Sks bolt, bolt carried and firing pin rusted even after cleaning?

C

CanadianBaconPancakes

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Location
B.C
I cleaned my sks right after the range by flushing all of it with boiling water and wiping down with hoppes 9 after then put it away.... I believe rust had formed before i even got home, here are the pics taken the next day after it was cleaned and stored..Today since i noticed rust I ended up spraying 3-in-on all over them and scrubbing with old tooth brush and it cleaned them all up. But now I got 3-in-on all in my sks firing pin... Not sure is this is ok. Should I get non clorinated break cleaner and spray them all down again when i have time? Or should strip the firing pin down to make sure there's no rust inside too.


IMG_2356.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

IMG_2357.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Last edited:
Did you disassemble the bolt and remove the firing pin? I always clean the pin and the pin channel with a solvent cleaner - brake cleaner works great as it dissolves oils and grease that are on the pin and in the channel and then evaporates / dries clean with no residue.

Also, I had the same rust problem the first time I came home from the range with mine, but scrubbed the rust off with a little vinegar and a toothbrush and haven't had the rust back since...Could've been some surface rust already there that I missed in my initial strip down, or maybe it was me and my newbie corrosive cleaning method, but haven't had a relapse.
 
Not sure what to tell you.
I've gone through 6 SKS's and boiling water (including on the bolt face removed from rifle) and never had rust. 1000's of rounds. No rust. The only rust I've seen was on my friends SKS who didn't listen to me and only used hoppes and skipped the boiling water.
It's the corrosive primers in the surplus ammo that cause this. Flash rust can occur if you wait a long time.

Disassemble that bolt and ensure the firing pin is rust free and free moving. Don't want a slam fire.
 
I just dis-assemble my sks and throw it in the laundry sink with hot water from the tap as hot/hotter than my hands can stand and have at the bolt with an old toothbrush and after lots of water down the barrel I take the cleaning rod and rags with hoppes and finish up with a light coat of gun oil down the barrel and on everything. Thousands of rounds of dirty old chinese corrosive and everything still looks new.
 
I always disasemble the bolt carrier and firing pin when I clean after shooting, as well as lightly oil. The room my cabinet it in is cold in the winter so I make sure things get wiped with an oily rag before I put them away. I just take a moment to run a dry patch or rag over and through the barrel the night before I got out next. If you're worried about the firing pin gumming up from a bit of oil, take the 5 min to pull the carrier out and shake it. If it rattles you're good to shoot, pretty simple.

Flush with water, dry thorough. Solvent clean and oil lightly and you shouldn't have rust issues.
 
Moose milk is your friend here.

Mix ballistol/water and put it in a spray bottle, spray on the bolt face, bolt and carrier, let it sit a few minute then wipe it clean with shop towels. Spray with pure ballistol to lube the bolt in its rails.

I take it apart completely and patch the firing pin channel with a milk patch followed by a dry patch maybe 1 out of every 3 times to the range.

I've been doing this for years and never had any rust.

Your problem was not getting the entirety of the water cleaned up and not sufficiently oiling. Ballistol emulsifies in water and solves this problem.
 
soleman said:
I just dis-assemble my sks and throw it in the laundry sink with hot water from the tap as hot/hotter than my hands can stand and have at the bolt with an old toothbrush and after lots of water down the barrel I take the cleaning rod and rags with hoppes and finish up with a light coat of gun oil down the barrel and on everything. Thousands of rounds of dirty old chinese corrosive and everything still looks new.
Click to expand...


Yup almost exactly this.
 
ghostntheshell said:
Not sure what to tell you.
I've gone through 6 SKS's and boiling water (including on the bolt face removed from rifle) and never had rust. 1000's of rounds. No rust. The only rust I've seen was on my friends SKS who didn't listen to me and only used hoppes and skipped the boiling water.
It's the corrosive primers in the surplus ammo that cause this. Flash rust can occur if you wait a long time.

Disassemble that bolt and ensure the firing pin is rust free and free moving. Don't want a slam fire.
Click to expand...

Same here... Not sure what to tell you as I follow this protocol and mine have always been fine......
 
It was my understanding disassembling the entire bolt carrier to get the firing pin out will wear out the assembly if done every time. Can i flush the entire bolt in hot water then follow with break cleaner or will water get trapped inside?
 
This is why corrosive ammo is starting to piss me off. Despite doing a thorough cleaning I come back to rust all over regardless
 
Hmmm. Never had that happen personally. At the range I spray the bolt down with break cleaner then G96. When I get home I repeat that, except I also brush with solvent. No hot water used.
 
CanadianBaconPancakes said:
It was my understanding disassembling the entire bolt carrier to get the firing pin out will wear out the assembly if done every time. Can i flush the entire bolt in hot water then follow with break cleaner or will water get trapped inside?
Click to expand...

I literally pour boiling hot water over my breechblock to clean it. The metal gets hot enough the water basically evaporates right off. I wipe it with a rag, then spray with WD-40 (the WD stands for water displacing afterall...). I make sure everything gets a liberal coat of Rem Oil or the like before it's put away.

Next time I do to shoot I wipe it all down very well prior to shooting.

I've had my SKS for over 20 years out here on the Wet Coast, and literally 10s of 1000s of surplus rounds through it. No problems...
 
I guess I will just have to see what happens this weekend after the range. The 3-in-one and toothbrush got the rust out almost instantly, It was almost too easy. The hoppes 9 wouldn't even move it. At first i thought i was the laqer on the primer on my surplus. But when i took picutres is showed up looking different under the flash.
 
EL34/6L6 said:
Hmmm. Never had that happen personally. At the range I spray the bolt down with break cleaner then G96. When I get home I repeat that, except I also brush with solvent. No hot water used.
Click to expand...

dose break cleaner alone neutralize the salts? that would be great to replace hot water with it for the bolt.
 
I have some of the bxn 90 ammo and it seems far more corrosive than the 50 year old stuff. Quite annoying to get it to stop corroding.
 
Hot water, dry, oil in that order and it will not rust. If it does, you didn't do a good job on one of those three steps. I've been shooting corrosive ammo for decades, the only guns that have had rust appear are on those i neglected to clean and oil properly.

The rust in the op's photos is very minor, almost negligible. Some 0000 steel wool soaked in oil and few minutes of light rubbing will remove it all.
 
bp2626 said:
Moose milk is your friend here.

Mix ballistol/water and put it in a spray bottle, spray on the bolt face, bolt and carrier, let it sit a few minute then wipe it clean with shop towels. Spray with pure ballistol to lube the bolt in its rails.

I take it apart completely and patch the firing pin channel with a milk patch followed by a dry patch maybe 1 out of every 3 times to the range.

I've been doing this for years and never had any rust.

Your problem was not getting the entirety of the water cleaned up and not sufficiently oiling. Ballistol emulsifies in water and solves this problem.
Click to expand...

Non-corrosive ammo is your friend here. I've put 300 rounds through mine and two light cleanings (ran a bore snake thru the bore and cleaned the black soot out of the action and firing pin block). That in just over a week.....no rust to speak of.

Sometimes it pays to spend a little extra on ammo. Just say'n.
 
CanadianBaconPancakes said:
But when i took picutres is showed up looking different under the flash.
Click to expand...

Flash photography is NOT your friend... Makes ANY finish look as though it is blemished. Any time I'm taknig pictures I ensure I can do it outside and only use natural light.

I find Hoppes is NOT a good cleaner for corrosive ammo... As I said, hot water, sometimes a little soap, dry, then oil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom