How to clean a PISTOL after shooting corrosive ammo?

I figure I'd ask this here, in the hopes someone with more experience than I can give me a few pointers.

I'm good with cleaning a bolt action rifle, that's pretty straight-forward. Boiling water down the pipe, followed by a couple patches with ballistol.

But given the current ammo crunch, I've just added a couple of barrels and some surplus pistol ammo to the collection. 7.62 Tokarev, and 9mm Largo. It was affordable and available, and the barrels cost about $50 each. I can now shoot my Tok and Star Super in something other than 9x19, and save that for the other guns.

Question is, it's corrosive ammo. And I'm not sure how to clean a pistol properly after shooting. I've seen a video or two where someone breaks the gun down and puts EVERYTHING into the sink... is that necessary? I understand the barrel will get the residue, that's no problem.

Can I get by with mixing up some Ballistol in a 1-7 mix of water, spray the gun down (chamber etc) with it, wipe it off, and clean as normal? Or do I need to go deeper?

I live in a humid area, I do want to err on the side of caution. Thanks for any tips.

Project355 said:

Corrosive ammo.... Its the potassium salt in the primer residue that is not corrosive of itself but attracts and holds moisture in the pores of the metal. Primary area of concern is the bore.

Field strip. Wash/rinse barrel and bore in warm water. Dry. Clean rest of gun normally.

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jaguarxk120 said:

Yes it is true that powder gasses are not corrosive, But they carry the primer salts that are.
So what ever comes in contact with the powder gass should be washed with soap and wter.

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That's kinda where I'm wondering. On the one hand, I assume 99% of the gas from a round goes down the barrel. So barrel, bushing, those are easy enough to address.

On the other hand, I know I'm cleaning residue from the chamber, and heck, I get black patches back when I wipe out the magazine well, and definitely the slide rails. So I understand having to address the "whole gun".

I guess I'm asking specifically about the firing pin and channel. I'm shooting a Tokarev, and a Star Super. These both break down generally similar to a 1911, and for the most part it's easy. Firing pin, on the other hand, would require drifting the rear site out, which I'm really NOT wanting to do. Now, if I dunk or boil these slides with the pin in, I'm afraid I will get water down there, especially if I do a "soak and boil".
Vs, I suppose, the accumulation of corrosive salt, if I don't?

That's what has me on the fence, thinking both ways. I run AC where I keep my guns, but I live in South Louisiana, so humidity is a real issue. I don't have things rusting around here and my bolt guns are clean; but I don't run a Mad Minute or anything with the rifles, nothing similar to the way a pistol chamber gets exposed to gases. A bolt action rifle keeps the case in for a few seconds before I work it, whereas the pistol ejects basically instantly... more gases exposed.

Thanks for all the answers so far!

792mauser said:

A couple of drops of dawn and a good nylon bore brush a few times down the barrel. Rinse the slide and barrel off with preferably HOT water (any will do hot dries faster and more completely). Oil well.


It's not rocket science. You're just removing the salts from the barrel, ejection, muzzle and breechface.

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I know it probably seems a silly question- but any precautions or worries about the firing pin and channel, etc, while rinsing?

wiscoaster said:

Ya, for sure. Disassemble them. I don't know of any other sure-fire way of being 100% sure there's no remaining water in there. Oh, I suppose you could soak it in WD-40 after the water rinse, but then you have to get the WD-40 out.

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Ok then. That seems to be the concerning part. I'm using a Tokarev, and a Star Super. Firing pin access isn't the most user-friendly on either device, unlike, say a 1911. I've seen videos and it can be done (drifting pins, sights, etc), but that seems pretty labor-intensive for a standard post-range field strip and clean.

I'm thinking there has to be an easier way.

• Would brake cleaner (shot through the straw) displace any water that made it into the channel, and then evaporate?
• Or straight compressed air?
• would heat be a good option- hair dryer, heat gun, or low-heat oven bake for a little while?

Or some combo of the above- say, brake cleaner and then heat? Or would the heat method be a bigger risk for flash-rusting?

wiscoaster said:

I think it would be easier to just avoid using the water and then do the other stuff after you use some other non-water product to get rid of the corrosive fouling. The way I see it, if you soak a firearm in water to remove corrosive salts you're just exchanging one corrosion opportunity for another. The only way to make sure is to either not allow the opportunity in the first place, or else go to the extreme to get rid of it. To me, that means disassembly. But then, that's me. Everybody's got their own ways of doing things.

One thing to take into account is that this isn't going to be your standard post-shooting field strip cleaning. This is a once-in-a-blue-moon full detail strip cleaning. If you don't use any more corrosive ammo, you only need to do it once. And even if you do, which is why you're asking in the first place, I think your original plan will do just fine for routine cleaning.

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Well... I'm not trying to be difficult, and I'm sorry if that is the way it's coming across. I'm just trying to make sure I have all this correct.

I googled "how to clean a Tokarev pistol after shooting corrosive ammo" and the first video that pops up, the guy field strips the pistol, takes the frame down (but NOT the slide), and drops everything into a stainless steel sink full of hot water and Dawn dish soap. And said he leaves them there a few minutes, then takes them out, dries (offscreen), and rubs them down with oil.

My thought process on that was- oh crap, what about the firing pin, spring, channel, extractor etc? If I wipe the breachface off, it should be ok. If I drop it in standing water and go make a sandwich, I'm going to assume water has seeped everywhere. And rubbing the outside of the slide is nice, but that isn't doing crap for what's inside those tight areas.

Now, an alternative is to fully break the slide down to components, but I've got over 1k of surplus corrosive ammo. They will be shot, and not all at once. I don't relish the thought of doing this after every range trip.

Another alternative is simply to wipe the breachface down. I'm going to assume for practical purposes that this should suffice. I ASSUME the gases and corrosive salts aren't migrating down that channel. But that's where I'm a bit in the dark... a magazine dump or so of semiauto pistol fire spreads gases around more than firing a bolt action rifle. I've noted soot all over the place in pistols, places I normally don't clean (just wipe down). To me, that's fine if it's not corrosive, but if it IS, then I am worried a bit. I live in a state where 90% humidity is a thing for half the year. I use central AC and store my guns inside, but if/when I run a dehumidifer, it fills up in a day.

Cleaning the bore and barrel isn't an issue. I'm wondering about the firing pin channel and pin.