first time using corrosive ammo

happykal

happykal

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I've never used corrosive ammo in my sks. I wanted to try it because one it's cheaper and two I'm out of non corrosive.

I know it's the primers that cause the chemical reaction that make the salts, that cause the corrosion. I understand ammonia cleaning products such as windex dissolve the salts. Hot water is the cheaper method. As with any gun I lightly oil the firearm.

Is there anything else I should be aware of before taking a chance at corrosive? I'd hate to use the ammo go through the whole process and still end up with a rusty gun.

Oh on an off topic discussion where's the sks ####? There's plenty of cz/vz, but don't see much sks action l8tly. thanks
 
Nope, you got all the info needed to clean, Take your time, clean with windex, then solvent, then oil.. I just spray the whole thing with windex, wipe it down, clean with a good gun solvent, wipe it down, then oil and grease! Done!!

as for ####! Also have 5/20 Tapco mags not in this older photo.

HPIM2118.jpg
 
happykal said:
I've never used corrosive ammo in my sks. I wanted to try it because one it's cheaper and two I'm out of non corrosive.

I know it's the primers that cause the chemical reaction that make the salts, that cause the corrosion. I understand ammonia cleaning products such as windex dissolve the salts. Hot water is the cheaper method. As with any gun I lightly oil the firearm.

Is there anything else I should be aware of before taking a chance at corrosive? I'd hate to use the ammo go through the whole process and still end up with a rusty gun.

Oh on an off topic discussion where's the sks ####? There's plenty of cz/vz, but don't see much sks action l8tly. thanks
Click to expand...
Just a little precision, ammonia do nothing againts the salts,windex work because of the water content. Boiling water is great because the metal dry by itself in a sec. Yours knowledges about corrosive ammo are perfect so dont worry, buy truck loads of ammos and enjoy! Clean your rifle and will outlast you:D
Jocelyn
 
TBDragonman said:
Nope, you got all the info needed to clean, Take your time, clean with windex, then solvent, then oil.. I just spray the whole thing with windex, wipe it down, clean with a good gun solvent, wipe it down, then oil and grease! Done!!

as for ####! Also have 5/20 Tapco mags not in this older photo.

HPIM2118.jpg
Click to expand...

damn that's a ###y looking rifle. Sigh I'm going to have to buy one. The question remains OD, Tan or the trusty black. Can never go wrong with black.
 
happykal said:
I know it's the primers that cause the chemical reaction that make the salts, that cause the corrosion. I understand ammonia cleaning products such as windex dissolve the salts.
Click to expand...

Corrosive primers contain potassium chlorate (KCLO3). It acts as an oxidizer and helps in the controlled burning of the primer explosives. It also acts as a preservative. Properly stored military corrosive ammo can last for 100 years. Non corrosive commercial ammo has a shelf life of about 30 years.

2 KCLO3 ---> 3 O2 + 2 KCL

Potassium chloride (KCL) is a combustion by product. This salt is what can cause corrosion in your weapon.

Windex does not contain any meaningful amount of ammonia. A trace amount of ammonium hydroxide is used as a ph adjuster. The "Ammonia D" is a trade name. Windex contains ethyleneglycol monohexylether, water, isopropanol, propylene glycol and blue colorant.

http://www.scjohnson.ca/msds/Windex%20Ammonia-D.pdf

The water in windex is the only thing that dissolves potassium chloride. The only advantage over water is that it dries quickly.

To clean I run a few patches soaked with water or windex down the barrel, gas system etc.. Then clean as per a normal weapon. Remove all carbon build up. I recommend Gunzilla CLP. Leave a light coating of oil in the barrel and the gas system when storing. Oiled parts do not rust. Prior to shooting run a dry patch down barrel and other areas to remove oil.

If you must plug in a kettle make a cup of tea.

Good shooting.
 
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Make sure you clean the gas piston assembly as well. That will rust up on you in a heartbeat.

I use hot water to flush, solvent, then oil. Works for me. These rifles are made to last, clean them and they will.
 
I have an old school Varsol bath. I just chuck all the components in that for a while, clean out the barrel and wipe the chamber and receiver area with Hoppes or something similar. Get all the stuff out of Varsol, clean it off, lube it up and chuck it back together. They are a tough gun and will do fine with even just a "little" love... :D
 
I find so long as you oil any bare steel after cleaning there is no need to do anything out of the ordinary. I simply use solvent to remove powder fouling, copper remover in the bore then give everything a light coat of oil. To add to goldenbb's post, rust is iron III oxide which requires iron, oxygen, moisture and heat. Take any of these out of the equation and you will stop rust. Oil forms a barrier that shields the steel from the atmosphere, preventing moisture and oxygen from coming in contact with the iron in the steel.
 
The two areas that you really want to hit are the barrel and gas piston area. Hot water is cheap and it works although you will need to clean normally after that. Some cleaners/solvents will deal with the corrosive salts on their own. If you dont have time to clean it right away, spray down the barrel and gas system with a generous coating of oil and that will temporarily create a barrier between the metal and salts and potential rust causing moisture in the surrounding environment.
 
I'll say it again.. hot tap water is all you need to soak all the parts in, a bit of dish washing soap wont hurt either.
Stick the muzzle in the same container thats holding all the small parts, and send a brass brush down through the bore and pull the brush in and out the bore a good number of times.
Theres no better or cheaper way of getting the barrel clean.
Cleaning with bore shine or similar product might help as well to clean between lands and groves and maybe help to make the rifle a bit more accurate?.. but im afraid accurate and the SKS should never be used in the same sentence.;)

Then oil all the parts as usual = very happy SKS.:D
 
The truth is that several cleaning treatments seem to work. ( You can't argue with success. ) Go with what makes sense to you.

Since this topic comes up over and over, perhaps it is time to formally make a sticky for cleaning "Red Rifles" when firing corrosive ammo.
 
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