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Posted: 5/1/2010 1:20:31 PM EDT
| I found some corrosive ammo for cheap- is there anything special about the cleaning process after using it in a FAL? I know in AK's many recommend simply pouring very hot water down the barrel and flushing out the gas tube well asap after shooting & before normal cleaning/lubing. Anything different for the Right Arm of the free world? |
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I spray the rifle down with 10% Ballistol and 90% water at the range after firing.
At home I pour hot water down the barrel and flush all internal parts. Ballistol straight from the can next,wipe everything down then lightly lubricate the rifle in your favorite oil. Did you buy some of that surplus S&B .308 ? |
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I spray the rifle down with 10% Ballistol and 90% water at the range after firing. At home I pour hot water down the barrel and flush all internal parts. Ballistol straight from the can next,wipe everything down then lightly lubricate the rifle in your favorite oil. Did you buy some of that surplus S&B .308 ? This. But for a long time I used HOT soapy water for all my milsurps. My Enfields look as good now as they did they day I bought them back in the early 80's No telling how much corrosive ammo was shot through them over the years. I bought 3 cases of Romanian 8mm recently to fire through my vz24's and k98's. I still use the HOT soapy water method for them. I use the 10% Ballistol 90% water for my 2 AK74's |
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I spray the rifle down with 10% Ballistol and 90% water at the range after firing. At home I pour hot water down the barrel and flush all internal parts. Ballistol straight from the can next,wipe everything down then lightly lubricate the rifle in your favorite oil. Did you buy some of that surplus S&B .308 ? Thanks for the suggestions- I'm new to the FAL so wanted to make sure I don't screw it up immediately. And yes, I got a couple cases of the S&B. |
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The S&B ammo I bought 3 years ago worked just fine in my M1A. I put a couple hundred rounds a day through it and used a black powder solvent (black powder is also corrosive) called Black Off to do the initial cleaning, then sprayed it off (tore it down every night) with carb. cleaner, let it dry and sprayed it with RemOil. This was in Feb. on a "cold" range. I guess I could have boiled water over a fire/stove but the black powder solvent worked just fine. I shot almost 1,000 rounds in 5 days.
I have used the hot water method on my AR15 after shooting surplus 5.45X39 and then dried it with a hair dryer before scrubbing with Hoppe's #9, wiping off, oiling it back up and putting it back together. |
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http://www.empirearms.com/
scroll down and hit: ARTICLE: "how to EASILY clean your firearm after shooting corrosive ammo" it's easy and it work |
| Interesting-I'll give that ammonia routine a try, thanks for the link and to everyone else too. I used the hot water approach this weekend before a regular cleaning and checked over the next couple of days and not a hint of corrosion. Hooray for (relatively) cheap ammo! |
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Windex is an easy and commonly available cleaning method since it contains ammonia. It's the water in Windex that is cleaning the salts from the rifle,not the ammonia. IMO,using Windex makes no sense...You might as well just use a spray bottle filled with water for the same effect. But, the bottom line is use what you like,and if you like using Windex..use it. Quoted:
http://www.empirearms.com/ scroll down and hit: ARTICLE: "how to EASILY clean your firearm after shooting corrosive ammo" it's easy and it work Why would you use a cleaning agent that is potentially harmful for your prized possession ? You can leave the mix I use(10% Ballistol - 90% water) in the rifle all week if you want,and you can fire through it if you want.Leaving Ballistol in or on the rifle won't harm a thing.It doesn't even harm the delicate finish on my SLR105.. From that article: DON'T OVERDO IT! More ISN'T better in this case...
You really don't want to slop ammonia (especially if heavily concentrated) all over the blued parts of the gun (as it will likely start to remove bluing after 30 minutes or so) and you also shouldn't leave the ammonia in the bore for an extended period of time (like hours, although I do know folks who do that anyway) as that may (not WILL, but MAY) cause "crazing" (microscopic pitting) of the metal. I also have to caution against slopping ammonia on the wooden parts of your rifle, as it will usually strip the finish down to bare-wood, BUT if you follow my advise on HOW MUCH ammonia to use (only enough to dampen, but not soak, a single patch per gun) you will not EVER experience ANY problems at all... |
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Quoted:
I found some corrosive ammo for cheap- is there anything special about the cleaning process after using it in a FAL? I know in AK's many recommend simply pouring very hot water down the barrel and flushing out the gas tube well asap after shooting & before normal cleaning/lubing. Anything different for the Right Arm of the free world? Lots of ways to clean it . I use Shooters Choice Copper Cleaner ( smells of ammonia ) . Finish up with Hoppies # 9 . God bless Wyr |
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Quoted:
Windex is an easy and commonly available cleaning method since it contains ammonia. From what I understand, the ammonia simply serves as a drying agent for the water (thus replacing the "hot and soapy" element). This is why it is effective. Not because the ammonia does anything to the primer residue. I believe an alkaline solution is the only thing that "neutralizes" the "corrosive" primer salts. I use Windex, but I know all it does is mix with the primer salts so they can wiped from the weapon. It's just a little easier than dousing my weapon with hot water. That being said, I used corrosive ammo in surplus rifles for years, and (not knowing any better) just cleaned as normal, with no ill effects (even in the humid, Iowa summer). For a bolt action, all I've ever done is flushed the bore, bolt face, and the front of the FSB, and that's all one really needs. Using corrosive ammo in a gas operated semi-auto is opening up a whole can of worms. I only do so in my Ak-74 (cheap ammo, chrome bore). Right now, surplus 7.62 NATO seems to be becoming more available, the price has stabilized, and in many cases, started to drop. I'd spend the extra few bucks on some non-corrosive surplus and save yourself the headache, YMMV. |
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