AR-15 and corrosive ammo

[GIJOEL]

How much of a pain is cleaning an AR-15 after shooting corrosive ammo? I have a AR in 7.62x39 and am thinking about buying some of that Yugo surplus that is out there. How do you clean the rifle without pulling the gas block and tube? How does corrosive ammo affect aluminum? I clean my firearms after every range visit so thats not a problem, just looking for insight on specifics and techniques to make sure my rifle protected. I know that there is cheap non-corrosive ammo out there, but my silhouette league doesn't want the bi-metal jacketed bullets.

 

[Jeremy2171]

Take the upper and flush it with HOT water then clean normally....no worries...

 

[WardenWolf]

Does your upper have a piston? If not, then you're going to be shooting corrosive ammo through a direct impingement gun, which will blow all that nasty stuff back into the receiver. You'll never get it all out. Just buy Wolf.

 

[dnthmn]

I don't know about in 7.62x39, but a lot (most) of Wolf is bi-metal, so that might not solve anything.

Corrosive shouldn't have much effect on aluminum. The corrosive effect is from the salts drawing water to the metal which doesn't do much to aluminum. Like Jeremy said lotsa hot, near boiling if possible. To speed things along, blow out with an air compressor if you have one handy. Then clean/lube normally.

 

[WardenWolf]

I don't know about in 7.62x39, but a lot (most) of Wolf is bi-metal, so that might not solve anything.

Corrosive shouldn't have much effect on aluminum. The corrosive effect is from the salts drawing water to the metal which doesn't do much to aluminum. Like Jeremy said lotsa hot, near boiling if possible. To speed things along, blow out with an air compressor if you have one handy. Then clean/lube normally.

You'd be surprised. It's a rusting catalyst and will induce rust by itself. And there's also the steel fire control group parts to take into account. It's just a bad idea.

 

[Jeremy2171]

You'd be surprised. It's a rusting catalyst and will induce rust by itself. And there's also the steel fire control group parts to take into account. It's just a bad idea.

It's not rocket science.....take some hot (near boiling) soapy water and you can clean both the upper and lower by submerging them or spraying them off. The trick is to use HOT water....it will evaporate off the weapon. You may think I'm nuts but if you are single you can put the upper and lower in the dishwasher and run them through a cycle....do NOT try this if you are married..... LOL

Key point is lube it after the bath....it's not really hard to clean up after corrosive..just do it the right way the first time. Once you've used water on it...use some WD40 (to displace the water that remains) then clean normally...

From start to finish you should have the AR clean in less than 15 min.

 

[Zerodefect]

Just walk into your shower with it like a Marine in basic.

After that clean it with CLP normally. Then lube the carrier with a real lube.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Don't think ANY corrosive .223/5.56 has ever been produced-----don't worry about it.



Use Windex for any other corrosive ammo----seriously.

 

[Quoheleth]

I wouldn't be so sure about there not being bad 556/.223 out there...

I let a friend borrow my AR earlier this spring and he ran Academy's repackaged Privi/Wolf/whatever through it. I don't remember if he said it was the steel or brass or a combination of both. Anyway, he claimed he cleaned it. I wiped off the exterior and put it in the safe.

After I sold the gun two weeks ago, the buyer* informed me that he found rust in the bore and flash finder. It took several patches before they stopped coming out brown.

Lesson: there's a reason cheap ammo is cheap.

Q

*The buyer was most generous and gave me the benefit of the doubt that I really wasn't trying to screw him over. I offered to make things right - whatever he needed - and he declined the offer.

 

[Quentin]

The OP clearly said his AR is 7.62x39.

 

[Average Joe]

Like the other poster said, just use hot water, and you then clean and lube like normal.

 

[christcorp]

My 1903 Springfield and my M1 Garand both saw Corrosive ammo in their service to our country. As well as many more rounds that I've put through it. Guess what????? They are still kicking and working fine.

As Jeremy and others have said, warm soap and water work just fine. Those who don't think so, are living off of old wives tales. Unfortunately, this is one of those OLD tales that if you go back a little way to people who shot these type of primers in ammo everyday; they'll tell you it's no big deal. The corrosive salts are from the primers. Almost none make it down most gas systems. As for the chamber; I take a spray bottle with warm soap/water in it. I spray down the barrel, chamber, trigger area, etc... I brush it with a barrel brush. I do that a couple times. Then I dry out the bore and chamber with some patches. All of this takes about 10 minutes. Then; I do a normal cleaning with Hoppe #9. It even says it cleans out from corrosive primers.

Anyway; I've got 2 guns that are older than both of us; and they've shot more corrosive ammo through them then you can buy. And they are both in excellent shape. It isn't rocket science and Jeremy accurately mentioned. There's NOTHING BAD about shooting corrosive ammo if you simply clean your rifle. Then again; there's people who complain about steel case ammo sticking in their chambers. 99% of the reason, is because they don't clean their weapons properly. Oh well. If you can get the ammo cheap enough, go for it.

 

[Samari Jack]

The hot water thing is how I clean my black powder rifle. Kind of anxiety inducing at first but you get use to it.

10-4 on the wife thing. I still have stern looks about cleaning it in the tub. I would need an armed escort to get it near the dishwasher. The barrel is to long for the dishwasher anyway.

 

[wally]

I shoot corrosive 7.62x25 and 5.45x39 in my AR uppers of these calibers and no issues. I just flush upper and lower with hot water from the garden hose (solar power ) and let dry in the sun. Then clean and lube normally. Not that big a deal. Don't forget to strip the bolt carrier flush real good.

 

[dnthmn]

You'd be surprised. It's a rusting catalyst and will induce rust by itself. And there's also the steel fire control group parts to take into account. It's just a bad idea.

Not really. I have a 5.45 upper that I only run Russian corrosive surplus through.

 

[frankge]

I have a ar-15 in 7.62x39. Shoots steel case fine but the problem is that the steel case is not accurate when hitting steel at any decent yardage. My reloads are accurate but more expensive. I use the yugo because its the most accurate surplus you can get, just corrosive. It's also not underpowered like alot of commercial steel case.

 

[JustinJ]

I like to be thorough with corrosive ammo. First i do normal barrel cleaning procedures with a water based bore cleaner that also contains a copper solvent. I think it's called Aquaflush but would have to double check. Then I spray everything with windex and scrub with a toothbrush. Next, I either hose it off or wash in bathtub with soapy water and then straight water. Sometimes I'll use a heat gun on low setting to make sure all water evaporates before spraying the gun thouroughly with CLP or Remoil. Other times i'll skip the heat gun since those products will displace moisture anwyways. The key is to spray liberally to make sure no water remains on bare metal in nooks and crannys such as where the stock attches to receiver. Next i wipe off all excess oil and that's pretty much it. That is far more meticulous than is needed but I'd rather be on the safe side. I follow this procedure with rifles and handguns alike when using corrosive. Be sure to spray the windex directly into the gas tube and rinse it out with water.