corrosive ammunition
What is the best cleaning method to remove deposits from corrosive ammunition?
Commercial bore solvents?
I have been told that a mixture of soap and water run through the barrel a few times will actually work.
Comments form the experts are much appreciated.
Commercial bore solvents?
I have been told that a mixture of soap and water run through the barrel a few times will actually work.
Comments form the experts are much appreciated.
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What is the best cleaning method to remove deposits from corrosive ammunition?
Commercial bore solvents?
I have been told that a mixture of soap and water run through the barrel a few times will actually work.
Comments form the experts are much appreciated.0 -
Yup,HOT water and dish soap,followed by dry patches,then some hopps no.9.......mmmmmmmmmmhopps 0 -
If you can find any of the old GI bore cleaner, that will work with corrosive primers too because it's water-based (or so I understand, but in any case it's made to dissolve salts left behind by chlorate primers).
Salt will not dissolve in oil. It dissolves in water. That's why water is important to removing the salts from corrosive primers.
I use hot, soapy water. I save my bar soap remnants and toss a small piece in a small container of hot water.
For semi-auto firearms with gas ports inside the barrel, turn the rifle so the port is UP. This will keep water from draining into your gas system, if you can't disassmeble it.
In most rifles, this means cleaning the rifle horizontally and upside down. A cleaning rest makes this a handy job.
For bolt-actions, remove the bolt and stand the rifle muzzle down into a 1-pound coffee can or equivalent. Pump a patch up and down the bore, which will siphon the hot, soapy water up into the barrel and help dissolve the salts.
Alternate between a brush and patch. If you leave any metal fouling (lead, copper, etc.) in the bore, the salts may rust the steel UNDER the fouling. So it's imperative you remove the metal fouling until only bare steel is left in the bore.
Once the bore is clean, wwitch to clean, boiling hot water and work a clean patch up and down. This will heat the barrel.
Follow with dry patches to remove any residual moisture. Coat the bore lightly with Hoppes No. 9 as a preservative.
And don't forget to clean the face of the bolt (semi or bolt-action) and inside the receiver with a patch dampened with water. Corrosive salts will eventually cause rust wherever they land.
Dry these areas thoroughly too, with a new patch.
Bolt-actions may occasionally require the disassembly of the bolt to clean the firing pin and spring.
The bolts of some semi-autos are intricate. If it cannot be readily field-stripped, you may have to boil it in water, then pull it out hot and shake it to remove water. When it cools, spray a good moisture-displacing lubricant into and onto it.
DO NOT use WD-40! This lubricant forms a thick, tenacious varnish over time. It will also deactivate primers to which it is exposed, so keep it away from breeches and ammunition.
I never use WD-40 for my guns.
You may also place the bolt in a warm oven with the door open, to drive out any moisture.
All of this boiling and oven-heating presumes that the bolt doesn't have any plastic parts in it. I don't know of any firearms that do, but there's probably one or two out there.
Most of today's bore cleaning solvents are NOT designed to dissolve the salts from chlorate primers. Read the labels, if in doubt. If it doesn't specifically say it will dissolve corrosive primer salts, it very likely will not do so.
All of this sounds like a pain, but that pain is often offset by the cheap corrosive ammo you can buy.
Don't delay cleaning your firearm after using corrosive primers. There is NO such thing as "mildly corrosive" as some unscrupulous dealers claim. It's all corrosive and will cause rust in hours in some damp climates.
"A hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .44!"0 -
Gat is probably right but fell to sleep reading.....
No offense... Usually the primers are chlorides ..
wash everything w/ hot water and soap, dry and oil and then
watch. Probably will take a second cleaning.0 -
GI bore cleaner is not water soluble.Gat does have the cleaning
method down. Go with what he says. Just watch for signs of rust,
etc. Chlorides will definitely destroy metal, unchecked.0 -
Seems like most people forget that prior to the 1950's all G.I. ammo
with the exception of M-1 carbine was corrosive, but continually in
use. Most G.I.s were well trained in cleaning guns. Best thing was the strong G.I. soap and hot water, and/or the G.I. bore cleaner THEN
IN USE. (not the later stuff). Weapons were cleaned if possible for
2 or 3 days in a row and bores lightly oiled after cleaning each time.
If this procedure was followed no problems arose. Granted, it was
a bit of a anoyance, BUT. Naturally in combat we only used the bore
cleaner, then oil. Best, strongest soap now to use is "Octagon soap".
If in doubt about whether ammo is corrosive or not, pull slug and dump
out powder and fire primer into a peice of unplated steel. 2 days
should show results. Some importers lie about "non corrosive".0
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