Cleaning SKS, Hoppes#9 alternative.

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Hey guys,

I have copious amounts of Ballistol, and wondering if that will be good enough to clean out an SKS using corrosive. All I read around here is Hoppes#9 to clean the barrel and action, and wondering if Ballistol is good enough. I've read the boiling water and windex and all of that, just looking for Ballistol opinions.

Failing that, do you guys use Hoppes #9 Bore Cleaner, or Synthetic Blend Bore Cleaner?
 
I love Ballistol for all my regular firearms, but for a nasty cleaning I would look for something like brake cleaner etc..

others more experienced with corrosive I'm sure will chime in.
 
You could use anything you want to clean the carbon and copper fouling as long as you wet clean first to remove the corrosive salts, or just use Hoppes #9. I'm curious why you don't want to use Hoppes?
 
Boiling water through everything. Scrub the bore. More boiling water, then regular cleaning. Boiling water will clean the salts, ballistol or hoppes for carbon build up.
 
Forget the water and Windex thing.

Make a batch of eds red. That stuff dissolves corrosive salts and removes carbon. Cheap to boot. It's a one stop shop.

I'm not familiar with ballistol, but if it contains alcohol as the name suggests, it will remove salts as well.
 
Hoppes is just a popular brand, that's why so many mention it. Its good stuff but any powder solvent will work. All you need to do to prevent rust is oil the steel. If you dont shoot enough to dry out your action you can get away with not cleaning it provided its still oiled. Now as for Ballistol. It rocks. Its a heavy, migrating oil that really works well to prevent corrosion. It will serve you well. Just clean, oil and rust won't happen. No magic tricks required unless you store your rifles completely dry. In that case they will eventually rust from ambient moisture anyways so why bother cleaning? Oil em up!
 
762shooter said:
You could use anything you want to clean the carbon and copper fouling as long as you wet clean first to remove the corrosive salts, or just use Hoppes #9. I'm curious why you don't want to use Hoppes?
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Thats what I figure as well, no need to over complicate the cleaning.
 
Guys, Ballistol was used to clean up after corrosive ammo before my grandpa got out of diapers. Follow the directions on the back of the can. You dont need to boil anything either.
 
desporterizer said:
Guys, Ballistol was used to clean up after corrosive ammo before my grandpa got out of diapers. Follow the directions on the back of the can. You dont need to boil anything either.
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Fair enough, but for some people its not about need. Cleaning via boil then CLP definitely takes longer, but there is no denying its efficacy and it also saves on solvent etc.
For me I dont care if it takes 10 minutes longer if I believe the end result will be even marginally better.
 
konjo said:
Fair enough, but for some people its not about need. Cleaning via boil then CLP definitely takes longer, but there is no denying its efficacy and it also saves on solvent etc.
For me I dont care if it takes 10 minutes longer if I believe the end result will be even marginally better.
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The efficacy of ballistol was proven a century ago & you don't need your clp. Has anybody bothered to read how ballistol works? There is a web site.
 
Russian soldier never had any ballistols or hoppes 9s or any red eds majic potions in 1950s. All they had is motor oil and hand soap to wash up in the field. All soldiers had to use is water and soap solution in one compartment and oil in the other compartment of issue cleaning kit bottle. That's it.
After shooting, one jag with soapy water is passed through barrel and other gas exposed areas and wiped dry with patches on the jag. then lubbed and cleaned with oily patches untill clean. All procedure should take 15 min. total.
Boiling water is left to make tea.
 
gewehr76 said:
Russian soldier never had any ballistols or hoppes 9s or any red eds majic potions in 1950s. All they had is motor oil and hand soap to wash up in the field. All soldiers had to use is water and soap solution in one compartment and oil in the other compartment of issue cleaning kit bottle. That's it.
After shooting, one jag with soapy water is passed through barrel and other gas exposed areas and wiped dry with patches on the jag. then lubbed and cleaned with oily patches untill clean. All procedure should take 15 min. total.
Boiling water is left to make tea.
Click to expand...

If you let it dry before you oil, that works too. Regular oil has a nasty habit of floating on water. BTW, the soviets also had diesel fuel to use as solvent.
 
plug in kettles are perfect for this, over the sink or in the tub, pour boiling water down the barrel/gastube, pour over piston and bolt/carrier then clean/oil as you normally clean your firearms.
adds maybe 5 min to your standard cleaning routine (including waiting for water to boil),

the corrosive thing is often over thought.
most people seem to be more like windex the bore IMMEDIATLY after shooting, once home use break cleaner on it, add some WD40, pour some ATF all over it, piss on it, hair dry it, then boiling water to make sure you get all the salts out, then a few more gallons of oil and of course wipe it down with your lucky rabbits foot some even swear you must do this every 6-8 months even if you don't shoot it in that time.
 
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