If you had a brand new VZ58

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GivenRight

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That you had just spent $1500 on, would you shoot surplus ammo? What if it takes 2hrs+ to get home from the bush? Is the stuff broad-side-of-the-barn-moa?

Would suck to get any kind of orange tint on a pretty new gal. I feel like I'd have to get my range day over with pretty quickly instead of taking my sweet ass time and savouring every moment of this sport

edit: she's chrome lined
edit: my buddy's mosin starts getting rusty within like two hours...
 
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GivenRight said:
That you had just spent $1500 on, would you shoot surplus ammo? What if it takes 2hrs+ to get home from the bush? Is the stuff broad-side-of-the-barn-moa?

Would suck to get any kind of orange tint on a pretty new gal. I feel like I'd have to get my range day over with pretty quickly instead of taking my sweet ass time and savouring every moment of this sport

edit: she's chrome lined
Click to expand...

lol @ "what if she takes 2+ hrs to get home before cleaning"

Serious?

I have an acquaintance who has a vz, and he cleaned "when he felt like it" , and after 2 full crates (2800+ rounds) he is noticing pitting in the barrel and especially pitting on the Bolt ...
Now when he shoots with us, he makes damn sure to put his "wipeout home brew" down the barrel and action, and takes it seriously now that he sees the pitting.

IMHO, you should clean your arms after shooting corrosive, but that being said, its not as bad as you think it will be. I don't shoot corrosive through my SKS cuz I'm a lazy basstrd and don't want to "piss down my barrel" after every shot.
 
I've used surplus ammo exclusively since I bought mine in 2014. Mix of Russian, Czech, and Chinese. Benched with a 3x optic I've managed to get 2-3 MOA, perfectly adequate if I do say so myself. It's not a problem to leave it a few hours before cleaning, but you'll definitely want to do it sooner than later. After getting home I do a quick field strip, pour some hot water down the barrel and wipe all the important bits with oil. Takes about 20 minutes and I have yet to see rust anywhere.
 
Cross94 said:
I've used surplus ammo exclusively since I bought mine in 2014. Mix of Russian, Czech, and Chinese. Benched with a 3x optic I've managed to get 2-3 MOA, perfectly adequate if I do say so myself. It's not a problem to leave it a few hours before cleaning, but you'll definitely want to do it sooner than later. After getting home I do a quick field strip, pour some hot water down the barrel and wipe all the important bits with oil. Takes about 20 minutes and I have yet to see rust anywhere.
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Would it be better to clean it at home or to spray it with water in the field? But then drying it would be an issue
 
Some people bring a spray bottle with them, and I knew one guy who swore by a mixture of water and ballistol. I remain skeptical that spraying down the barrel and gas port alone is enough to prevent rust in the long run, but I guess it might be okay for a short time in a pinch. Personally I'd want to break it down and give it a proper cleaning as soon as I'm able.
 
I will be doing exactly what the OP asks with a CZ. I usually clean after coming home with my SKS.
Never noticed any rust at all on the SKS.
 
Shot of oil down the barrel when you're done shooting. That will hit the bolt face and gas port. If you're especially worried or are in a humid climate you can hit the piston while in the field too. Then proper cleaning procedure when you're home. Never an issue.

I like to use boiling water because it will heat the metal to the point where residual water dries on its own for the most part. After the water treatment I give everything a shot of WD-40 to displace any remaining water, then wipe down and clean/oil as normal.
 
A lot of it depends on your climate. Here in sunny dry Alberta i can get away with most of a week before rust develops. On average i usually get around to cleaning my guns within 48hrs after shooting them.

The only time i ever had a gun flash rust on me right after the range was when i tried this so called "spray windex down the bore while at the range routine" . Will never do that again.
 
One thing I do is keep all parts except gas lightly oiled
Then after shooting a bunch of corrosive blast through some non corrosive
Then clean every 2 nd 3 rd time I take apart and slosh everything with varsol dry then re oil
Being doing that with a SKS last couple of weeks .. Seems to be working
Or with a T33 slosh the whole gun in diesel, gas, varsol witches brew.. let dry then oil
These are tools and made to be used and yes I spend lots of time cleaning
 
Round count in my x39 XCR is north of 22,000, approx 300 were commercial, the rest were corrosive surplus.
The difference in accuracy is minimal at best. Federal Fusion shot quite well, at ~2moa, everything else ~3moa. I’ve had some stuff shoot 6-8 moa, but I believe it had a .308 bullet instead of .311, I don’t recall brand.
I’ve let the gun sit for weeks, without cleaning. The worst that happened was the gas valve rusted to the block. There was no actual rust penetration, it was just buildup between the two.
I use hot water to neutralize, then hang to dry. Detailed cleaning every couple thousand.

The op-rod has a couple pin sized pits, but that’s the only signs of using corrosive ammo. Bore, bolt, brake, even the gas block and valve, are spotless. They show a sh!t load of use, but no signs of rust.

I don’t let the value of the rifle come in to play. I wanted a nice rifle and I paid for it by shooting inexpensive ammo. If I were shooting groups, it would be different, but that’s not what I bought it for.
 
Cross94 said:
Some people bring a spray bottle with them, and I knew one guy who swore by a mixture of water and ballistol. I remain skeptical that spraying down the barrel and gas port alone is enough to prevent rust in the long run, but I guess it might be okay for a short time in a pinch. Personally I'd want to break it down and give it a proper cleaning as soon as I'm able.
Click to expand...

Water and ballistol seems to work well for a quick neutralize and protect, but not a long term solution.
Just clean when you get home.
 
9x19p said:
Round count in my x39 XCR is north of 22,000, approx 300 were commercial, the rest were corrosive surplus.
The difference in accuracy is minimal at best. Federal Fusion shot quite well, at ~2moa, everything else ~3moa. I’ve had some stuff shoot 6-8 moa, but I believe it had a .308 bullet instead of .311, I don’t recall brand.
I’ve let the gun sit for weeks, without cleaning. The worst that happened was the gas valve rusted to the block. There was no actual rust penetration, it was just buildup between the two.
I use hot water to neutralize, then hang to dry. Detailed cleaning every couple thousand.

The op-rod has a couple pin sized pits, but that’s the only signs of using corrosive ammo. Bore, bolt, brake, even the gas block and valve, are spotless. They show a sh!t load of use, but no signs of rust.

I don’t let the value of the rifle come in to play. I wanted a nice rifle and I paid for it by shooting inexpensive ammo. If I were shooting groups, it would be different, but that’s not what I bought it for.
Click to expand...

9x19p i knew you'd been running that XCR for a while, but man, that's impressive. 22K rounds? You got your money's worth!.

You should do an update on your post on that rifle.
 
It's not as though the corrosive ammo is going to rot out your barrel in a matter of seconds/minutes/hours after firing. It takes time...

If you are ignorant about the potential for damage, and do not clean the rifle for an extended period of time after firing corrosive ammunition; then yes you may very well see damage. But, waiting a few hours or a few days, is unlikely to do any harm.
 
I used to not have any problem shooting corrosive ammo but life changes as do shooting habits and range time. If you have time to clean the gun when you get home from the range then go for it, if not stick to non-corrosive.
 
If you are super concerned, just bring a can of G96. Breaking down a 58 takes seconds. Spray the parts, barrel and receiver then finish the clean up a home.
 
You won't be as good with the rifle after 500 rounds as you will after 5000. Expensive 762x39 is, well, expensive - surplus isn't. Just hose it with Windex at the range, clean it with hot water at home and dry it with WD before lubing it.
 
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