new to cleaning

[CCPBiden]

I've heard Windex and water work well on corrosive ammo, is there anything else I need to be wary of when cleaning my bolt action after shooting corrosive ammo? any tips on what to do?

[divingin]

I've heard Windex and water work well on corrosive ammo, is there anything else I need to be wary of when cleaning my bolt action after shooting corrosive ammo? any tips on what to do?

Stay away from corrosive ammo?

So lots of hot water flushing to get the salts out, and keep surfaces well oiled afterward. The salts are generally combustion residue from corrosive primers. The resulting deposits are hygroscopic; they attract moisture. That causes the rusting. I don't think Windex will help; the salts are water soluble. The oil prevents any oxygen from water or air from getting to the steel.

[FeuerFrei]

Black powder cleaning procedure works great here. Boiling hot soapy water and a good scrubbing will wipe out any corrosive residue.

Hot water will mostly evaporate and leave you with a dry bore so you can swab it and oil it.

[DaveInOroValley]

As well they make a "black powder" cleaning solution too that works well if you don't want to do the sink method.

Vinegar is also recommended.

[Garbcollector]

I used windex on my ak last time I shot some corrosive ammo out of it worked like a charm

['ol shooter]

put windex.JPG

[plumbum]

Hot water if you got it. That’s all I ever used. One long session I brought an alcohol stove and boiled water on the bench - worked like a charm!

[wpage]

Any cleaning is better than leaving corrosive carbon and other crap in your barrel.

[ptmn]

Plain water works best for corrosive ammo, but I get it, some people are hesitant, because, well, it's water.

If your in that category, then use Ballistol. It's a water soluble oil. Mix 1 part Ballistol with 9 parts water and you have a solution that looks like milk. Run a bore brush down your barrel with the solution, then a couple dry patches. Run one more wet patch, then another 2 dry ones. After that, the corrosive salts will be out of the bore and you can clean it like normal.

Don't forget to use the "milk" solution to wipe down your other surfaces that get exposed to the firing residue, like your bolt and the action area before cleaning like normal.

Personally, I prefer hot water for cleaning up after firing corrosive ammo. It's cheap and it works fast and effectively. I only use the Ballistol "milk" solution if I am not at home and don't have access to boiling water.

I like plumbum's idea of bringing a stove to boil water for cleaning, I never thought of that. I still have my old military 1 quart canteen somewhere in storage that I never used after switching to Camel Backs for water. My old military 1 quart has both the canteen cup and stove stored around the canteen inside the pouch. One and a quarter military issue Trioxane heat tabs will easily boil a full canteen cups water for corrosive ammo cleaning.

I learn new stuff from other Calgunners on a regular basis.

[jyo]

You're shooting corrosive ammo? Really? What caliber and where are you getting corrosive ammo from? Unless there's a significant price advantage or you're shooting a unique caliber that's only available with corrosive primers, I can't see any reason to shoot corrosive ammo these days...

[ptmn]

I've got several cases of corrosive ammo, 7.62x39, 7.62x54, 5.45x39, 8x57, 7.65 Argentine mauser, 9mm makarov, 7.62 tokarev, 9 luger and a few other odd balls like French MAS rifle ammo.

I bought them, like most of my other surplus corrosive ammo several years ago back when they were cheap, since they store well. Most are in sealed "spam" cans. I even have a sealed spam can of corrosive, steel cased WWII USGI 45 ACP ammo with Evansville Ordnance factory markings.

I bought my 7.62 tokarev ammo several years back for only $89 per 1260rd spam can, there were 2 cans per case (2520rds). I bought 2 full cases back then, but I've only broken into 1 spam can so far. Put about 500rds thru my CZ52.

I'd rather plink with my surplus ammo ammo clean with hot water than take the time to reload some of those rounds. Of course with the stupid prices any surplus ammo is going for (if you can find it), i'd be reloading if I didn't have the large stocks of ammo stored away

[THBailey]

This guy will forget more about surplus guns than most of us will ever know:

https://www.empirearms.com/clean.htm

[Featureless]

Corrosive ammo is corrosive because the primer compound contains salt which attracts water which creates rust. It's not worth using IMO.

[-hanko]

This guy will forget more about surplus guns than most of us will ever know:

https://www.empirearms.com/clean.htm

He's also a member here on Calguns.

[19K]

Just hot water. Windex is like 99% water.

Even “pure” ammonia you buy at the grocery store is like 90% water. Ammonia does nothing to clean corrosive salts, the water is what does the cleaning.

Never used anything other than hot water to clean after shooting corrosive ammo, even black powder just gets water on some patches. That’s all they used 130 years ago to clean the corrosive fouling out.