cleaning a rifle after firing surplus rounds

[nearly there]

Hi does anyone use surplus ammunition,if so how do you clean your rifle after use.I know you're supposed to use water and clean as normal but what is you routine.thanks

[EagerNoSkill]

Get C2R

Process
1. Soak it with 2 patches for 1 hr - then 8 wet (water patches) - then 2 Dry
2. Soak it with 2 patches for 2 hr - then 8 wet (water patches) - then 2 Dry
3. Soak it with 2 patches for 12 hr - then 8 wet (water patches) - then 2 Dry
Continue with no 3 till clean

OIL barrel - 3 patches of C2R oil

Put away!

[snayperskaya]

I shoot Russian milsurp which is corrosive and use Ballistol Robla Solo MIL Barrel Cleanser, it contains ammonia which neutralises the corrosive salts from the Berdan primers and doesn't involve water.I then clean and lube ad normal.
I used to flush with boiling water but have gone off the idea incase any water remains in inaccessible nooks and crannies.I find the Ballistol leaves the barrel and chamber spotless.

[rufrdr]

Ammonia will remove copper fouling but does nothing to dissolve the corrosive salts residue in the bore. You need a water based solvent or just water to dissolve and flush out the salts.

I bought a bunch of WW2 GI bore cleaner some years ago that is perfect for handling corrosive primer residue but absent of that boiling hot water flushed down the bore will do the trick. Even tepid or cold water will work.

[Mezzer]

Stick an expanding foam earplug in the barrel at the muzzle end. Point the rifle down and fill the barrel with Mr Muscle window cleaner (which contains vinegar). Let it stand for 5 minutes then drain it by pulling the plug out. Pull through with a nylon brush then a couple of patches until completely clean and dry. Run a patch through with ballistol or any other good gun oil. Put it away until the next shoot. Don't forget to clean the bolt face as well.

Simple!

Mezzer

[froggy]

I was also under the impression that ammoniac dissolves the corrosives salts ? So the only extra step I take when shooting old Eastern mili-surp ammo is running couple of patches soaked in window cleaner.

[waterford103]

insert funnel in chamber , pour a kettle of boiling water down carefully then clean while still hot with hoppes 9 or c2r as per normal.

[nearly there]

Thanks

[channel12]

Interestingly nobody has questioned what or who's surplus ammunition. I will assume you meant military surplus (milsurp) and the correct answer depends on whether the source is ex-Russian or Warsaw Pact or ex Nato.

Nato standard ammunition uses non corrosive primers so it can be treated like normal commercial ammunition, look for the Nato symbol, a cross within a circle on the case head.

Russian ammunition uses corrosive primers and the primer fouling is water soluble. The Russians hard chrome the barrel bore to counter the corrosive effects of the primers knowing that in the field washing out the barrel wasn't always possible.

[snayperskaya]

I was also under the impression that ammoniac dissolves the corrosives salts ? So the only extra step I take when shooting old Eastern mili-surp ammo is running couple of patches soaked in window cleaner.

The Russians used an ammoniac solution for years to deal with the potassium salts left from Berdan primers, a lot the Yanks that shoot AKs and Mosins etc use Windex window cleaner which has ammonia in it.
The ammonia neutralises the acidic corrosive salts as the ammonia is alkaline......simple chemistry.Water down the barrel flushes the salts, which an still sit in the tiny pits and pores in the bore but an ammonia solution neutralises them completely, especially if you let it sit for a while.

Channel 12.......you won't find a Mosin with a hard chromed barrel, and the early SKS's weren't either.