Cleaning advice

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theroots

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Quick question about soaking parts... I was thinking about soaking everything with WD-40 as an inexpensive quick solvent, and using a toothbrush to scrub. Should I clean the WD-40 off afterwards? And if so, is it fine to clean with water? Or is WD-40 simply not a good idea for these parts?... Or is it safe so long as I use gun oil afterwards?

Any other suggestions or pointers are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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I am sure Someone will poo poo the wd40. Just wipe it off if you are going to use it. It is a water displacing oil.

I don't always use the bore brush but when I do I put the solvent through first then the brush and then a patch. I was always told never reverse the brush in the bore. Push it all the way through then either take it off or pull it all the way back.

Other wise what you describe is how I was taught how to do it as well. Remember to wipe down the whole rifle with oil. Thin film will do.
 
WD-40 is not recommended, what you should be using is a "nitro solvent" for both the bore and any piece that is caked in carbon. An important thing to remember is that with the SKS I assume you are shooting cheap Czechoslovakian ammo that you buy by the case, which is no problem but what you need to remember is that that ammo is corrosive so right when you are done shooting you should take the rifle apart and apply some gun oil in the bore and on the bolt. This will head off the corrosive properties of the ammo and give you time to get home and give her a good cleaning. You made a good choice in a fun rifle and with a little bit of care you'll get a lot of good years out of it.
 
Only my personal experience here - you chose to do it or not.

On action parts cleaning - instead of WD-40 (nothing wrog with that) I use regular Varsol from Home Depot. Does the job same good - cost 75% less. To fully submerge all action parts you'll need at least quart of it. Brush it with tooth brush - exactly what I do. Then I remove all leftovers of Varsol by compressed air (not from the can -but from Air compressor) - It cleans parts - bone white clean. Than after that - i spray all bits and parts with regular "Brake parts cleaner" from Canadian Tire. And at this point you're ready to lube job. Choise of the lube is up to you. I prefer synthetic gun oil, but most of the time i just spray G96 (two in one - cleaner/lubricating solvent) and it does the job just right.

As of Nitro solvent to remove backed fouling - I stopped using Nitro solvents after someone recommended G96 to me - and I can recommend it to you as well - best cleaning products I have tryed so far.

As of bronze brush :) it will sound strange - but I never done it other way - and it works beautifully for me - and I have never done any damage to my guns by doing so.

After spraying some G96 inside of the barrel and lettng it sit for a minute or two.
I put my cleaning rod (with bronze brush at the end) into cordless 12V drill. And just go inside on slow - back and forth about 4 inch increments - trick is to have drill spining in same direction you have your twist. I never go from muzzle towards chamber - allways from chamber toward muzzle. To do so - put rod (without brush) through the barrel, starting from muzzle. When you see the end of the rod coming from the chamber, screw the brush on and proceed.



After that again i use compressed air to blow out all clean. From this point I do "patch through" job until I satisfied.

Have fun with your SKS - it's nice lill zombie whaker.
 
"...run them through..." One solvent soaked patch and leave the solvent in the barrel for 5 or 10 minutes. Gives the solvent time to work. Then another solvent soaked patch, then dry patches until they come out clean.
"...regular Varsol..." Good for degreasing, but won't clean out the carbon or copper fouling.
 
So I should get some Varsol then for a cheap soaking solvent then? Does it matter what kind of pan it soaks in? Any certain materials the solvent might eat through, etc?

Thanks again for all advice!
 
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WD-40 is recommended with the cz-858 in the manual to defeat the corrosive properties of mil-surp ammo. It should be o.k with the sks as well. The other posters steps pretty much describe everything else , so i have.. nothing...
 
i could actualy use some advice on this too, i definatly use alot of cleaner when i clean i spray down my barrel and the brush and give it a decent workout, then i use clothes til they are clean, then light oil and wipe down, is this way too much ? and i am correct in assuming it is okay to go both ways with your brush JUST NOT BACKSTROKING MID STROKE?
 
I soak mine parts in stainless steel pan and cover it with wooden plank - it stinks so you don't really want to do it in your bedroom. Ceramic pans would do as well - but are fragile.
I wouldn't put Varsol in a plastic containers more for safety concerns (expanding fumes etc.) rather then cuz of anything else.

I used cotton mops couple of times to clean up the mess after polishing a chamber, but never used them for regular routine cleaning - "patch trough" is good enough.
 
Ridge_Fridge said:
WD-40 is not recommended, what you should be using is a "nitro solvent" for both the bore and any piece that is caked in carbon. An important thing to remember is that with the SKS I assume you are shooting cheap Czechoslovakian ammo that you buy by the case, which is no problem but what you need to remember is that that ammo is corrosive so right when you are done shooting you should take the rifle apart and apply some gun oil in the bore and on the bolt. This will head off the corrosive properties of the ammo and give you time to get home and give her a good cleaning. You made a good choice in a fun rifle and with a little bit of care you'll get a lot of good years out of it.
Click to expand...

Well I do agree that one should clean the rifle the same day you shoot it. Most sks bores are chromed BUT the gas cylinder IS NOT so that needs to be cleaned as well.
While I have been looked down on, for this by folks with their pet bug juice. a Funnel and some hot water down the barrel FIRST will wash out those corrosive primer salts, then clean with your usual stuff. It's worked for over a hundred years.
 
PTP-MF said:
Only my personal experience here - you chose to do it or not.

On action parts cleaning - instead of WD-40 (nothing wrog with that) I use regular Varsol from Home Depot. Does the job same good - cost 75% less. To fully submerge all action parts you'll need at least quart of it. Brush it with tooth brush - exactly what I do. Then I remove all leftovers of Varsol by compressed air (not from the can -but from Air compressor) - It cleans parts - bone white clean. Than after that - i spray all bits and parts with regular "Brake parts cleaner" from Canadian Tire. And at this point you're ready to lube job. Choise of the lube is up to you. I prefer synthetic gun oil, but most of the time i just spray G96 (two in one - cleaner/lubricating solvent) and it does the job just right.

As of Nitro solvent to remove backed fouling - I stopped using Nitro solvents after someone recommended G96 to me - and I can recommend it to you as well - best cleaning products I have tryed so far.

As of bronze brush :) it will sound strange - but I never done it other way - and it works beautifully for me - and I have never done any damage to my guns by doing so.

After spraying some G96 inside of the barrel and lettng it sit for a minute or two.
I put my cleaning rod (with bronze brush at the end) into cordless 12V drill. And just go inside on slow - back and forth about 4 inch increments - trick is to have drill spining in same direction you have your twist. I never go from muzzle towards chamber - allways from chamber toward muzzle. To do so - put rod (without brush) through the barrel, starting from muzzle. When you see the end of the rod coming from the chamber, screw the brush on and proceed.



After that again i use compressed air to blow out all clean. From this point I do "patch through" job until I satisfied.

Have fun with your SKS - it's nice lill zombie whaker.
Click to expand...

A drill spinning a bronze brush sounds like overkill. I can't imagine the value in doing this.
 
I never "scrub" my bores................I use a one piece coated cleaning rod (Dewey) with a brass jag on the end.

For bolt guns I use a bore guide that replaces the bolt and push the patches through the bore guide, through the barrel, and out the muzzle.Never pull a dirty patch back through the bore.I also never "scrub" the bore. I run a solvent soaked patch through the bore and let the solvent sit for 5 minutes.......then a couple dry patches.......repeating until the bore is clean............

With Semi Auto rifles, I make up a muzzle bore guide and do the same as a bolt gun, but from the muzzle..............I never, ever, pull a dirty patch back up the bore, nor do I "scrub" the bore..............
 
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