a question about corrosive ammo..

[harmon rabb]

I've been shooting corrosive mulsurp ammo through my Tokarev and my Nagant M44. Yes, I clean them immediately after with soap and water, and I see everyone say that's absolutely necessary, but I wonder...

Were russian soldiers really cleaning these things every time they were fired? I somehow just don't see russian infantry having access to soap and hot water every time they fire their rifle. I'd think they ran a cleaning rod with a rag soaked in oil through the barrel and that was probably it.

So why does everyone make it seem that if you don't clean your gun after firing corrosive ammo through it, your gun will instantly rust and die a horrible death?

 

[Walkalong]

The US military had gun cleaner that was formulated to neutralize the corrosives left from some ammo. I would assume they did as well. Now wether they actually cleaned their guns, I have no clue.

Soap and water is just easy and cheap.

 

[rangerruck]

you are proly right; the corrosion process doesn't happen instantaneously, they died real fast, and shooting the next round, got out all the before , old crap, and added it's new corrosive crap. any cleaner like hoppes will neutralize the salt anyway. Plain old real hot water, is the absolute cheapest way, just pour it straight in, let your muzzle sit flat on the ground, on a rag, something to slow it down a bit, let the water sit in your tube a few seconds, let it leak out.Clean! plus if the water is real hot, it will dry inside your bore very fast.!

 

[malix]

I somehow just don't see russian infantry having access to soap and hot water every time they fire their rifle. I'd think they ran a cleaning rod with a rag soaked in oil through the barrel and that was probably it.

So why does everyone make it seem that if you don't clean your gun after firing corrosive ammo through it, your gun will instantly rust and die a horrible death?

I think that you are probably right.

The difference is that most of us want to make sure our rifles stay in good working condition for many years to come, whereas those people fighting on the Eastern front probably didnt expect to live that long.

 

[wally]

Don't forget, much of the Russian front fighting was done in weather where liquid water was pretty scarce, making salts in the bore stay pretty dry.

Supposedly the chlorate primers are better in very cold weather so that is why they stayed with them until the 70s & 80s

--wally.

 

[06]

Methinks soldiers of every nation kept their weapons oiled and cleaned at every opportunity. When your life depends on that weapon functioning flawlessly then you will take care of it---flawlessly, wc

 

[Jeremy2171]

They may not have been cleaned on a daily basis when in combat etc.. because as soon as you fire it, it effectively "cleans" any rust in the bore and the rusting process starts over again. The problem areas are the gas pistons/ports of the gas operated weapons. One reason why the SVT was a bear to maintain. BAR gas plugs had a special scraper tool to help remove fouling and carbon and there were special gages for the BAR and Garand to show when the gas port areas had been worn/corroded and were now "undersized" and needed to be replaced.

Remember in Combat there will always be another functioning weapon nearby from someone who no longer needs it that you can use in the short term. Firearms tend to be much more durable to the combat environment than the Soldiers and Marines who carried them...

 

[briansmithwins]

Know all those Mosin Nagants with 'sewer pipe' barrels? That's what happens to weapons in combat when corrosive primers are used.

The Sov issued those 2 compartment oil/solvent tins. One side was for oil, the other was for 'alkali' solution, a water based cleaner that the troop was supposed to use to clean the rifle. In reality, you get a lot of rifles with rusty bores, which is one of the reasons the SKS and AK have chromed bores and gas pistons. BSW