Cleaning weapons after shooting corrosive ammo

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Trent

Trent

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So I put 600 rounds out of the PKM today, shooting 70's era corrosive 7.62x54R. Normally in the past I'd only shot corrosive ammo out of my Mosins, which are pretty much a breeze to clean afterwards.. dump some soap and water down the barrel, push a patch through a few times, let dry, then oil. Done.

Tonight when I got back from the range I realized I had a MUCH bigger job on my hands, cleaning this PKM.

So it got a nice hot shower with me.

If my wife suspected I was crazy before, I'm sure I confirmed it tonight.

Field strip, and 20 minutes of blowdrying of any moving parts / springs / nooks & crannies, followed by an overnight air dry and a good cleaning / oiling tomorrow.

Anyone got any better ideas? This method wasn't too difficult, although I worry a little about doing it too often - don't want the wood stock soaking up water (hence the shower, not a bath).

Oh, and I re-christened my wife's shampoo to "Mane, Tail, and PKM General Purpose Machinegun" cleaner. Don't tell her about it though.
 
Lots of Ballistol moosemilk. Neutralizes the corosive stuff, sticks to any metal beneath the water which'll run off or evaporate, is actually kinda good for the wood and leather.
 
I take small parts and put in a Walmart ($2 for 6?) Turkey pan and spray with Windex. Do the Windex spray thing for the bore, (run a brush then a patch with Breakfree CLP through the bore) and wipe frame as necessary on the SKS and AK; never had a problem in S. Tx.

Lots of guys just use hot water as you mentioned but this is the easiest way for me.
 
OK I read that Totally Wrong.

It's not "Ballistic Moosemilk".

I'm not sure how moosemilk could be made ballistic, but my brain sure as heck tried to form an image of it just now.

Where can you get such ballistic moosemilk?
 
It's not "Ballistic Moosemilk".

I'm not sure how moosemilk could be made ballistic, but my brain sure as heck tried to form an image of it just now.

Where can you get such ballistic moosemilk?
Click to expand...

Haha! :D

Pick up some Ballistol (awesome stuff, though quite smelly) and mix it with water. Done!
 
Shoot brass cased ammo if soot is a problem. Soviet block ammo is very 'sooty' The steel case contracts quicker than brass and soot is brought to the chamber via reflux after the bullets gone and the pressure is nomalizing the bore/chamber.

The best part is, its belt fed, and 1 shot or 600, you still gotta clean it, so keep on pulling that trigger till its time to go home.....

Cleaning a Gun is a Labor of Love.
 
You know, in hindsight, I was VERY nervous posting up that I'd taken the PKM to the shower with me.

I was worried (yes, I stress a lot), that someone would say "YOU DID WHAT?!" and tell me 20 ways this would destroy my new rifle.

FYI, that Russian 70's surplus is VERY freaking corrosive (or maybe it was the 600 round count that contributed). In the 6 short hours that lapsed between the end of the range trip, and the time I got it in the shower, a thin layer of rust had started forming where the barrel gas block met the receiver tube. It was powdery, but it was THERE and very visible. And it had NOT been there that morning, because I removed the barrel for inspection prior to shooting and I would have SEEN it.

Truly, never let the sun set on a dirty gun when you're shooting corrosive ammo!!!!

After the shower, I disassembled everything I could where water could collect (even pistol grip/stock - pistol grip was filled 3/4 of the way with water, FYI). Took a blowdryer to everything.

(Enter jokes from my wife about "why don't you just take the machinegun to the Spa and get it over with." and "are you doing matching toenails next?")

On a side note - did you know the right hand leg of the bipod on a PKM holds a 3-part segmented cleaning rod?!!! I'd been over this rifle 15 times and didn't notice it until last night!

Then, I let the parts air dry, until 1 AM, when I re-assembled it. Couldn't leave the parts out longer because we have a very curious kitten who'd love to knock the irreplaceable bits off and send them to oblivion.

Tonight I'll disassemble it again, go over it real close to make sure I didn't miss anything, look for any orange spots, then give it a good oiling. It is BONE DRY right now, that shower took off almost all of the oil on the thing.

Only thing I'd do different next time is hit it with the air compressor instead of the blowdryer. Would be a lot more effective at getting water out from behind rivots and pieces of metal that are pushed together, flat ways. LOTS of little nooks and crannies for water to hide in, in that gun, since it has so many moving parts. (That makes me nervous, BTW, that I'll miss something)

FYI cleaning this by hand, would take forever-and-a-day, and I would not be able to get a brush or any sort of patching in to a lot of the places on the firearm, even if I used dental picks.
 
Trent, if the furniture is off of the gun just spray the entire thing, inside and out, with CLP or the like. Make sure everything is covered and dripping, let the oil soak in to all the little spaces in the action, then blast out excess from the insides with an air compressor and wipe excess off the outside with a few rags. That should protect it fine.
 
Hah!
Bet you won't do THAT again.



Power tools are your friend.

Pressure washer with hot soapy water on low-pressure setting.
Rinse.

Inundate with can of WD-40

Air compressor to to blow off excess.

Done in your suburban neighbor's white concrete driveway while he's away.
Priceless.

Or you could just clean it with solvent and old undershorts twice a day for as long as you own it.
The guys the the PKM was issued to for combat were expected to do no less.
By comparison to those guys, the smell of Ballistol would probably be welcome.
 
So I put 600 rounds out of the PKM today, shooting 70's era corrosive 7.62x54R.
Click to expand...
:what:

Talk about not recoil sensitive :)

I shoot a lot of the cheap corrosive 5.45x39 surplus out of my Saiga and 5.45x39 AR.

First I get the soot and obvious stuff off with Hoppes as in a normal cleaning, then I flush the gun with hot water from the garden hose -- laying in the sun for a while makes it plenty hot around here! Then I let the guns dry in the sun for a few minutes and finish with a normal clean and lube.

Just not that big a deal. A little water removes the salts and won't hurt anything.
 
My only concern over your rather "unique" cleaning method is the long time the gun is sitting with bare metal. The blow dryer is good as would be a shot of compressed air here and there. But once it was dry I'd want to get it oiled quicker than what you mention.

If you were to use Ballistol and a little brush you could even get away with lubing it when there may be the odd water drop or two in some deep corner. Since the Ballistol is miscible (sp?) in water the brush would smoosh the oil into the water and mix it so even in those little wet corners you'd have some protection thanks to these little spots of Ballistol Moosemilk. From that point the water in the oil could dry away at its own pace and leave behind the oil.

Other than that don't scratch up the tub or there will be hell to pay.... :D
 
BCRider -

Yeah, the corrosive salts left behind are fast-working, indeed. By the time I got it stripped for bath time, rust had already started forming at the junction of the receiver gas tube and the barrel gas block. I mean, it was what, 5 or 6 hours, tops?

The rifle was still bone dry (no oil) until Sunday afternoon. Got home from fishing about 4 (caught some nice catfish, BTW), I re-stripped it and cleaned it proper with CLP, old toothbrush, a half a roll of paper towels. I've never seen so much BLACK come out of a firearm before.

There's places on a PKM that are nigh-impossible to reach with my normal cleaning tools, particularly at the front end of the receiver. The problem is, there are some moving bits up there (belt feed assembly), and it's really tough to get in there. I bet if I sat down and cleaned it again today, I'd pull more black crud out of there.

There's a water drain hole in the front of the receiver - I hosed more CLP down in the receiver than I've ever used cleaning another firearm before, and it dripped black goo out that hole for a good 20 minutes. Did it again, and it still dripped black.

I was in awe... cleaning this thing GOOD is an intimidating prospect, indeed. Shower didn't do much good, other than causing me a real pain in the ass job to dry everything.

Have to make a better plan of action before the next trip. First, can't let it sit for 5 or 6 hours before cleaning - that rust on the gas block junction started immediately. Same with the flash suppressor threads - was rust on the rear portion - and I *know* that was clean and oiled because the first time I shot it, I gave the barrel a bath in the sink, took the flash suppressor off, and those threads were scrubbed with soap & water, left to dry, then re-oiled and reassembled.

I basically need to resign myself to the fact that it'll take as much time, or longer, to clean this rifle after shooting than I will spend actually shooting it.
 
Us black-powder shooters have been using boiling water as part of our cleaning process for a long time. Once the metal is hot enough, any extra water evaporates. Warm steel seems to hold the new oil better...
My bath tub has smelled like burnt powder on more than a few occasions.
 
I live in Oregon and have been shooting corrosive Yugo M67 in the rain for years.

I use soapy water as a solvent everywhere there is powder fouling. Dry with rags and then oil with good gun oil. Never felt the need to shower with the AK or SKS and haven't had any rust problems.

I always try to clean at the range before I leave. On the worst days I've seen rust on the rifles in 45 minutes.

Inspect your guns the next day and then 2-3 days later for rust. If you see any repeat the cleaning with soapy water then reoil.

BSW
 
So I put 600 rounds out of the PKM today, shooting 70's era corrosive 7.62x54R.
Click to expand...

How's your shoulder? 40 rounds through my M44 is enough for me. Semis are easier on recoil, but 600 rounds is a ton.
 
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