corrosive ammo

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Ditchtiger

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Is there a solvent that will dissolve the salts better than hot soapy water?
Don't give me the windex score.

I've picked up a SVT 40 and I will am shooting nasty ammo through it.
Taking my time it takes me 2 hours to clean and oil it correctly.
This means stripping it down completly to clean every individual part.
 
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What's wrong with Windex? The ammonia (if it still has any--I think I have heard that it doesn't) breaks down the surface tension, allowing the water to dissolve the salts. For that matter, what's wrong with hot soapy water? Also consider the possibility that you are overdoing the cleaning a bit.

Tim
 
lvcat2004
Senior Member



Join Date: 02-28-08
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 403 Just for my future reference, what's wrong with windex/ammonia??

That's the answer I'm looking for. What is special about windex/ammonia?
 
This gets back to my first thought, what's so special about windex/ammonia?
Oil cleaners do not dissolve salts. Is there a cleaner that does? I'm more curios than in a need to know.
WELL????????????
 
What you have to remove is potassium chloride which is somewhat more hygroscopic than sodium chloride (a.k.a., table salt) and, therefore, the best solvent is water ...

... or something that is water-based. I know that a few of the bore-cleaning products are water-based, but I do not know the names offhand.

Remember, once the salt is pulled into water-solution, it must then be removed. I point this out because some folks seem to think that the water (or ammonia) magically "neutralizes" the salt. :)
 
The salt in question is potassium chloride, which is very similar to sodium chloride, which is ordinary table salt, which dissolves VERY well in water. Use water. If you feel guilty about not spending enough money to clean your rifle, use Perrier.

Tim
 
This is what I have thought. There is nothing special about windex. Just the water to dissolve the salt then a good flushing to get rid of the crud. I was hoping there was something to spray on springs, pins, ect. to save me some labor instead of having to wipe everything down evertime I shoot the nasty ammo.
 
from what I've read ammonia is more corrosive than the salts in the cartridge primers. Hot water would be better. As for me I use Boretech eliminator which eliminates corrosive salts according to Boretech’s website.
 
Only way to avoid the labor with corrosive ammo is to not use the stuff. The old GI Alox cleaner for corrosive ammo seems to work well but thats a bit hard to find now and nasty stuff to deal with.
 
TimRB said:
The salt in question is potassium chloride, which is very similar to sodium chloride, which is ordinary table salt, which dissolves VERY well in water. Use water. If you feel guilty about not spending enough money to clean your rifle, use Perrier.

Tim
Click to expand...


Why not Fiji water since it's non-carbonated? And its hundreds of miles away from anything, which guarantees its purity.

:)



Kris
 
Don't think of it as soap and water. Think of it as "non-toxic organic cleaner". You're not just using the simple method, you're going green! :)
 
I have had good luck with Mpro7. It is water based, biodegradable, and works really well too. If I had a parts washer, this is what I would run in it.
 
Well, you have to do a little prep work on the cleaner if you want to save work on the gun.

Everybody has heard of Ed's Red bore cleaner, he has a modification as Ed's Pink for chlorate primers and black. Look up the basic recipe and modify it in accordance with Post #10 at:
http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=3313

Caution: I don't shoot milsurp rifles and ammo and do not need or use such treatments. Keep an eye on your guns after cleaning with any new product.
 
Well, I do use Ballistol on my BP rifles... after I clean them with Windex.
Some people use it in "moose milk" emulsified in water, everything from 10% to 50%.
 
Windex is mainly used because it comes in a handy spray container, and some like the touch of ammonia it contains.

Scrub, rinse in boiling water (dries faster), Ballistol. No more or less difficult than cleaning up after regular ammo. (Some say that you should clean three days in a row before storing the gun, especially if you live in a humid environment.)

The difference is that while you can go for weeks or years before cleaning your guns after using NON-corrosive ammo, the use of corrosive ammo requires instant attention just like the use of black powder does.

It might be a pain, but it's the price you pay for cheap ammo.
 
Ditchtiger said:
I don't mind the hot soapy water, just looking for a reliable way to clean some of the minor parts. Action, springs trigger, etc.
Click to expand...
These are not affected by the corrosive salts in the priming compound. Only the bore and the parts of the gas system (if the firearm is a gas-operated semi-automatic) are.
 
There are so many threads on how to magically clean after using corrosive ammo. Just clean it with either a blackpowder solvent, soapy water, or Windex. Simple.
Don't give me the windex score.
Click to expand...
Why, do you have something against something that works? If so, I can recommend something a lot more toxic.
 
Nothing works better than water. Household ammonia will work as will Hoppe's #9 and several other cleaners. There is a test someone did on a variety of cleaners on surplusrifle.com
 
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