Corrosive ammo

[emcon5]

All you need is a teapot, a turkey baster and a bayonet.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

All you need is a teapot, a turkey baster and a bayonet.

Or the three seashells.

[Flyin Brian]

I've often wondered if the ammonia helps by reducing the surface tension of the water, allowing the water to get in there and clean out the cracks and crevices better... but I'm not a chemist and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I don't know.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

I've often wondered if the ammonia helps by reducing the surface tension of the water, allowing the water to get in there and clean out the cracks and crevices better...

I'm not sure about ammonia, but detergent lowers the surface tension of water. That's one of the reasons Windex is recommended. It has ammonia to remove copper, water to remove salts, and detergent to make the water "wetter".

[cpiaaq]

2 rounds of non-corrosive ammo at the end of the session will blow out the salts and keep your barrel rust free

[BLUE&GOLD]

watta coincedince. I shot like 50 rounds of yugo ammo out of my mosin today too and man was it fun. Just pour hot water through the barrel from the chamber side. The ammonia thing is a myth

[gorblimey]

Ammonia has always been a popular ingredient for home made bore cleaning concoctions because of its ability to remove copper fouling. I think that as recipes got handed down over the years the chemistry/reasons behind the ingredients got lost in the fog of time. And since the only water included in most recipes probably came from a household ammonia solution, the myth kind of makes sense.

But for 99% of the internet gun owners, it probably got started by the Empire Arms website.

It's a fog all right, but one induced by the Department of Education rather than time. Chemistry is out, and Socialist Transgender Dwarf Studies is in. Fast-forward a few decades and here we are.

[rojocorsa]

I don't believe Hoppes 9 itself kills the ionic compounds in question. BTDT.

[Justintoxicated]

So all short cuts aside what is the best way to clean after firing corrosive ammo? Should something be done at the range to hold it over until the gun gets home?

The Empire Arms website is not correct?

[Markus]

small bottle of windex at the range get some down the barrel should hold you over til you get home.

[paul0660]

Corrosive ammo has PRIMERS that, when fired, leave a salt residue. Salt, by itself, doesn't rust steel, it needs moisture as well. If it is raining and the bore is getting wet, that isn't good. One thing that would be worse is squirting an over the counter expensive glass cleaner that is 95% water into the barrel, without cleaning otherwise.

What the tommies did with their enfields was boil water, flush the barrel with their issued funnels, and, after the BOILING water has evaporated, swab afterwards with oil............hey that's what I do too!!

[smle-man]

I bought a case of one pint cans of WW2 GI bore cleaner for corrosive ammo cleaning. It is the white non smelly stuff. Works like a charm and I use it to clean pyrodex fouling also. Wear mechanic's latex type gloves when using it though, I'm sure the chemicals in it won't do a body any good if it is absorbed through the skin.

[Iknownot]

So all short cuts aside what is the best way to clean after firing corrosive ammo? Should something be done at the range to hold it over until the gun gets home?

I just bring a spray bottle (used windex bottle) filled with water and a tiny bit of dish soap. Right when you are done at the range for the day, just spray down the barrel from the chamber. Spray enough to let a bunch of soap water run out the bottom of the muzzle.

Pull out your cleaning kit and run some patches through. When the barrel is dry, run one patch through with oil on it.

Done. This should literally take you 2 or 3 minutes. And you can put off actually cleaning the rifle for as long as you want.

Further, the best thing is when you finally get around to cleaning the rifle properly, you should barely have any real cleaning to do, because the soap water basically cleans the barrel for you anyway.

[cruddymutt]

I also dont believe Hoppes neutralizes the salts. When I first started with milsurps I would have slight rust in my bores within a week after using Hoppes, then CLP, then Rem Oil (in that order). Every Sunday was gun cleaning day whether I went shooting or not. It got tedious when the collection grew.
Then a friend told me to try hot water down the bore first. PRESTO have not had a hint of rust in my bores since and some of my rifles havent been shot in almost a year. I still check my bores often though.

[oftenindeed]

Windex down the barrel from the chamber while still warm/hot then Hoppe's. Dry patches till they come out clean (10-15) and then one last one saturated with Hoppe's. If I've shot a bunch of rounds, then I'll use a brush before the Hoppe's. I do it all at the range in 10-15min and don't have anything left to clean at home.