I goofed..corrosive ammo neglected cleaning

You really need the hot water to get rid of any residual salts before you use your Hoppes. Would have been nice if you had a Canadian Armourers funnel. Bought a case of them years ago and except for the one I kept, they are all gone.
 
Snip. Just a thought - folks are referring to surface rust. Is there subsurface rust?[/QUOTE]

I call sub-surface rust pitting because it actually penetrates and erodes the steel below the level of the affected surface. Unfortunately the only way to remove rust pitting is to cut the surrounding surface down to the level of the pitting-not a practical solution for a rifle bore.

A pitted barrel can still be quite accurate, the big downside being that it will accumulate bullet jacket fouling much quicker than will an un-pitted barrel. JB paste and a good copper solvent, like Butches Boreshine or Sweets 7.62, are helpful on these. I've just done a clean-up on a Swede Mauser bore which is frosted /lightly pitted in the front half. Another good product for rust removal is Kroil which is a super-penetrating oil. If you irrigate a rusted/pitted surface with it, it will penetrate down into the pitting and help kill any active rust. Many of the benchrest crowd use it to help undercut and remove moly coating and metal fouling.
 
tiriaq said:
Just a thought - folks are referring to surface rust. Is there subsurface rust?
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OK, I know what you meant, but in some cases yes, there is subsurface rust in alloys. It depends upon the composition of the alloy in question and the chemicals it is exposed to. Try googling "selective phase corrosion" for more details. That being said, no, it should not happen in a rifle barrel normally :)
 
UPDATE:

I have been cleaning the thing for the past three hours.

(1) The gas cylinder is spotless (thankfully).

(2) The barrel is clean now. The rust is gone - but it isn't as bright as it was. There doesn't appear to be any pitting. It was surface!

I haven't used the JB bore bright yet. I have read mixed reviews on it and I am afraid to damage anything. Some say it's ok. Some say it's not. I don't know.


I keep getting black patches after the brush. Hasn't let up for a long time. I am going to keep at it. I would have figured it'd be clean by now.

Thanks for the advice guys.

And as for the SKS - yup - not sure why - but it's spotless. They are stored in the same vault in the same conditions. Both fired on the same day with corrosive - and the M1 was the only one to suffer.

I did the hot water to start of course.
 
Mentioned before but worth repeating, Hot Soapy water is mandatory after shooting corrosive. Then you can proceed with normal cleaning.
IMO worst case scenario is you'll have some pitting or discoloration in the bore but genuine functionality shouldn't be impaired. Your grandkids might need to rebarrel it someday but probably not you.
In a thin metal fender you might get rust through but not in a rifle barrel ( unless you waited years to clean it).
 
ghostntheshell said:
UPDATE:

I have been cleaning the thing for the past three hours.

(1) The gas cylinder is spotless (thankfully).

(2) The barrel is clean now. The rust is gone - but it isn't as bright as it was. There doesn't appear to be any pitting. It was surface!

I haven't used the JB bore bright yet. I have read mixed reviews on it and I am afraid to damage anything. Some say it's ok. Some say it's not. I don't know.


I keep getting black patches after the brush. Hasn't let up for a long time. I am going to keep at it. I would have figured it'd be clean by now.

Thanks for the advice guys.

And as for the SKS - yup - not sure why - but it's spotless. They are stored in the same vault in the same conditions. Both fired on the same day with corrosive - and the M1 was the only one to suffer.

I did the hot water to start of course.
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Take it to the range and shoot it before worrying about bore past.

Run a clip or 2 of ammo thru it to heat it up, that should shine it up a little.

Pour your boiling water down the bore, then start with the cleaners.

It's a battle rifle, so don't worry about it excessively..

Remember that more damage is done by needlessly cleaning guns, then by ordinary use.
 
Thanks :)

Yeah I used the almost boiling water / soap.
Stripped it right down. The gas cylinder was spotless. The barrel was the only thing affected. Cleaned right up though. Thank god.
 
ghostntheshell said:
Thanks :)

Yeah I used the almost boiling water / soap.
Stripped it right down. The gas cylinder was spotless. The barrel was the only thing affected. Cleaned right up though. Thank god.
Click to expand...


Lots of good advice but personally I would have recommended a run through the dishwasher :p

I kid i kid, glad to hear it cleaned out well. Would have been a real shame to bugger such a nice gun.
 
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