7.62x39 Corrosive vs Non-Corrosive for SKS

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sbajwa613

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Hello,

Recently picked up a Russian sks and wanted to know what’s the preferred ammo of choice. I’ve seen mixed reviews between corrosive and non-corrosive.

Also if i do go with corrosive surplus (since it’s cheaper) what’s the best way to clean my SKS and prevent any rust or other issues?

Thanks
 
sbajwa613 said:
Hello,

Recently picked up a Russian sks and wanted to know what’s the preferred ammo of choice. I’ve seen mixed reviews between corrosive and non-corrosive.

Also if i do go with corrosive surplus (since it’s cheaper) what’s the best way to clean my SKS and prevent any rust or other issues?

Thanks
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In my SKS's I've been always shooting corrosive, the cheapest I can get. Clean after coming home from the range. For cleaning the bore, bolt, piston and gas tube I use a "moose milk" (roughly 50/50 water with Ballistol; water can be warm but not necessary). Sometimes I use a bronze brush for the bore. After primary cleaning I lightly rub all parts with unmixed Ballistol. Never had any rust.
 
First, lets get the science of corrosive ammo out of the way. Corrosive ammo is called that because when fired, the potassium cholorate in the primer becomes potassium chloride, which is a salt, and it gets distributed throughout the bore, gas system, etc. Salts are hygroscopic, that is they attract water and will pull moisture out of the air. These salts are neutral - neither acidic nor basic, so ignore any advise that talks about neutralizing the salts. What you need to do is get rid of the salts, and because salts are water-soluble the best option is water. Lots of people just pour boiling water on their stuff to get rid of the salt, then oil properly to avoid rust. A mix of water and ballistol is also popular, the water washes the salts away while the ballistol helps protect the metal. The old Timers call it Moose Milk.

Now, as for what ammo to use, that is purely up to you. If you like cleaning your gun, and plan to have time to strip your gun and clean shortly after each range session then corrosive ammo is not a big deal. Alternatively, if you do NOT have time to clean your gun after every trip, Non-corrosive is advisable. It is all I shoot these days, because if I can find time between family and work to get to the range chances are very high I will NOT have time to clean that same day.

If you shop around corrosive ammo can be had for around 35c a shot, whereas Non-C is 50c or more. Cost savings can be considerable over time if you shoot a lot, as long as you have the free time to clean properly after the fact.
 
Its an sks. Corrosive all the way. Haha, cheap and fun. Clean it well and make sure the gas tube and piston get it real good with the cleaning.

If its cleaned after a trip, you'll have no problems.

Corrosive is no problem as long as you clean it well right away. They were shot that way by the military or reserve or guard before you thatit was issued it.

That being said...with young kids and limited time..I may avoid it more these days.
 
If you are the type who come home after a range visit and go to the basement or your shop to clean your guns, there is no issue shooting corrosive. It is much cheaper too. Depending on what volume you buy it in, as little as $0.30 to $0.35 per round. There are lots of videos on Youtube showing proper way to clean after corrosive.

If you are the type who comes home after a range visit and puts the guns in the safe and doesn't look at them for a month or two, use non-corrosive. It's more expensive, and with what is available at a lot of retailers currently, anywhere $0.70 to over $1.00 per round, but you gun won't rust.
 
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Appreciate all the info. Picked up some corrosive ammo I found for cheap and had a blast shooting my sks for the first time!
 
I read one CGN fellow post: shot 2-5 round of the non-corrosive after shooting the corrosive and this would buy you sometime of the cleaning. not sure if that's true.
 
I've been shooting a refurb Russian SKS since 2008 with Czech BXN ammo, cleaning it once a year. The only hint of rust was when the gas tube was run dry. Now I just remove the gas tube and give it a shot of Deep Creep or ATF.

I live in the interior of BC and life is too short to spend cleaning an SKS after every shooting trip with boiling water, etc.

YMMV but IMO the "corrosiveness" of "corrosive ammo" is vastly overstated in the case of the BXN ammo in a dryish climate.
 
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