[Glockdaddy]

I am considering the purchase of a Mauser M48 for a fun gun...I have been traditionally a handgun shooter. The price of both the gun and the surplus ammo that is available makes this an interesting consideration.

However, much of the surplus 8mm ammo is listed as corrosive. What are the implications of this and what preventative cleaning should I do if I want to shoot this cheap stuff?

Thanks for any input....I assume the rile section of THR will be as informative as the handgun side has been....:)

[trueblue1776]

Just run the bore and clean the chamber afterwards with a light coat of oil, the same thing most people do after shooting. Corrosive is no biggie.

Even if corrosive ammo could ruin a gun (and it can't unless you are a complete ****) Just get another M48 for 80 bucks.

[Azrael256]

It is my understanding that cleaning with regular products may not be enough. I have observed two schools of thought on cleaning up corrosive salts (though there may well be more). One employs ammonia, and the other dishwater.

Usually the ammonia crowd uses household ammonia and water, and sometimes ammonia-based cleaning products (like Windex) are mentioned. I do know that windex will cause a reaction in the barrel. Dionysusigma demonstrated this with a mauser. When the windex was sprayed down the barrel (several hours after shooting) a bubbling sound was audible from some distance away. I'm not enough of a chemist to know just exactly what's going on there.

Others have recommended the use of hot soapy water. One must be careful with this method, as it is obviously based on the Great Oxidizer(tm) and Universal Solvent(tm). Oiling after any cleaning is good practice, but oiling after a soapy water treatment is an absolute necessity.

IME, both solutions work well.

[EvisceratorSrB]

The Mauser 98 is a beautiful way to go. I have one, and it is extremely fun. I'm surprised how little the bore gets dirty, even after 90 rounds. Not sure on the reason to this, but ALWAYS clean it really well after. As long as you treat the chamber with a little oil you'll be good. Basically, siding with the trueblue1776. Here to tell you, in addition, that the rifle is very high quality, and very accurate with the standard 196 gr round. A good way to get into higher caliber rifles.

[longrifleman]

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2006/alittlesalt/index.asp

This is an excellent side by side look at different methods.