Corrosive ammo
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Dfariswheel
New member
The old method, and still about the best is to use boiling hot water to clean the bore.
Just soak patches with water and run them down the bore.
Use water on cloths and toothbrushes to clean residue off the bolt, gas system, and any where else corrosive residue may be.
Some people take a bottle of Windex to the range and give the bore a good squirt to hold it until they can get home.
Truth is, the Windex does no more real good than ordinary water, but some people think the tiny amount of ammonia in the Windex makes cleaning the copper fouling out easier.
Most shooting the 7.62X39 never stop to think that the bullets are usually steel, not copper, and leave no copper fouling.
Corrosive ammo deposits salts wherever the fumes contact, especially in the bore. These salts are hygroscopic and attract moisture from the air.
This causes the metal to rust and pit.
The water dissolves the salts and flush them out.
If you're shooting a bolt rifle, an old trick is to put the muzzle into a pot of boiling hot water, and run a patch up and down the bore.
This pumping action draws water up the bore and does an excellent job of removing the corrosive salts.
Whatever method you use, after using water to clean out and neutralize the salts, then give the rifle a regular cleaning with bore solvent.
Just soak patches with water and run them down the bore.
Use water on cloths and toothbrushes to clean residue off the bolt, gas system, and any where else corrosive residue may be.
Some people take a bottle of Windex to the range and give the bore a good squirt to hold it until they can get home.
Truth is, the Windex does no more real good than ordinary water, but some people think the tiny amount of ammonia in the Windex makes cleaning the copper fouling out easier.
Most shooting the 7.62X39 never stop to think that the bullets are usually steel, not copper, and leave no copper fouling.
Corrosive ammo deposits salts wherever the fumes contact, especially in the bore. These salts are hygroscopic and attract moisture from the air.
This causes the metal to rust and pit.
The water dissolves the salts and flush them out.
If you're shooting a bolt rifle, an old trick is to put the muzzle into a pot of boiling hot water, and run a patch up and down the bore.
This pumping action draws water up the bore and does an excellent job of removing the corrosive salts.
Whatever method you use, after using water to clean out and neutralize the salts, then give the rifle a regular cleaning with bore solvent.
Limeyfellow
New member
I tend to use really hot barrel down the barrel to clean out that junk from corrosive ammo. Make it as close to boiling as you can and pour down the barrel and it will take out all the gunk without a problem. It worked for the troops in WW1 and WW2 and works fine today. Get a funnel with a curved spout so you can easily pour it. I use one that was mainly designed for the Enfields firing .303 British but since the rifles I fire military surplus rounds through are all in the 30 calibre range it works for all.
Looks like this, though they are getting harder to find but someone must have something similar or you could easily fabricate one.
Some people use windex or any other ammonia based cleaning solution. Does the trick too.
Then there is the various bore solvents like Hoppes no. 9 and so on, but the price goes up and up with this stuff and its best used when you have the rifle home and giving it a really good clean instead of the getting rid of corrosive salts that I like to do as quickly as possible.
If you are really desperate you could also urinate down the barrel and it would work but probrobly not the best thing to do with a sensitive nose.
Looks like this, though they are getting harder to find but someone must have something similar or you could easily fabricate one.
Some people use windex or any other ammonia based cleaning solution. Does the trick too.
Then there is the various bore solvents like Hoppes no. 9 and so on, but the price goes up and up with this stuff and its best used when you have the rifle home and giving it a really good clean instead of the getting rid of corrosive salts that I like to do as quickly as possible.
If you are really desperate you could also urinate down the barrel and it would work but probrobly not the best thing to do with a sensitive nose.
SavageCheesecake
New member
Huh? I believe your thinking of the casing, not the jacket. Steel would wear down your bore very quickly.
Unfortunately you have to research
The problem with corrosive ammo is that you have to research it unless you use commercial ammo. They are talking mostly milsurp or maybe commercial made before WW2 or so. Modern made commercial won't be a problem. The US mil. stopped making corrosive priming in ammo, I believe, in the early 50's. Might be like 1952-54(some expert will tell us) until they got a reliable noncorr. priming that would work well enough to be milspec. But 30 carbine ammo was always non-corr. Foreign countries made corrosive primed up until at least the 70's, especially eastern bloc countries. Probably NATO countries dropped it well before then. If you are buying milsurp ammo, safest thing to do is consider it corr. primed unless they specifically say it is not. Sometimes they will say it is corrosive, but often they just say nothing either way to make sales, I guess. If it was foreign made in the 50's or earlier, you can be almost certain it is. Someone had a "test" of taking apart a cartridge, taking out the bullet and powder, and firing the empty primered case in a holder with a piece of bare steel in front of the case! If the bare steel started to rust then, they called it corrosive priming. I have not tried this!
The problem with corrosive ammo is that you have to research it unless you use commercial ammo. They are talking mostly milsurp or maybe commercial made before WW2 or so. Modern made commercial won't be a problem. The US mil. stopped making corrosive priming in ammo, I believe, in the early 50's. Might be like 1952-54(some expert will tell us) until they got a reliable noncorr. priming that would work well enough to be milspec. But 30 carbine ammo was always non-corr. Foreign countries made corrosive primed up until at least the 70's, especially eastern bloc countries. Probably NATO countries dropped it well before then. If you are buying milsurp ammo, safest thing to do is consider it corr. primed unless they specifically say it is not. Sometimes they will say it is corrosive, but often they just say nothing either way to make sales, I guess. If it was foreign made in the 50's or earlier, you can be almost certain it is. Someone had a "test" of taking apart a cartridge, taking out the bullet and powder, and firing the empty primered case in a holder with a piece of bare steel in front of the case! If the bare steel started to rust then, they called it corrosive priming. I have not tried this!
Limeyfellow
New member
Its to do with the use of smokeless powder used for ammunation. Back then at the turn of the century up until the 50s-60s required a primer that created potassium chloride in the barrel after firing. This eats through steel and chrome like theres no tommorrow rusting it out in a matter of a few weeks or so.
Thats why its important when firing this really old ammo usually from the 40s and 50s with military surplus nowadays that the primer puts this salt into your barrel and you need to give it a good cleaning. However for decades commercial and military ammo in the US and other places have used different primers that solved this problem.
Thats why its important when firing this really old ammo usually from the 40s and 50s with military surplus nowadays that the primer puts this salt into your barrel and you need to give it a good cleaning. However for decades commercial and military ammo in the US and other places have used different primers that solved this problem.
Average Joe
New member
All you need is hot water. Pour thru the bore, and wipe off bolt face etc. Then clean as normal.
expeditionx
New member
American made ammo like Winchester 7.62x39 has real copper jacketing
but russian and probably most easternblock surplus usually has a steel jacket thats copper washed ( very lite copper ). At least enough copper to call it a Bi-metal jacket.
http://www.wolfammo.com/bs_riffle_762x39.htm
http://www.barnaulammunition.com/762x39.htm
but russian and probably most easternblock surplus usually has a steel jacket thats copper washed ( very lite copper ). At least enough copper to call it a Bi-metal jacket.
http://www.wolfammo.com/bs_riffle_762x39.htm
http://www.barnaulammunition.com/762x39.htm
Death from Afar
New member
Gonzii, it is ammunition that in some way produces a substance that will do harm to your barrel. It is invariably due to the primer, and inevitably the corrosive substance is a salt of some kind. I once had a number 1 enfield ruined by loaning it to a guy who did not use boiling water- and as a result the barrel was utterley destroyed by rust.
To test if ammo is corrosive, pull a round, pour out all the powder, check you have poured out all the powder, check again you have pured out all the powder, put on eye protection, ear protection, and load the primed case into your shooter, and fire at a piece of mild steel. Leave exposed for 24 hours, and see if you get rust forming..if so, its corrosive ammo.
To test if ammo is corrosive, pull a round, pour out all the powder, check you have poured out all the powder, check again you have pured out all the powder, put on eye protection, ear protection, and load the primed case into your shooter, and fire at a piece of mild steel. Leave exposed for 24 hours, and see if you get rust forming..if so, its corrosive ammo.
BloodyBucket03
New member
Cleaning After Corrosive Ammo
Use Sweets 7.62 Solvent. Follow the directions on the bottle carefully. After a few patches of sweets follow up with Hoppes 9 Powder solvent. Sweets has ammonia in it that neutralizes the salts that corrosive ammo leaves behind.
Use Sweets 7.62 Solvent. Follow the directions on the bottle carefully. After a few patches of sweets follow up with Hoppes 9 Powder solvent. Sweets has ammonia in it that neutralizes the salts that corrosive ammo leaves behind.
Wildalaska
Moderator
My rule as to milsurp ammo:
Any 7,62x51 or 9mm with a Nato stamp is non corrosive
Any 223 with a nato stamp is non corrosive
Any Western World 30-06 or 303 made after 1970 is non corrosive
Any US made 30-06 after 1954 is non corrosive, any US 30 carbine is non corrosive, any 1960s to date 6.5x55 ot 7.5 swiss is non corrosive
WildeverythingelseiscorrosiveandiusehotwaterAlaska
Any 7,62x51 or 9mm with a Nato stamp is non corrosive
Any 223 with a nato stamp is non corrosive
Any Western World 30-06 or 303 made after 1970 is non corrosive
Any US made 30-06 after 1954 is non corrosive, any US 30 carbine is non corrosive, any 1960s to date 6.5x55 ot 7.5 swiss is non corrosive
WildeverythingelseiscorrosiveandiusehotwaterAlaska
Mike Irwin
Staff
"Its to do with the use of smokeless powder used for ammunation. Back then at the turn of the century up until the 50s-60s required a primer that created potassium chloride in the barrel after firing."
Well, not really.
American commercial manufacturers began began loading ammunition with non-corrosive primers around WW I, with names like Staynless and Kleenbore.
The US military stayed with corrosive priming (except for .30 carbine ammo, which was never loaded with corrosive primers) simply because it was a known quantity in that it had an indefinite shelf life.
Some of the early non-corrosive priming compounds didn't have stellar reputations for shelf life.
One reason why hot, soapy water has always been recommended is that the soap will help cut any residual oil that might be in the bore and which could "hide" corrosive salts. The ammonia in Windex is also fairly good at removing oil, so it does much the same as soapy water.
Well, not really.
American commercial manufacturers began began loading ammunition with non-corrosive primers around WW I, with names like Staynless and Kleenbore.
The US military stayed with corrosive priming (except for .30 carbine ammo, which was never loaded with corrosive primers) simply because it was a known quantity in that it had an indefinite shelf life.
Some of the early non-corrosive priming compounds didn't have stellar reputations for shelf life.
One reason why hot, soapy water has always been recommended is that the soap will help cut any residual oil that might be in the bore and which could "hide" corrosive salts. The ammonia in Windex is also fairly good at removing oil, so it does much the same as soapy water.
I use corrosive ammo in my M38 and my Enfield
I keep a bottle of ammonia in my truck. At the gravel pit I pour some ammonia down the barrel, then at home give it a good cleaning with Hoppes #9. After the bore is clean I soak a patch or two in something like PB Blast or WD-40 and give the bore a good coating of light oil. I also use Gun Scrubber before I start running patches down the bore. Make sure you get the bolt and the inside of the action nice and clean too. I usually follow this with rubbing down all the metal with an oil soaked rag and then rub some lemon oil into the stock. Don't be afraid of corrosive ammo, mine is cheap, accurate, and not hard to clean up.
I keep a bottle of ammonia in my truck. At the gravel pit I pour some ammonia down the barrel, then at home give it a good cleaning with Hoppes #9. After the bore is clean I soak a patch or two in something like PB Blast or WD-40 and give the bore a good coating of light oil. I also use Gun Scrubber before I start running patches down the bore. Make sure you get the bolt and the inside of the action nice and clean too. I usually follow this with rubbing down all the metal with an oil soaked rag and then rub some lemon oil into the stock. Don't be afraid of corrosive ammo, mine is cheap, accurate, and not hard to clean up.
Teufelhunden
New member
I don't think I'd mind putting corrosive ammo though a bolt-gun, but feeding a gas gun corrosive ammo just seems to be more aggravation than it is worth.
With the bolt gun, you've just got the barrel and the bolt face, but with a gas semi-auto, dunking the whole system in hot soapy water, probably to include parts that are not included in the cycling of the weapon but are exposed to the gas residue anyway (such as the inside of the magazine in an SKS) just seems to be too much work given the relatively small price difference between corrosive and non-corrosive now...
-Teuf
With the bolt gun, you've just got the barrel and the bolt face, but with a gas semi-auto, dunking the whole system in hot soapy water, probably to include parts that are not included in the cycling of the weapon but are exposed to the gas residue anyway (such as the inside of the magazine in an SKS) just seems to be too much work given the relatively small price difference between corrosive and non-corrosive now...
-Teuf