Ammonia cleaner myth?

Nats

Nats

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I've been reading a bit about cleaning after corrosive ammo use and so far I am not buying the "ammonia neutralizes/dissolves/cleans the salts". As far as using Windex, It appears there is actually no ammonia in it at all...

http://www.scjohnson.com/msds_us_ca/PDFs/126000009_Windex_Blue.PDF

...and Ammonia-d is just a trademark thing, not actually ammonia. A,B,C or D ;)

Best reasoning for using Windex I have found so far would be the detergents in it acting as a vehicle to help wash away the salts.

I've used windex in the past, with no ill effects, but I think I will stick with the hot water.

Thoughts?
 
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Neutralizing the salts resulting from using corrosive primers with ammonia is really simple chemistry. It should work and in fact there is a host of other basic stuff commercially available that you could use - some of it would work better.
Not all window cleaners have ammonia in them. Some actually contain acetic acid (vinegar) which would do nothing to neutralize - it may dilute the acidic salts or even make the situation worse depending on concentration.
Personally I use boiling hot water in my CZ858 when I get home from the range. I would rather dissolve the salts and use dilution as the solution. It also gets a really good oiling as soon as it's dry. I don't really like the idea of cleaning metal with water but it's a evil of corrosive ammo I have to live with...
 
The primary salt residue from corrosive priming is potassium chloride. What is the chemical reaction with ammonia, which neutralizes it?
Potassium chloride is water soluble, therefore flushing the bore with water will dissolve the salts and wash them away. Hot water is a more effective solvent than cold. Ammonia will react with metallic fouling, and can help remove deposits. After a barrel has been flushed with hot or cold water, it will need to be cleaned, and treated to prevent rust.
A surface blush of rust will quickly form on damp, clean, bare, unprotected steel.
 
toxic said:
Neutralizing the salts resulting from using corrosive primers with ammonia is really simple chemistry. It should work and in fact there is a host of other basic stuff commercially available that you could use - some of it would work better.
Not all window cleaners have ammonia in them. Some actually contain acetic acid (vinegar) which would do nothing to neutralize - it may dilute the acidic salts or even make the situation worse depending on concentration.
Personally I use boiling hot water in my CZ858 when I get home from the range. I would rather dissolve the salts and use dilution as the solution. It also gets a really good oiling as soon as it's dry. I don't really like the idea of cleaning metal with water but it's a evil of corrosive ammo I have to live with...
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't know where to begin - back to chemistry class for you.
 
X2 on the above two posts

Forget the notion of "neutralizing" the salts, just flush them out with plain water - hot works best and if really hot will largely evaporate after flushing. Ammonia works great to dissolve copper, not corrosive salts. Household cleaners with ammonia work well not because they contain ammonia, but because they are mostly water (often 96% water, 4% ammonia). Dry it out well after the flushing, and then clean as normal, i.e. with something like Hoppe's #9 with copper remover.
 
There is a chapter in "Hatcher's Notebook" on cleaning after using corrosive primers. He discusses the use of "ammonia dope" to clean barrels in the WW1 period. It was discovered after a while that the "dope" only cleaned the corossive residue because it was water based and the water disolved the salt. He concluded the ammonia had no effect on the chlorides.
 
CanAm: Thanks for your concern but I can assure you that I don't need to go back to chemistry class...

I'm new to using corrosive ammo. I always figured that with the immediate concern that everyone seems to have with cleaning the gun right away after shooting ammo with corrosive primers suggested some really corrosive residue being left behind, not just a salt that attracts water.

What's the difference between corrosive and non corrosive primers? The presence of potassium chlorate?
 
deadhorse.gif
 
Not just hot water, use BOILING water.
I bought a kettle at a garage sale for $3 just for my guns.

Follow it with the US military corrosive bore cleaner that you can find at gun shows etc.
It stinks like all hell, but it works.
Also not a bad idea to flush out your barrel the following day also, as the salts can continue to leach out of the pores in the steel.
(So I have heard or read)
 
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