Cleaning SKS, Hoppes#9 alternative.
- Thread starter SoylentD
- Start date
Ed's Red is hydrocarbon based so I don't see how it could dissolve corrosive salts.
How about this:
"In addition, it will, when diluted 1:4 (25% Ballistol and 75% water) allow the neutralization of black powder residue. One can use a 10% Ballistol / 90% water to cancel the action of corrosive primers and skin acids, due to its pH of 8.0 – 8.5. It is also non-toxic and its ingredients are not carcinogenic, per a 1997 review by Health and Human Services. It does have a rather pungent odor, which some might find off-putting. It smells vaguely like spiced licorice. Use it in a well-ventilated area and all will be well."
So, as long as you mix it with water it will dissolve corrosive salts. Is that how you use it?
Leviathan024
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- GP Alberta
I have used nothing but wipeout foaming bore cleaner. It has kept my sks and vz58 rust and corrosion free after many rounds of nasty corrosive
Travis Bickle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Upper Lower Middle Alberta
Oh Jesus lol This again 
Take one giant dollar store pot, fill it with hot water, dump every metal part you can fit into it. Bore brush the bore once, pour water down there.
Wipe all the parts from water with a rag and set aside.
Dump water from pot, pour in Ed's Red, throw all the metal parts into the Eds Red.
Pour Eds Red down the bore, bore brush once, more Eds Red.
Run a patch or two at the very end of the cleaning to push out the melted crud.
Let them parts sit for a few minutes while doing the bore (step above) take them out wipe them off and reassemble the rifle.
Total time aprox 20 minutes if you're slow.
Oh yeah don't forget to pour the Eds Red back in the can so you can use it over and over again until it turns black. Some people treat these rifles like they are some kind of over engineered Eurotrash sports car that needs premium fuel made from unicorn blood and leprechaun tears lolol
Also, that is how I clean all my milsurps, never had a speck of rust. Been using the same liter of Eds Red I mixed up for about 11 months now
Take one giant dollar store pot, fill it with hot water, dump every metal part you can fit into it. Bore brush the bore once, pour water down there.
Wipe all the parts from water with a rag and set aside.
Dump water from pot, pour in Ed's Red, throw all the metal parts into the Eds Red.
Pour Eds Red down the bore, bore brush once, more Eds Red.
Run a patch or two at the very end of the cleaning to push out the melted crud.
Let them parts sit for a few minutes while doing the bore (step above) take them out wipe them off and reassemble the rifle.
Total time aprox 20 minutes if you're slow.
Oh yeah don't forget to pour the Eds Red back in the can so you can use it over and over again until it turns black. Some people treat these rifles like they are some kind of over engineered Eurotrash sports car that needs premium fuel made from unicorn blood and leprechaun tears lolol
Also, that is how I clean all my milsurps, never had a speck of rust. Been using the same liter of Eds Red I mixed up for about 11 months now
Yes it is. No buckets, kettles, funnels, blisters from scalds or a mixture of nasty chemicals like eds red. If it worked for the German armed forces when they used nothing but corrosive ammo, it will work for you.
Last edited:
abbynormal
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- West Coast
I mentioned this in another thread - but this stuff is sooo good, I'm gonna give it another plug
M-Pro 7 is an unbelievable cleaner, doesn't smell, and is water soluble.
This stuff will neutralize those nasty salts, and clean the crap out of your barrel and chamber. 'Not sure exactly how it works - something about it surrounds the carbon with a neutral charge so that is actually forces the carbon to repel itself from the steel in the barrel. All I know is that after a few uses, my barrels come out squeaky clean and mirror like!
Afterwards I'll throw on some Weaponshield lube - kinda like Ballistol on steroids - an unbelievable creeping oil that 'conditions' the metal thus making it reeeeeally slick.
Abby
M-Pro 7 is an unbelievable cleaner, doesn't smell, and is water soluble.
This stuff will neutralize those nasty salts, and clean the crap out of your barrel and chamber. 'Not sure exactly how it works - something about it surrounds the carbon with a neutral charge so that is actually forces the carbon to repel itself from the steel in the barrel. All I know is that after a few uses, my barrels come out squeaky clean and mirror like!
Afterwards I'll throw on some Weaponshield lube - kinda like Ballistol on steroids - an unbelievable creeping oil that 'conditions' the metal thus making it reeeeeally slick.
Abby
Mpro7/hopes elite is really expensive soapy water. I left that stuff in my bore (as per instructions for the foaming cleaner) for 1/2 hr & saw rust staring to form. It probably works great on the firearms its was designed for, aka ar series of rifles.
That is strange. I'm using MPro/Hoppe Elite for all my equipment, never seen rust.
Leave it in your bore for an hour after shooting corrosive & see what happens. Boiling water has the advantage of evaporating quickly, mpro, not so much. Might be ok in a mint bore but for a more "seasoned" milsurp, I avoid it like the plague. The mpro copper remover doesn't seem to do much either.
Hey guys, I appreciate the comments.
I didn't mean this thread to be a "how to clean an SKS" thread, I have plenty of experience cleaning rifles and pistols. As a newer SKS owner, I was asking if other people use Ballistol to clean their SKS with water added or if they had bad experiences with it (rust or doesn't clean properly)
The reason I said "no to Hoppes#9" is because my local gun store doesn't stock it, so i'd either have to travel to one I don't like going to.. or ordering it online and paying $10+ shipping.
That being said, I have a lot of Ballistol. Bought 12 cans with a friend recently, so i'm stocked up.
I think i'll try the 1-10 ballistol to water, then straight ballistol to finish and coat the exterior metal.
I didn't mean this thread to be a "how to clean an SKS" thread, I have plenty of experience cleaning rifles and pistols. As a newer SKS owner, I was asking if other people use Ballistol to clean their SKS with water added or if they had bad experiences with it (rust or doesn't clean properly)
The reason I said "no to Hoppes#9" is because my local gun store doesn't stock it, so i'd either have to travel to one I don't like going to.. or ordering it online and paying $10+ shipping.
That being said, I have a lot of Ballistol. Bought 12 cans with a friend recently, so i'm stocked up.
I think i'll try the 1-10 ballistol to water, then straight ballistol to finish and coat the exterior metal.
Mumbles Marble Mouth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Lower Mainland
Someone should come up with a sacrificial anode for these damn guns. Cleaning my SKS is always a chore. The number 1 reason why I don't shoot it much anymore.
Well, I just tried dissolving some table salt in acetone. It wouldn't dissolve. I stirred it around with a finger but it didn't help, I just managed to grind the salt a bit finer.
It would be easier and just as effective to use any water based cleaner such as Windex or Spray 9 or even hot water on a patch as your first step.
I have been experimenting. For one it is a $180 Russian SKS so I have used only WD40 on it, other than my first 500 rounds fired session. I have had it over a year and have put well over 2,500 rounds through it and have not 1 spot of rust or Carbon build up. I can say for the first 500 round session that I did I used Ed's red (which I do like a lot it works great), but to buy all ingredients is a little costly and to mix it all up a pain in the posterior region. Give WD40 a shot! It literally melts carbon deposits as you spray it on. It lubricates, and also drives away moisture one stop shop. Just spray it wipe it all down pull the barrel through with clean dry patch then one lightly oiled and your golden!
