Corrosive Ammo

[dak0ta]

Hi,

I've been told to clean the bore after shooting with corrosive ammo with Windex or boiling water. Now just a thought, before the next time you go shoot the rifle with corrosive ammo, could you run a Windex-soaked patch through the bore to put a thin film of protection that may reduce the deposition of corrosive salts when firing? Just a thought, anybody tried this and notice a difference/

 

[Sport45]

Wouldn't help. It's the water in Windex that dissolves the salts and flushes them out. The soap (surfactant) helps the water get through the fouling. Anything you put in before shooting would be gone at the first shot.

 

[Rubber_Duck]

Zero chance of that working. You want the bore to be dry when you shoot. Other than that you will hear a million different opinions on how to clean after corrosive ammo.

 

[Shadow 7D]

PLEASE
Use the search function

your Google-Fu is weak
Water, or even *Gasp* Soapy water (windex anyone) works wonders, make it hot and it evaporates faster, clean and lube as usual (might take a bit to learn as this usual may vary from your usual usual)

Some tout windex for the ammonia, which just helps to remove copper fouling, BTW, the blue/green stuff that it produces, lets just say you don't want to eat that.

 

[Averageman]

Hot soapy water, then rinse; thats all you need, all the rest is rumor and bad science.
The National Training Center used to have a giant dishwashing machine looking thing. Open the door insert M2 .50 cal's and M240's and turn it on. Your weapon came out clean (you still wanted to wipe the residue out of cracks and corners) and dry. Just wipe it down with a clean oily rag and run an oily patch down the bore. The only thing I think they didnt put in there were the back plates on the .50's due to the buffer's inside.
You could argue that more machine guns are fired there than anywhere else in the world at the time (early 90's) If it works for them, it should work for you.
However you might want to use a bucket, usually the female sense of humor ends when you start jacking with her dishwasher.

 

[Shadow 7D]

Glocks go through them (dishwashers) fine, you just have to remember to have the barrel down and the action open, also it's wise to put them up top or where ever the delicate go, so you don't melt them.

 

[Jim Watson]

And the National Training Center doesn't even use corrosive ammunition. Or was it there in the 1950s while they were using up the WW II and Korean leftovers?
Water is the ultimate solvent, it will get about anything given time and energy.

 

[GBExpat]

dak0ta,

The "corrosive" in corrosive ammo is produced by the primer compound. Its firing produces potassium chloride (akin to table salt and is also very hygroscopic) that must be removed.

Potassium chloride, by itself, is harmless to steel but it attracts moisture from the atmosphere ... which is why Water is the key to efficiently removing it.

Even many folks who know these details still use Windex because it is handy, it is mostly water and the additional ingredients help to remove some of the other crap.

FYI

 

[fyrfytr]

Glad I found this thread. I found some French surplus .30-06 yesterday that I believe is corrosive. That is to say that I am going to treat it as corrosive and clean the rifle with soapy water after firing it. My question, and forgive me if it's been asked before, should I clean the rifle immediately after firing, or can I wait an hour until I get home? Thanks for your help.

 

[Tom609]

Hey neighbor...I don't think an hour will make a big difference, but I carry a little squeeze bottle of soapy water in my range box and pull a wet patch or two through the warm barrel to hold it until I get home and do a better job. Also wipe the bolt face good. I never shoot the stuff in anything but a bolt rifle.

Rubber Duck is right,...it seems like five-page threads always develop with a multitude of suggestions on how to put water down the barrel of a rifle

 

[fyrfytr]

I didn't think so, I figured in combat in WW1 and 2 the soldiers shooting the thing could have gone all day if not days on end between cleanings. But I do like this rifle and want to make sure I treat it right.

 

[Jim Watson]

Well, in wartime the troops had other problems like needing to shoot at opponent troops, and it wasn't like they had to pay for their rifle anyhow.
You will note that the gas cylinder and piston head on a Garand are stainless steel. The idea being that you could quickly wipe the barrel or if necessary shoot the rust out of it, but you might not have time to clean the gas system. So they made it rust resistant so it would not lock up the gun.

In casual shooting, the situation is different. And it is easier to clean the barrel while it is still warm from shooting, too.

 

[Jeremy2171]

I had about 4,000 rounds of WW2 ball and AP and API in 50cal in Iraq in '07. They were emptying the dumps in Germany and using the old stuff first...



As long as you clean with a water "base" solution you will do fine....

 

[Jeremy2171]

Don't shoot that ammo as it's junk and will split on you.....

"Glad I found this thread. I found some French surplus .30-06 yesterday that I believe is corrosive. That is to say that I am going to treat it as corrosive and clean the rifle with soapy water after firing it. My question, and forgive me if it's been asked before, should I clean the rifle immediately after firing, or can I wait an hour until I get home? Thanks for your help."

 

[fyrfytr]

Yeah, I did a search for Gevelot and that seems to be the general concensus. I guess I have 100 paperweights now. Hopefully I'll be able to use the brass and make up some good rounds out of them.