My sks with corrosive ammo and VERY dirty. What to do ?
- Thread starter noea77
- Start date
Take it in the shower/tub if you have one of those detachable heads you can really get in there lol. Ill leave whether i clean myself at the same time up to you. all jokes aside i just bought my first sks ive used my buddies a lot though so i am already in love. The xcr barrel comes out and the shower is a handy place to get some nice hot water down there 
i have a detachable head it comes in very handy.
i have a detachable head it comes in very handy.antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
at one time you could get a m1 garand for dirt cheap just like the sks its no different we should take care of these surplus guns and pass them on
You're sure it's not already pitted? A pitted surface holds A LOT of grunge... Aside from that, do you have a good brush, good solvent, and a really tight fitting jag?
Despite what others have said here and elsewhere, don't leave it too long before flushing the corrosive. I had some very mild corrosion starting to show (around the gas tube) when I left it about 10 hours before cleaning, and I live in a very dry climate. It varies depending on just how corrosive the ammunition is. Since you personally don't want ANY corrosion, do it sooner rather than later.
You can also do the "non-corrosive ammo chaser" at the range: fire a few rounds of non-corrosive at the end of your session, this blows much (but not all) of the corrosive stuff out.
Water is the ONLY thing that will dissolve the corrosive salts. It's simple chemistry. Windex works because it has water in it.
No the sks is not pitted or anything. Its been over 30 hours since I shot it. Checked the gas tube etc and no rust anywhere on any parts when I field stripped it. Gonna give it another day then reassemble. I also started to clean the gun within an hour from last shot fired so corrosive ammo was flushed out quickly. My sks looks just the way it did when I first bought it.
Last edited:
Yep, way over thinking it. Although, I also like the patches to come out clean. So, as others of said, water, patch dry, solvent patch, brush, dry patch, oil patch. At this point the patches will still be dirty but you are protected.
Next day, dry patch, solvent, brush, dry patch, oil patch (5 min). Barrel only.
One week later if not shot, repeat the line above and should be clean as a whistle for long term storage.
I found that if I continued to clean it would take longer than a couple minutes the next day and following week. The G96 that I was leaving in the barrel continued to loosen the crude while sitting there.
If you shoot more often do not worry about white patches coming out.
Next day, dry patch, solvent, brush, dry patch, oil patch (5 min). Barrel only.
One week later if not shot, repeat the line above and should be clean as a whistle for long term storage.
I found that if I continued to clean it would take longer than a couple minutes the next day and following week. The G96 that I was leaving in the barrel continued to loosen the crude while sitting there.
If you shoot more often do not worry about white patches coming out.
There's nothing unreasonable about his comparison considering he was talking about prices and inflation as well as the attitude many have with regards to "cheap surplus," and not mechanical or functional abilities of the M1 Garand or the SKS rifles.
"Water is the ONLY thing that will dissolve the corrosive salts. It's simple chemistry. Windex works because it has water in it.[/QUOTE]"
I know several guys that have shot their guns weekly and they do swear by windex or any other dollar store cleaner with ammonia in it. Our gunsmith said the ammonia neutralized the corrosive action of the ammo. It cleans off the initial Cosmoline pretty well too.
I know several guys that have shot their guns weekly and they do swear by windex or any other dollar store cleaner with ammonia in it. Our gunsmith said the ammonia neutralized the corrosive action of the ammo. It cleans off the initial Cosmoline pretty well too.
The ingredient in Windex that dissolves corrosive salts is water. The amount of ammonia is near-nil and the salts don't get neutralized.
LordEvilPepper
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Under a rusty barge in BC
I use hoppes copper solvent. run a soaked patch down the barrel let it sit for 5 minutes. use the brush to scrub it a few times then use clean patches with a bit on normal gun oil on them untill clean. take 10 minutes tops.
As for the rest, wipe it down with a bit of gun oil, run a oiled shop towel through the gas tube and done.
As for the rest, wipe it down with a bit of gun oil, run a oiled shop towel through the gas tube and done.
Yep... I dont know where this myth that ammonia "Neatralizes" salt came from, but everyone believes it because, "I sparay my SKS with windex and it hasnt rusted so it MUST be true"
I think its due to the fact that most gun owners shudder at the thought of spraying water down there barrel, but using a "cleaner" is fine (despite the fact its 99% water) No one is willing to try plain water, but if they did, they would see they're wasting perfectly good money buying "blue water"
My water is clear, and my SKS is rust free... Go figure
I use a gun cleaner then I use an air compressor to blow the crap out of the gas system and parts were cleaning can't reach people often forget the gas system is very hard to clean because you really can't get anything in there. It's between the barrel and the gas system were the corrosion gets bad.
My question is did you clean the firearm and heat it up before shooting? because the cosmline might of been in the barrel as well
My question is did you clean the firearm and heat it up before shooting? because the cosmline might of been in the barrel as well
Welcome to what us blackpowder shooters have to do if we take only 1 shot. Basically it's the salts in the powder that are corrosive. There are no salts left after cleaning with soap and water. Even if you can never get a squeaky clean patch it's no problem, the bad stuff is gone.
Same with berdan-primed ammo. 1 shot is enough of a cause for a proper hot water cleaning if you wanna make sure your gun functions fine... One difference is that you guys dont have to deal with a gas system
Sks's were designed to shoot corossive ammo back in the day, 1950's. I have rusted up an SKS.....a chinese one I got for $75.00 about 24 years ago. I shot the crap outta that gun with whatever the dealer suppied and rarley cleaned it. It rusted up the gas piston and outer tube assy. Not very much rust, just enough to give it a rash appearance. I cleaned the gun with a bore solivent at the time and oiled her back up, still in real good shape.
Now, I just use boiling water, strip her down to parade rest and pour boiling water down the bore and everywhere else it looks dirty, then it just dries in seconds due to the heat transfer. I then scrub with a tooth brush and aerokroil, wet and dry patch down the bore until clean and then oil her back up. takes about 25 minutes from the time the water is boiling until its clean.
The above is just my way, there are many others and they all seem to work good on iron like the SKS!
Now, I just use boiling water, strip her down to parade rest and pour boiling water down the bore and everywhere else it looks dirty, then it just dries in seconds due to the heat transfer. I then scrub with a tooth brush and aerokroil, wet and dry patch down the bore until clean and then oil her back up. takes about 25 minutes from the time the water is boiling until its clean.
The above is just my way, there are many others and they all seem to work good on iron like the SKS!
