It's a Russian with a chromed bore.
But back to basic chemistry. The corrosive deposits left by corrosive ammo is potassium salts. Salt is water soluble. Windex barely has any ammonia and works because it's mostly water and water cleans the salts away.
Hot water evaporates faster so it's better than windex. Follow up with patches until dry, oil and done.
Can you post a reason why a weak ammonia solution is more effective as dissolving salts than plain water?
@@justinbuchowski Why not post a picture of the mirror like chromed bore? Did you buy the bore camera? Can you show the entire bore with it with a youtube upload? It's not basic chemistry, it's common sense based on what I've seen. I'm sure 80% of your barrel is fine after the chamber and throat. Even the most well worn bores I've seen tend to have 80% of the bore nice and clean while the throat and chamber areas are eroded and carbon covered. You can't really see this by eye sight alone and holding it up to the light will appear shiny because as I said 80% of it is good looking.
goddamnit..I stumbled on this video and now I have to go clean my friggen gun from guilt.. lol
Clean your guns m8. Haven't cleaned mine in a long time. Maybe a year of shooting corrosive. My barrel is rusted. :(
Follow Up - The warm/hot water does not "neutralize" the salt deposits, it just brings the salts back into the solution and washes them away. This process works well with all black power and corrosive fowling. Don't forget to apply a light oil coating to the bore as the last step.
Semper Fi
Precisely.
SwaffyX. Skip the water. Get a 30 cal bore brush. When you get home use hoppes with bore brush. Do a bunch of passes. Then patch it clean like normal. Then dry patch. After that take a patch soaked in hoppes copper solvent. Let it soak for like 15 min. You will be amazed how much more crap comes out. Patch it with the copper solvent till clean. Then dry patch. A quick pass with reg hoppes to clean out copper solvent then dry patch then oil. Never have an issue with corrosive ammo and my bore is super clean and brite.
I own a 1943 M91/30 Mosin Nagant, and What I use to clean out the salts is US Military surplus 1960's style .30 Cal Machine gun cleaning solution that I picked up at a military surplus store. It was designed to handle corrosive salts, and mentions them on the canister. Wonderful stuff, cost me maybe 10 dollars for the whole can.
I just take a bottle of Windex with me when I go shooting, and immediately afterwards flush it through the barrel before I pack up and head home. Back at the house I'll run a brush through a few times, then flush it out with warm water, before patch-drying and oiling.
As IV8888 mentioned, you don't really "neutralize" corrosive salts, you dissolve the stuff and get rid of it. Brush it and flush it!
I bought an M-44 from a guy. He said he hadn't fired it in 6 years. The barrel hadn't been cleaned in as long from the looks of it and he gave me the surplus ammo he had left over which was corrosive. I used gun scrubber foam on it and let it sit for 30 minutes each time. I did get all the crud out of the barrel and it is looking pretty clean but I still get a little bit of grey coming out when I punch the bore with the cleaning jag. I don't see any damage to the lans and grooves so I think it is a good purchase. I also use dawn dishwashing liquid on my other rifles when I use surplus ammo, it works well and I haven't had any issues.
Thanks for sharing the knowledge my Jonesboro buddy. This pretty much explains why 7.62 ammo I bought was dirt cheap and rusted shut my SKS.
I use warm water, patches thru the barrel, water on the bolt parts, compressor dry, and then clean and lube on my 91/30. Works good so far.
My Grandfather was in the Soviet army in WW2 , a few years before He passed away I bought a Mosen Nagant, He said that Soviets used to urinate down the barrel then simply oil it. got rid of the salts and rust.
Yes ,that apparently was an old soldier's method for many years. Urine is mainly water but also contains traces of salt. Its wise to follow the "pee rinse" with a bit of water from a canteen. 😁😁
I just sat through a long ad to give ya'll some money :) Information from y'all is always much appreciated. Thank you
well shit I have been firing corrosive ammo out of my mauser and mosin for years and only did an oil pass.
Ive shot probably 400 corrosive rds through my K98. My method is a funnel, hot water (I might add dish soap next time) then regular cleaning. Still has a mirror finish!
Excellent!
I've owned and shot old blackpowder rifles over the years, some well over 100 years old and Windex works great, even better when you can get glass cleaner mixed with vinegar, not ammonia. That stuff cuts the salts down amazingly well. Another thing I have used for years is Thompson center black powder cleaner. I've used that to clean black powder guns and guns with black powder cartridges and it works great. I have an original 1871 Gehehr Mauser that when I got it, couldn't tell when it was cleaned last. I got to work on it and it not only cleaned up, it cleaned up well enough I got a silver medal shooting a match with it.
Just plain water is adequate,but almost any aqueous solution will work well also.
I disagree with the windex method. I believe the only reason windex works is because it is mostly comprised of water. I personally just pour boiling water down the barrel, followed by a bore snake with some g96 . never had an issue.
jeff ferguson so on my SVT 40, do I just pour hot water down chamber then clean with bore brush and then oil? Any other parts that need Windex or. Boiling water?
What did soldiers do in the field "back in the day" when they were issued corrosive ammo?
Probably pissed on it.
The important thing is to use a water based solvent... like water. Salts are polar compounds which can't be dissolved by non-polar solvents like those that are petroleum based.
Ammonia doesn't do anything for the corrosive salts, but it will probably help with copper fouling.
I just flush out the bore and rinse the bolt with a kettle of boiling water, then clean as normal.
FYI, the new production Wolf brand ammo is just as corrosive as the old military surplus. Most people do not know this because they have chrome lined barrels. I bought a cheape upper from Sherluk at an Indy gun show and broke it in on Wolf .223 ammo. I cleaned it properly with Hoppes #9 and inspected about three months later and the barrel was nearly corroded shut. Don't be fooled just because you fire Wolf in a chrome lined barrel. Same issue with my AK47 chromed and AKM not chromed.
The best way I've found is to flush the weapon out with emulsified ballistol and water (1:8 ratio) from a spray bottle immediately after you fire your last corrosive round. While the weapon is still hot/warm. The ballistol help breakdown and neutralize the salts and the water flushes them out. The heat from the weapon aids in the process. After the flushing, I just quickly blow out the majority with compressed air. Once I get home a more thorough cleaning is done if need be.
"Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner"- for those really nasty/crusty bores. It's only about $6 including shipping. Take an old worn out bore brush and wrap some strands of the Big 45 around it several times and run through your bore several times to scrub out the nasties. Also good for rust removal from blued surfaces and will not affect the bluing. Works great!
Yes, water based solvents are best for getting corrosive agents out of your bore.
A sort of "lost art" is the use of US GI bore cleaner, a water based cleaner from the time of corrosive ammo.
GI bore cleaner is on ebay, etc. But, why not use hot water poured into the chamber thru a funnel with muzzle down? Run a patch 2X, then clean with Hoppes 9, etc. or as usual. When satisfied bore is dry, swab bore w/RIG grease from Brownells.
Semiautos disassemble enuf to chase salts out thru gas ports.
You want to talk about a nasty situation. I was home from college for the weekend and before going back to school I shot my Mosin, '36 Tula, and I put it up after my dad told me he would clean it for me that evening. He left it for THREE MONTHS. Talk about a nasty bore, I almost had to use a rubber malet to push my .270 brush down the barrel to clean it. A bunch of patches soaked in Hoppe's no.7 later, and it looks a whole lot better.
A couple squirts of Zep 505 from Home Depot and a quart of boiling water poured down my barrel (I use a transmission fluid funnel to get down that chamber) it's still mirror shiny and beautiful of a hex 34'
Table salt mixed with water forms no acid and no base (a neutral solution), just to cite a familiar example, so it depends on which salt is being dissolved whether you get an acidic or a basic, or neutral solution, when you dissolve that salt.
The main point is, any salts in your bore is bad because some if not all of them are hygroscopic. They attract and absorb water out of the atmosphere and that water, combined with the salt ions in the water, create a wonderful environment for rusting.
Just fired my Mosin for the first time the other day, 1946 dated surplus on stripper clips. When I got home, I sprayed a bit of windex down the barrel, ran a patch through, and then made liberal use of Hoppes 9. Then I cleaned with Break Free CLP. To be perfectly honest, the bore is probably cleaner than it was before I went shooting.
I found out I had to also disassemble and clean the bolt, because enough gets in there to mess things up.
Always a good idea.
Ive always used No. 9. I run several wet patches though it, as well as a bore snake a few times. Then I will run dry patches, then one or two more wet patches followed by dry patches...Finally I run one with remoil on it.
My mosin has never had a spot of rust in the bore or on the bolt (at least by my doing) and all I shoot is comblock ammo
I sent five hot soapy water soaked paper towels through my Mosin, then I sent three dry paper towels through the bore. Haven't seen a problem yet.
+Mortablunt
Update on my rifle. 3 weeks later. It's perfectly fine!
No oil?
Ak-47 operators Union said"stop the madness!"
What about the action and the bolt? Do I need to clean those too?
Good Video. I never wanted to use corrosive surplus ammo for fear of ruining the bore by not getting it peoperly cleaned. A friend of mine a had a beautiful 1895 Styer. He shot corrosive ammo through it an left it unattended for a while, needless to say the bore got really F'd up. I'm glad to see that cleaning this corrosive residue is not that big a deal afterall. I buy some cheap ammo for my Mosin Nagant & my Mauser. Thanks. :-)
one time I let my mosin sit for two weeks without cleaning (non-corrosive) and the bore looked awful. At first I thought it was rust, but turns out it was just copper fouling, so I don't think any damage was done to the bore or its accuracy. But it made cleaning more difficult. Long story short, clean your rifles asap, you don't want the foreign matter inside the bores reacting with the air. but at the same time, you don't have to clean it right then and there at the range.
put the bands in a vice or something and crush em a little smaller. they can bend so you dont need to much pressure
yes clean it like you normally do. after using the Windex. Windex don't dissolve the powder foiling or anything else like that.
I use a kettle of hot water and a turkey baster. Blast maybe 6 times down the barrel. Then run maybe 3 water patches through the bore. Never had an issue.
Of course regular hoppes 9 is designed to neutralize the salts as well. Ammonia you cannot leave sitting as it can damage the bore.
Solvent-based cleaners will not remove the magnesium/sodium minerals left in the gun. You can't tell by looking at the patches, as these compounds are white or colorless. (ocean water would be the perfect example)
You will leave small gouges where the bristles dig in when they are reversed, sort of like the barbs on a fish hook. Brass/bronze is softer than steel so the gouges will be small, but they'll still be there. It doesn't take much to grab the jacket material off passing bullets & start the fouling process all over again.
Can I just piss down the barrel? This is serious.
Raf The Impaler That's the rumor but I can't say for sure.
Well if I'm ever out in the wilderness and need to clean my gun, I'll give it a try!
+Raf The Impaler
Yes you can, there's a low amount of ammonia in your urine. Urine also tends to be acidic which might help break down salts and metals in the barrel. I would suggest to use this as a last ditch resort (survival) and to follow up with washing out with water.
@Captain Caveman so vodka really did help the russians win the war
Love your 3 gunsmith tools that I use myself....vise, grinder and 3 pound hammer!
Let’s say I do put windex or hot water in the barrel. Do I really have to wait a week?
Here In Australia the sweets 7.62 product is the most used I would say. In our service rifle club we shoot the SMLE and sometimes we see some of the Berdan primed rounds and that stuff is horrible. One of the old fellas has an old coffee machine and he puts the steam nozzle down the bore and it will clean just about any crud out. cheers Ross
I cleaned my M48 mauser after I shot some ammo in it, like I normally do. A few weeks later though, I was horrified when I inspected it and saw a bunch of nasty crusty rust in the barrel. It took me an hour to clean it out, it still seems to work good though.
Would the ammunition have any long term effects on a chrome lined barrel? Say make the life of the barrel less than that of a barrel that fired non corrosive?
Vinegar will work too. It will break down the deposits and it works good for something you can find at a regular grocery store.
That should do the trick. Just make sure to get some oil in the bore when you're done. Windex will wash the bore (and any other metal parts) of oil, and dry steel will rust whether it had primer salts on it or not.
You should, as a precaution, as well as the interior and exterior of your action and barrel.
Use a cloth moistened with water to wipe what you can, immediately blow dry with a hair dryer, clean with Hoppes, and apply a thin layer of RIG grease from Brownells.
Disassembly of components assures success, but I don't go very far with that.
Been going out shooting with my father with my Mosin, been mostly relying on non corrosive but I've been finding Bulk ammo only thing is, it's in corrosive and I don't want to damage my trusty mosin. I'll be sure to use this vid for the further future if I do buy corrosive :)
It is very important to clean after shooting corrosive ammo. My brother shot up my mosin with my corrosive ammo and never cleaned it and I was not able to get to it for a few weeks. the insides were all rusted up. ohhhhhhh was I mad. Ended having to use some blue and rust remover to clean it. ALWAYS CLEAN AFTER SHOOTING CORROSIVES!
Modern day windex and "store brands" contain zero ammonia. They do contain surfactants (soaps basically) and alcohol. I still use windex, but the benefit is that I pour it down the barrel at the range while the rifle is still hot and the surfactants help it clean out the salts and the alcohol helps it dry faster. Then I run a oiled bore snake thru the bore at the range. When I get home, I flush it again with a 1 to 10 mix of Ballistol and water (looks like milk). I also get the chamber, inside of the receiver, and bolt face and firing pin. Ive never had a speck of rust using this method.
I'm pretty sure mercury fulminate (cyanate) hasn't been used since about the 19th century for primers. Unfortunately its known to make cases brittle so I think it was largely abandoned... not to mention mercury is a potent neurotoxin. I just use hot soapy water to clean after corrosive ammo shooting and when possibly like to pour boiling water down to help it dry quickly. I then just clean as usual - solvent, scrub, patches, then light oil.
I use the windex too, except I just spray it on the patches which I then wrap around a bore brush. Whatever works.
So the only thing that really requires cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo is the bore? I don't have to worry about anything else, such as the bolt?
YES. its amazing how that stuff gets back into the bolt, but ya completely disassemble the bolt and clean it. i went to the range and just shot 10 shots through it with the bulgarian surplus and the firing pin had a coat of black on it.
Wow even 10 years ago you were making awesome videos
I heard from nuthin fancy that Hoppes cleans it all your thoughts
Dollar General brand window cleaner or ammonia is great. Try this, clean it and wait a week and run a patch through it. You can see what you get. I shoot surplus ammo in my mosin and I have tried t all. Cabela's black powder "solvent" is good but is no match for straight up ammonia cleaner. I put the " marks in there because it's really just soap and water.
I shoot a few non corrosive ammo at the end to remove most of the corrosive deposits then at home I clean the barrel and gas tube like I usually do.
Will the Birchwood casey muzzle magic cause Rust if it is left on a metal surface?
Does non corrosive ammo shoot better than corrosive ?
so if I were to put 50 rds through my nagant I would be safe from rusting for like what, a few hours?
What about clean with gun cleaner like hoppes after salts neutralized??
How bad is it if you don't push the bore brush all the way through and pull it out halfway?
thanks. I did stay away from surplus due to the negative feedback from others. but when it comes to target practice and/or stock. surplus and a good cleaning sounds like the way to go.
good vid
What about the bolt? I guess just use a regular solvent, or clean it with windex too?
the bolt comes into contact with the ammo yes? you need to clean everything that comes into contact with the bullets...trust me i went to the range and cleaned as soon as i got home and didn't clean everything right and my bolt has a few marks showing corrosion. be sure to clean everything like you just bought the gun and its filled with cosmoline. I love my rifle so every time before and after i shoot i clean my rifle.
The hammer and screw driver are for rifles that can e fixed, the grenade is for those that just can't go back together.
make sure you oil the gun well if you use simple green. degreased steel with no oil or coating will rust very quickly
A great demo video, straight forward and well described, very well done! One question though, do you use Windex on the bolt face, or any other components that could be exposed to primer gas?
How about Hoppe's Foaming bore cleaner? I didnt get around to cleaning my rifle until about 2 hours after firing corrosive ammo, and took about an hour to finish.
Tube from hot tap or funnel into the chamber end. Hot water on for a while?? Bore snake dry then oil
Hoppes #9 is suppose to work also according to the directions on the bottle! True?
My cleaning rod is too short to clean from chamber end. Why scouldn't I clean from mussle end? And can I change direction if I use a plastic/nylon brush?
I shot about 15 corrosive 8mm rounds from 1954 with my mauser K98. hopefully this gets it cleaned up nice
One thing Eric that I want to bring forward. Great vid as always, bit I thought it was lacking. You said that it was very crusty which I'm sure it was, but it would have been nice if you took some before and after footage, and I know everything takes time, but showed how many times it actually took you to clean out the bore. Thanks again!
How quickly do you need to clean out your gun after firing it with corrosive ammo? Can I drive the 45 minutes to get back home, then the 15 or so minutes of things I may need to do before getting to the gun? So is an hour too long to wait on a regular basis or should I clean it RIGHT at the range if they allow me to do so?
My bottle of Hoppes 9 says it cleans corrosive residue. It seems one of the more common solvents around. I am surprised it wasn't among the products mentioned -- am I missing something about it?
Is the breakin process on an AR 15 the same as any other rifle? I do not have much experience with chrome lined long guns
is there a good way to get rid of rust out of a chamber for a 700 think itwas made in the 70s
My Dad shoot Muzzleloaders a lot and he says Ammonia is also a corrosive. Is it still okay to use it?
Thanks! I'm planning on buying an Interarms IAC AK-74 soon and I will be buying the surplus ammo out there that is corrosive.
Should you do anything about cleaning the salts on the bolt assy. and firing pin?
My bore brush is not long enough to go all the way through the chamber. Is it okay to use it from the end of the barrel instead?
does hoppes No.9 powder solvent followed by a good oiling not work for cleaning after corrosive ammunition?
Is the windex you are using have ammonia in it or is in ammonia free? I've heard the Ammonia has acidic properties that aren't so good for your gun?
If you treat your Mosin Nagant, including the inside of the barrel, with Frog Lube, will that protect it from corrosive ammo, or do you still have to clean it like you've explained in your video? I figured, if treated with frog lube, you can wipe clean with dry patches with the belief that the frog lube won't allow corrosiveness material can't adhere to metal. Newbie question.
really glad to hear this tip...seriously considering a rifle and a crate that will need a lot of attention like you demonstrated. thanks
I knew corrosive ammo was tricky, but didn't know about neutralizing the salts or using ammonia! Good to know!
There is no need to use hot boiling water, all it does is just evaporate and dry faster than room temp water. I take a bottle of windex and my mosin cleaning kit or a German g3 pull through cleaning kit I got from centerfiresystems.com they were 5 for $10 a while ago. I spray it down when the barrel is still hot, and run a brush though it, spray it gain and watch the black winded come out the barrel and run a brush through a couple more times, then dry the barrel out with patches and oil the bore. When I get home I finish up with hoppes to clean the carbon and powder residue and haven't had any rust in 5 years. Main thing is to use water or a solvent with water like muzzle magic no.77 or some old surplus bore solvent and you will be fine. Don't be scared of corrosive ammo just clean after you shoot and you won't have any problems.
+Moses Browning so i can just use windex and hoppes gun oil and thats better then boiling water?
+Moses Browning I think the principle behind hot liquid is that it heats up the barrel pores so that it will get cleaned easier.
william gurnsey wouldn't say it's better than boiling water, but it does just as good of a job, boiling water is better in that it evaporates fast, besides that windex does just as well, the only way to flush out the salts is water or something with water in it whether it's boiling water, windex, or Aquafina, I use windex because it's a $1 at the dollar store and has a little bit of ammonia and cleaning agents in it to help a bit with copper and carbon deposits. Just make sure to oil the barrel before you put it away and you should be rust free
+Moses Browning ok sweet thanks, ive been using windex more and i dont use boiling water any more to much of a mess for me. I usually drop the smaller parts into boiling water, but the barrel i use windex. thanks for your help. I havnt bought any corrosive ammo in a bit now.
+william gurnsey yep no problem, just think chances are the Russians Japanese Germans the Brits and the U.S probably weren't sitting around a fire boiling water in a tea pot to clean their guns, all the old bore cleaner was all water based with other solvents and oils mixed together to clean the powder fouling and the salts bonded to the water part to get rinsed out the barrel, if you see the old cans of G.I bore cleaner it says on the back rinses salts from corrosive primers and to shake well before using since eater and oil don't mix well lol
Great video. I wouldn't leave Sweets 7.62 in the barrel for half an hour. It's likely to etch the bore.
When do you stop your cleaning? I always finish up with a huge pile of patches, wondering whether I'm being too anally retentive.
Not to sound like Windex doesn't work but i used it in my mosin nagant and my rifle still comes out dirty and with solvent the patches come out dirty. Any other ways to clean it?
does you really have to use hot water or hot windex? Can i just use room temp?
Have you guys done any videos on 5.45x39mm AR-15s ? saw some huldra one and it doesnt look half bad....
What diameter brush should one get for a mauser?
Simple Green. Works on everything. Household, grease, guns, laundry, etc. and is completely non-toxic.
Indeed, I don't have an 8MM Mauser but I do shoot a lot of surplus with my M44, no biggie at all. People shouldn't be scared of doing it in a semi-auto.
Would TulAmmo .223 both FMJ and HP metal cased be considered corrosive ammo?
would a bore snake be effective to any degree?
so i can just use windex and hoppes gun oil and thats better then boiling water? because i was told boiling water is better
From what I've heard, no. Anything with ammonia will work. I went through a crash course with my "new" Mosin today (1915 Dragoon). The gun's bore was filthy. I tried hitting it with Zep all-purpose, but that just made it greener. Regular cleaners barely worked either.