My SKS and Corrosive Ammo

I baby my SKS rifles. I figure if I treat a rifle made for illiterate conscripts extremely well, they'll treat me extremely well for as long as I live, and the owners after I die will have a rifle in very good condition.

-Boiling hot water down the chamber end (I have also used Windex, which does work but only because of the water in it, not the ammonia. I don't waste my money on it anymore)
-Give the bore a good scrub with a brush.
-Patches with Hoppes number 9 until they're white. This can often take up to 50 patches or more.
-One more pour through of boiling water, one more scrub with the brush.
-Patches with Hoppes until clean again.
-Boiling hot water down the gas tube to clean out all the corrosive crap that gets in there
-Stick small swabs of cotton with Hoppes on them down the gas tube until they come out reasonably clean. This takes a while but is worth it to me.
-CLP every other part except the gas parts, let them sit for a bit then wipe them off
-More CLP, re-assemble, let the rifle sit overnight, then wipe down again the next day/when I have the time
-Light coating of CLP on the working parts and store until ready to shoot again.

Overkill? Probably, but it's how I do it and plus, I like cleaning guns and I have more CLP than I know what to do with.

I am the first to admit, however, that if you do much less than this you will probably have no problems whatsoever. I'm just paranoid I suppose.
 
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Publican said:
How many times do we have to see this bloody question??
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It could be worse. The OP wasn't asking about aftermarket bullpup stocks....



I take apart my rifle and just run it under the faucet with hot water (wear dishwashing to protect your hands from the hot water and metal). I set aside the parts and clean as normal (sometimes use brake cleaner) and oil before storage.
 
I should add that being a meticulous cleaner isn't a bad thing. If you're that particular and have the time and inclination to do so, have at it. I just don't think it should be thought of as mandatory just because the primers are corrosive.

Don't ignore it, but don't fret either. Most of the guns designed for this cartridge are sturdy implements that will tolerate a bit of neglect. ;)
 
Well for one, corrosive primers have a much longer shelf life. That might matter to people who are stockpiling it for a rainy day. It's also cheaper, but with recent price increases not by much. I will agree that $299 for 1,200 rounds of Norinco non-corrosive is a fabulous deal.
 
Tell you why corrosive doesn't work for me - sometimes I shooting like 20 rds only, but I still have to do the whole drill. That's painful....
 
Dakk said:
Would be hard for me to take my SKS to the range and only fire off 20 rounds.
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Same here. The least I've fired was 160 and that didn't feel like enough. I like it when the rifle is getting too hot to touch and the stock is bleeding cosmoline.

It also feels good knowing that the SKS will never fail on you. I mostly shoot my Chinese beater and in thousands of rounds I've never had a malfunction that wasn't the fault of the ammo. Fun rifle.
 
From what I understand, non-corrosive doesn't always mean less dirty. There is a circumstance where non-corrosive is associated with the worst sort of fouling and even 'slamfires'. Where people have encountered popped (pierced) primers. Supposedly, non-corrosive are more likely to experience these. When the primer is pierced, it can immediately foul the bolt and firing pin.
 
Life is much simpler for me as I own an ultrasonic cleaner, and I have the handguard of my shooter SKS simply held in place with a roll pin. All small metal parts (bolt, bolt carrier, recoil spring, gas tube, gas piston, operating rod, etc.) go in the ultrasonic cleaner, and the barrel/receiver assembly gets a kettle of boiling water outside, leaning against my garage (I don't have an understanding wife that allows me to soak firearms in the bathtub!).
I throw all the small cleaned parts onto an old metal cookie tray and give them a good spray with G96 or Rem-oil. The barrel/receiver assembly also gets sprayed (outside). Lastly, I pull a 30-calibre boresnake down the barrel a few times. 30 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and 30-40 minutes of labour including disassembly and re-assembly. Done.
 
joe_canadian said:
While I do agree in principle, I'm a man of small means. I don't want to have to pay for costly repairs down the line :)
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Costly repairs--for an SKS? A rifle that, all together, costs what, $150?

Just buy six of 'em now--last you a lifetime! 'Though, with the millions of them out there, I don't see the supply dwindling or the price rising for quite some time.
 
30 minutes to give an SKS a thorough cleaning is simple. And that is taking my time. I could ignore it and clean it every few range days, but I really enjoy caring for my toys.
 
I am using a steam cleaner. I have bought it for $20. It was EXTREMELY handy when I cleaned cosmo and I use it every time after range. High temperature steam even better than boiling water. After that just usual cleaning and oiling
 
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