Corrosive Ammo blues...

vellnueve

vellnueve

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So, today I got home, and before heading to sleep I decided to check my Mosins. I brought a few to the Milsurp shoot and cleaned them thoroughly with Hoppes and M7 afterwards.

So, I'm checking them and most look nice. Then I come to the 91/30 ('25 Izhvesk). The bore is black. I mean, there's rust all over the inside. I must have run half a bottle of Hoppes through this thing and at least 20 patches through. What the hell?

I don't have time to clean it tonight so I sealed the muzzle end, filled the bore with oil all the way to the chamber in hopes of stopping what little damage hasn't been done yet until I can get to it tomorrow. This has happened once or twice before and those rifles still had shootable, although not great, bores afterwards, but this particular 91/30 shot really, really nice out of the box and now that's likely gone...

I know, it's a $70 rifle, but I'm still really bummed out. Gonna have to go back to the hose and funnel method with ammonia followed by thorough Hoppes cleaning...
 
The corrosive salts are only removed by cleaning with a water based cleaner.
Oil or hydrocarbon based cleaners do not work on this stuff.
It is the same as cleaning up after black powder.

Jack
 
As I understand it, Hoppes is formulated for corrosive ammo as it has an ammonia component in it

Either way, I'm using ammonia based glass cleaner from now on as the preliminary cleaning agent.
 
Vellnueve,

If you come across the one quart containers of U.S. GI Rifle Bore Cleaner (RBC) pick it up for cleaning up after shooting corrosive ammo. The product has nitro-benzene in it, bore cleaners today do not have that chemical in it. In the 70's they removed it because it is carcinogenic. A one quart container or RBC, mixed with three quarts of mineral spirits will make one gallon of corrosive ammo bore solvent. Clean the barrel, bolt, and the gas system like normal, wipe dry, and then put on a light coat of preservative lubricant.
 
I've had this happen to me more than once - mostly because I forgot to clean it or wasn't thorough enough. Learn the lesson and march on. I use Sweet's 7.62 first and then the Hoppe's. You have to neutralize the ammonia ( remove ) so it doesn't etch the metal. I use the Gun Scrubber for that. I haven't had any problems but I do try to keep an eye on the bores just in case...

Joe R.
 
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8 ounces of scalding hot water poured in the funnel, a few passes with a cleaning rod with dry patches, a few passes with a bronze brush soaked in Kroil or Break Free, and then some more dry patching and I'm done. I've never had a bore get even a hint of orange using this method and best of all each bolt action rifle takes me less than 10 minutes total to clean.
 
Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing that one. I never even thought to make a funnel like that. Going to make one for cleaning my M-48. [smile]
 
well, I got a chance to clean it out. Drained the oil that I'd filled it with, then poured about half a cup of ammonia-based glass cleaner down the chamber. Followed that with liberal applications of Hoppes and about two dozen patches. It's dirty, and the bore is definitely rough now, but still looks shootable.

But obviously won't be as good as it was :(
 
vellnueve said:
It's dirty, and the bore is definitely rough now, but still looks shootable.

But obviously won't be as good as it was :(
Click to expand...

Try shooting about a dozen rounds through it first, then clean it with glass cleaner at the range.
You'll be surprised how much it cleans up.

I bought an Argentine Mauser a while back and talked the seller down because the bore was rusty as hell. Previous owner shot corrosive ammo through it and never cleaned it properly afterwards. I scrubbed it a few times with a bronze brush and Break Free and didn't have much hope for it, but after shooting it for a few mins I ran a bore snake and was surprised to see a smooth and shiny bore with some good rifling.[grin]
 
You can also try some JB Bore paste to see if that will help some too. I wouldn't sweat this - it will be okay to shoot and accurate.

Joe R.
 
cleaning

had match in Denver club yrs ago it was misty had just got a FN49 and shot the match.cleaned it with hoppes 9 and went home expecting to finish next morning.Potato patch. used gi bore cleaner and good to go. I thought southerners were the only ones did not clean there guns properly.guess the old timers did not pass on their knowlege.me being one.-----[smile]----[rofl]
 

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