Green Gunk is Wasr?!

[Tin_Man]

Hey I was just doing a little upkeep on some of my rifles today and I noticed some Green gun on the outside face of the barrel facing the receiver on my WASR as well as on the slide... What the hell? I've only put a hundred rounds through it, it was non corrosive, and then cleaned it the next day. That was about 2 or 3 months ago. Any ideas what that junk was?

 

[WardenWolf]

Sounds like someone lied.

 

[Tin_Man]

Correction. I wrote green gun... meant green gunk*

I'm a little confused, sounds like who lied about what?

 

[WardenWolf]

About it being non-corrosive.

 

[Tin_Man]

Hmmm. Is that what that green is? Because I've been shooting the same stuff out of my SKS for years and never had that problem.

 

[WardenWolf]

Well, green typically means some sort of corrosion or oxidation. Did you, by any chance, have a rim tear off a case? What this can do is scatter brass dust from the rim throughout the action, which can then oxidize due to the now-exposed lower layers. In this case, what you'll be seeing is the result of a deposit.

 

[Guitargod1985]

Um... don't copper (jacket) deposits turn green, too? Like the copper in the Statue of Liberty?

 

[Tin_Man]

I guess it is possible I had one split, I don't really remember. The green stuff had an almost sticky consistency. Like a cross between cake frosting and chewing gun.

 

[benEzra]

Green or blue means a copper compound (bullet jacket residue). The rifle is NOT corroding.

Bore cleaners that dissolve copper will convert the copper to green or blue goo (I think it may be copper sulfate or copper oxide, but don't remember off the top of my head). It is harmless to the gun; just clean the barrel again. You probably left a little bore cleaner in there from when you cleaned it, and the copper residue in the barrel got converted to the sulfate or oxide or whatever it is, hence the green goo. Alternate a few oiled patches with a few clean patches to get rid of it, but it's nothing to worry about.

 

[Tin_Man]

Thanks ben. I had a feeling that's what it was. I checked what I used last time and it seems to match up with your theory. Thanks for putting my mind to rest!

 

[LoneCoon]

I say this and thought it said "Green gunk is wasabi?" and thought "Who eats sushi with a gun?"

That said, it sounds like a combination of cleaner, bullet residue, and possibly some gun oil.

 

[1911Today]

No worries, it's just copper residue that has formed a patina (copper oxidation) from being exposed to the air. It will come off with some copper remover and light brushing. My WASR gets it on the crown and flash hider every time I shoot.

One day (with friends and family), I managed to put 1000 rounds of Wolf through the WASR, the copper residue was CAKED on to the crown of the barrel. Still some there. Don't worry too much about it.

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

This stuff is called verdigris. From Wikipedia: verdigris is the common name for the green coating or patina formed when copper, brass or bronze is weathered and exposed to air or seawater over a period of time. It is usually a basic copper carbonate, but near the sea will be a basic copper chloride.[1] If acetic acid is present at the time of weathering,