Idea on getting maximum corrosive salts out of the barrel.

[jimpierce7]

does hot water clean it all? Or just the salts? I usually take four rifles with me when I go shooting. I like the cleaning part too. Takes me less than an hour when I don't work out the chamber too.


That Ballistol looks like some pretty good stuff?

[Chiroptile]

Can I just say, and this is entirely unrelated to the rest of this thread.. Beautiful day, finally.. Beautiful evening.. Couldn't get myself to study anything, drove out to the range and took my M44 Molot along for the ride.. About time, been almost five months since I got it, first time putting rounds through it.. Its an outdoor range on state conservation grounds.. Crickets, and frogs, and birds.. Beetles flying around.. The forest is coming out of hibernation after this winter we've all had. The sun was going down, the stars coming out. Got a little chilly.. Absolutely beautiful. Had the whole range to myself.. Almost wanted to channel Walden. Then I saw the fireball. Holy smokes, the fireball..

At one point I noticed headlights approaching. Turned out to be our county Sheriff.. He was curious why I was out at the range after dark, so I told him about the fireballs. He chuckled and wished me a happy Easter, turned around and drove off.. I know I mentioned a couple of times in the past that I'm fairly new to this whole thing, coming out of Bloombergville, so probably being redundant here, but it's such a stark contrast to the old life.. And I'm sure you're all well-versed in the scene that just described, but I just wanted to get it out there.. What a beautiful evening.

[jones0430]

I just pour tequila down the barrel and catch it on the other end. Make sure you have a lime though. Actually I have zero experience with corrosive ammo....

OMG! Heretic!

Don't you know, for a Mosin it's Vodka!

[WeldonHunter]

Take all your liquids and solvents and oils and put them in a bag, tie the bag with string, and walk into the yard swinging the bag overhead by the string, and scream like a chicken.

LMAO!!!!!!!!

Oh you forgot the part you do after you let go of the string. You throw your hands in the air and run out of the yard and down the street like a madman.

[WeldonHunter]

I made this cleaning tool out of some copper tubing a small funnel and a .303 cartridge with the primer end drilled out to fit the tubing. Get a couple brass fittings, put a couple bends in it and it will fit a Mosin 7.62X54, 8mm Mauser and British .303. Just boil some water put the rifle nose down over the shower drain, insert the cartridge end in the chamber and pour boiling water through and it it will heat dry almost on contact. No mess no fuss, no salts. Feel free to copy, I did after seeing a British tool that was made for this use. Note: do not ake pictures of red things on a red background.

You need to patent that damn thing Chuck. I'd buy it.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Can I just say, and this is entirely unrelated to the rest of this thread.. Beautiful day, finally.. Beautiful evening.. Couldn't get myself to study anything, drove out to the range and took my M44 Molot along for the ride.. About time, been almost five months since I got it, first time putting rounds through it.. Its an outdoor range on state conservation grounds.. Crickets, and frogs, and birds.. Beetles flying around.. The forest is coming out of hibernation after this winter we've all had. The sun was going down, the stars coming out. Got a little chilly.. Absolutely beautiful. Had the whole range to myself.. Almost wanted to channel Walden. Then I saw the fireball. Holy smokes, the fireball..

At one point I noticed headlights approaching. Turned out to be our county Sheriff.. He was curious why I was out at the range after dark, so I told him about the fireballs. He chuckled and wished me a happy Easter, turned around and drove off.. I know I mentioned a couple of times in the past that I'm fairly new to this whole thing, coming out of Bloombergville, so probably being redundant here, but it's such a stark contrast to the old life.. And I'm sure you're all well-versed in the scene that just described, but I just wanted to get it out there.. What a beautiful evening.

[outdooraddict]

Well this thread has made my decision not to be hesitant to buy surplus ammo. A guy at work told me not to get it, I think it's time to stock up.

[TopperT]

Despite "our" differing methods of cleaning, the simple fact is that shooting corrosive ammo is cheap, its accurate and its AVAILABLE.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Well this thread has made my decision not to be hesitant to buy surplus ammo. A guy at work told me not to get it, I think it's time to stock up.

He probably wanted to keep it all for himself

[bunkysdad]

Yeah, it is cheap, accurate enough, and powerful, and to me, kind if nostalgic if it is the really old stuff, and doesn't corrode anything when cleaning is done in a timely manner. That is a great story about enjoying the fireballs from your m44 Chiroptile.

[outdooraddict]

Well this thread has made my decision not to be hesitant to buy surplus ammo. A guy at work told me not to get it, I think it's time to stock up.

He probably wanted to keep it all for himself

He did give me twenty rounds, and questioned me when all I said is I thought it needed a good cleaning after shooting and you would be fine. I'll be on the prowl for deals now

[desdem12]

Jim, The water washes out the salts. If it is hot water it will wash out the salts and loosen the powder fouling. Hot water followed by brush while still hot then hoppes on patches to take out the copper and powder fouling. The rifle takes less time to clean and less patches using the hot water method.

[+dhic]

When I was in the nat. guard we had a couple of barrels cut length-wise on racks. Add gas +2 quarts of oil. We removed
the stock and washed the rest . Wonder we didn't get blown up. +dhic aka Cliff.

[Longcolt44]

I made this cleaning tool out of some copper tubing a small funnel and a .303 cartridge with the primer end drilled out to fit the tubing. Get a couple brass fittings, put a couple bends in it and it will fit a Mosin 7.62X54, 8mm Mauser and British .303. Just boil some water put the rifle nose down over the shower drain, insert the cartridge end in the chamber and pour boiling water through and it it will heat dry almost on contact. No mess no fuss, no salts. Feel free to copy, I did after seeing a British tool that was made for this use. Note: do not ake pictures of red things on a red background.

You need to patent that damn thing Chuck. I'd buy it.

I borrowed the design from an Enfield armorers tool I saw. These sell for around 50 bucks when they come up. One side is flat so you can set it down and it won't roll away.

[Vad321]

I've been shooting nothing but surplus, corrosive ammo on a Vepr 7.62x54r 20" and a Mosin M44 that is in pristine condition for years. The only thing I've done is clean them using Ballistol with normal methods within a few hours of firing them. Yes, on the Vepr, I completely break it down since we are talking an AK gas tube system and clean it completely. Ballistol seems to soak into the pores of the metal where it gets easier and easier to clean the weapons, like other products.

To this day, my rifling and bores show no wear and has never shown any signs of rust/corrosion when cleaning. I'm sure there are other products that will duplicate what Ballistol does (Fireclean, CLP, Froglube,etc).

So if you clean your weapon every time after shooting it within a few hours, using your normal means, why would you have to do so by unusual means?

[Darryl]

I've been shooting nothing but surplus, corrosive ammo on a Vepr 7.62x54r 20" and a Mosin M44 that is in pristine condition for years. The only thing I've done is clean them using Ballistol with normal methods within a few hours of firing them. Yes, on the Vepr, I completely break it down since we are talking an AK gas tube system and clean it completely. Ballistol seems to soak into the pores of the metal where it gets easier and easier to clean the weapons, like other products.

To this day, my rifling and bores show no wear and has never shown any signs of rust/corrosion when cleaning. I'm sure there are other products that will duplicate what Ballistol does (Fireclean, CLP, Froglube,etc).

So if you clean your weapon every time after shooting it within a few hours, using your normal means, why would you have to do so by unusual means?

Simple, because many rifle cleaners will not remove the salts from the bore completely with a "normal cleaning". And will leave salt behind. So, we recommend using a little water (which is free) or Windex (which is very cheap) "first" to make sure of that getting done. 30 seconds is all it takes. If you can't do an extra 30 seconds, you shouldn't have fired it in the first place.

And clean the bolt too!


To the original poster....now you know why I said "no, you can't ask!" And this thread was fairly tame.

[Vad321]

I've been shooting nothing but surplus, corrosive ammo on a Vepr 7.62x54r 20" and a Mosin M44 that is in pristine condition for years. The only thing I've done is clean them using Ballistol with normal methods within a few hours of firing them. Yes, on the Vepr, I completely break it down since we are talking an AK gas tube system and clean it completely. Ballistol seems to soak into the pores of the metal where it gets easier and easier to clean the weapons, like other products.

To this day, my rifling and bores show no wear and has never shown any signs of rust/corrosion when cleaning. I'm sure there are other products that will duplicate what Ballistol does (Fireclean, CLP, Froglube,etc).

So if you clean your weapon every time after shooting it within a few hours, using your normal means, why would you have to do so by unusual means?

Simple, because many rifle cleaners will not remove the salts from the bore completely with a "normal cleaning". And will leave salt behind. So, we recommend using a little water (which is free) or Windex (which is very cheap) "first" to make sure of that getting done. 30 seconds is all it takes. If you can't do an extra 30 seconds, you shouldn't have fired it in the first place.

And clean the bolt too!


To the original poster....now you know why I said "no, you can't ask!" And this thread was fairly tame.

So I'm guessing from your reply that Ballistol is one of the rifle cleaners that will remove salts from the bore completely with a "normal cleaning"? I use an aerosol can of Ballistol for bolts and smaller parts, but for the most part, its the oil in cans.

[jimpierce7]

Jim, The water washes out the salts. If it is hot water it will wash out the salts and loosen the powder fouling. Hot water followed by brush while still hot then hoppes on patches to take out the copper and powder fouling. The rifle takes less time to clean and less patches using the hot water method.

That makes sense.

[Darryl]

I've been shooting nothing but surplus, corrosive ammo on a Vepr 7.62x54r 20" and a Mosin M44 that is in pristine condition for years. The only thing I've done is clean them using Ballistol with normal methods within a few hours of firing them. Yes, on the Vepr, I completely break it down since we are talking an AK gas tube system and clean it completely. Ballistol seems to soak into the pores of the metal where it gets easier and easier to clean the weapons, like other products.

To this day, my rifling and bores show no wear and has never shown any signs of rust/corrosion when cleaning. I'm sure there are other products that will duplicate what Ballistol does (Fireclean, CLP, Froglube,etc).

So if you clean your weapon every time after shooting it within a few hours, using your normal means, why would you have to do so by unusual means?

Simple, because many rifle cleaners will not remove the salts from the bore completely with a "normal cleaning". And will leave salt behind. So, we recommend using a little water (which is free) or Windex (which is very cheap) "first" to make sure of that getting done. 30 seconds is all it takes. If you can't do an extra 30 seconds, you shouldn't have fired it in the first place.

And clean the bolt too!


To the original poster....now you know why I said "no, you can't ask!" And this thread was fairly tame.

So I'm guessing from your reply that Ballistol is one of the rifle cleaners that will remove salts from the bore completely with a "normal cleaning"? I use an aerosol can of Ballistol for bolts and smaller parts, but for the most part, its the oil in cans.

No I'm not saying that at all. I don't use Ballistol or a few dozen other cleaners either.

I use a little water (or Windex) and what ever cleaner I want too if I shoot crossive ammo. That is what I am saying. Simple and safe message. Proven to work every time.

My complete routine is to normally break down the rifle and run very hot water down the barrel, then clean as normal. This is just my routine and if you have a different one and it works....great.

Our goal here is to reassure new shooters it is not the end of the rifle if you fire corrosive ammo. It does no more dammage than non-crossive ammo if you clean it properly. And that is not hard to do.

How you clean it is irrelivant as long as it works.

Water first is a cheap and sure fire way to make sure it is clean when firing crossive ammo. Cheap and safe.

[Vad321]

Okay. I guess what I'll say is that cleaning a rifle with just Ballistol works for use after shooting corrosive ammo as well.