AK Sponsor
Posted: 9/21/2010 3:36:31 PM EDT
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I am from Southeastern Kentucky, humidity today is around 38-40%, temperature 89ยบ.
What are the factors of humidity when shooting corrosive ammo? My PSL has no noticable rust, and I usually clean it once I get home or within the next day or so, and I have had it for about a year. I dont use hot water or soap, or Ballistol. I strip the rifle, hose down with Powder Blaster, then quickly apply a coating of RemOil and hoppes down the barrel. Then another coating of RemOil to rest in the cabinet with. Why am I not seeing the rust that most people are so concerned about? I know I am beating a dead horse with everyone and their mother posting about corrosive ammo, but I am not seeing a problem thus far. |
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Corrosively primed ammunition deposits salts on the metal of the rifle. The salts are hydroscopic, which means they attract water. If there is a lot of water in the air (high humodoty) the salt will attract lots of water. Water causes oxidation of steel (rust).
Putting it all together, if you shoot corrosively primed ammunition when the humidity is high, the rifle can begin to rust very quickly. If you shoot corrosively primed ammunition when the humidity is low you may not see rust for quite some time - so long as the humidity remains low. |
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Also remember, that corrosive residue can and WILL rust under a coating of a lube or grease.
In the 1920's the military started unpacking 1903 and 1917 rifles that had been cleaned and packed in cosmoline at the end of WWI. They were shocked to find rifles heavily corroded UNDER the heavy cosmoline. They traced the problem to the salts created by the corrosive primers. They developed a bore solvent that dissolved the corrosive salts. So, since the powder blast sprays don't dissolve salt and the Rem-Oil will not stop rusting, you're risking a rusty rifle. Catch it just right on a humid day and you'll see rust. Where I live it's very humid summer and winter. An AK fired with corrosive ammo will literally start to rust within the 45 minutes it takes to drive home. That's why a lot of people take a spray bottle of water or Windex with us to the range and give the rifler a fast spray down to "hold" it until we can clean it properly. Using water or Ballistol is just a preliminary pre-cleaning step. You still need to use bore solvent for the copper and carbon fouling. You can also use Hoppe's #9 which is still good for removing corrosive fouling. |
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