When I first started collecting milsurps, I bought alot of old surplus ammo to go along with it. Not knowing any different at the time, I cleaned these guns just as I always have, without all the rigamarole of using ammonia and all that jazz. And none of them show any adverse effects(pitting, rust)in the bores. Is all that stuff REALLY necessary? Like to here some other opinions.
The only "extra step" would be HOT soapy water, and than only a couple patches worth. Some of the older "GI" bore cleaners were water baised for this reason. Ammonia is used to remove copper fouling.
Posts: 2124 | Location: Whittemore, MI, USA | Registered: 07 March 2002
I believe Dennis Kroh at Empire Arms, uses plain old Windex to cut the salts with, and has no problems. this has also worked for me. If you would like to read his methods, I believe you can do a search for Empire Arms, and see it there. Also a good site if you like above average condition C&R military arms.
df, it ain't necessary UNLESS YOU USE CORROSIVE PRIMED AMMO!! How much rust you will get from an improperly cleaned gun fired with corrosive ammo depends on how high the humidity is where you live. Corrosive primers in M1 carbine ammo has been known to ruin a carbine's gas system in one day!! That's why they (U.S.) never loaded .30 carbine ammo with corrosive primers. IF YOU USE AMMO DESCRIBED AS "CORROSIVE", always clean with soap and water to wash out all the primer salts!! DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE WHO LABELS AMMO AS "MILDLY CORROSIVE"!! Either it is corrosive, or it isn't!! IF you use corrosive ammo, and don't clean the bore correctly, you will discover whether it was necessary or not!!
Ed's Red bore cleaner, which you must mix yourself, www.surplusrifle.com will steer you the recipe, PB B'laster will cut the crud but not as easily as soap and water or AMMONIA and water, or the G.I. cleaners, or Windex with ammonia-d. I found that Windex will work on a warm/hot bore better and more easily when you get home with the bore cold to finish the cleaning, but remember to clean the ENTIRE bolt ass'y AND the bore.
OK, so everyone says I SHOULD go through all this rigamaroll...which is what I've always read. I've ONLY used corrosive ammo...and, again, never a speck of rust, and I live in humid (sometimes) climate. So I'll rephrase the question;
Does any one else NOT do anything special when shooting corrosive ammo, and still have nor problems?
When I first got the K98 Mauser I used to have, all the gremlins took effect, it looked like orange barnacles, and the bore looked like a .22 caliber bore, after I cleaned for 2 days, voila, I had an 8x57 bore! All that my friend put through it was the pitiful 154 gr. Turkish ammo. The reason the ammo is so damn cheap is because it is so damn corrosive. You'll see the results sooner or later.
Years ago I cleaned a 30-06 that had obviously been shot with corrosive ammo. It had a 1/16" layer of rust in the bore. I scrubbed and scrubbed and got it cleaned up though some pitting remained. It would have been dangerous to shoot as is. It was a good lesson for me a then new shooter.
Shot some 7.62 by 54 two weeks ago. Cleaned the rifles well. I checked them yesterday fuzzy bores. I cleaned again and this time used windex first.. we will see if this works.
urdubob
Posts: 945 | Location: TN USA | Registered: 09 March 2002
Hello. I learned the hard way with a really nice 1904 Portugese 8x57. I looked down the bore one day and - holy ***! -the bore was nearly closed off with red fuzz. I have since learned the virtues of last swipe with "FLUID FILM" (brand name). Go to their site and read for your self. http://www.eurekafluidfilm.com/home.htm I have about a hundred old military boomers that smell of this stuff.
