My SKS and Corrosive Ammo

I am using a steam cleaner. I have bought it for $20. It was EXTREMELY handy when I cleaned cosmo and I use it every time after range. High temperature steam even better than boiling water. After that just usual cleaning and oiling
That's another interesting concept.. Does it run enough H20 through to dissolve the mineral salts?
 
This subject has been discussed quite a lot on here. I use fluid film. It is by design a salt neutralizer and corrosion inhibitor. Works A1 for me... I have my SKS cleaning procedure down to about 15 minutes, start to finish with the fluid film and there is not one speck of corrosion to be seen on my '54 Tula. My quick clean procedure with fluid film has now been done approx 20 times over 7 months.... So I'd be willing to put money on the fact that it works.
 
That's another interesting concept.. Does it run enough H20 through to dissolve the mineral salts?

its a good flow from the barrel, not like you pour water but still. the barrel usually not the hardest part but the gas system and pressurized steam works great on that
 
its a good flow from the barrel, not like you pour water but still. the barrel usually not the hardest part but the gas system and pressurized steam works great on that
Thanks for the info. Good for the mag, trigger group, springs, etc? Do you take out the pin? I like the idea of a non-messy cleanup.
 
I'm with Kurgan on this one. I spend about an hour per SKS, and it is too much for me. I will take a page out of his play book and get an ultrasonic cleaner. 30 min of clean up is not too bad.

Just need to find an ultrasonic cleaner.
 
Spend the extra money and buy non-corrosive if you don't like cleaning your guns that much... not a big deal. I just bought a case of Norinco, reasonably priced too. Less worries of your rifle rusting and cleanings.
 
Set yourself up to take the bolt apart once in awhile for a good cleaning. There's probably a YouTube vid on doing that if needed.

What I do for the bolt is drop it into a bottle Hoppes put the lid on and shake the bejeezus out of it. Comes out spectacular everytime.
 
What I do for the bolt is drop it into a bottle Hoppes put the lid on and shake the bejeezus out of it. Comes out spectacular everytime.

Hoppes #9 works fantastic; I use it too. So far I haven't used anything melts away the milsurp fouling quite as well as Hoppes #9 does.

Though I do take the bolt apart for cleaning.
 
I don't know about all these bizarre rituals for SKS cleaning. Some of them seem a little um, strange. Water? On a gun? Not mine. Metal needs oil to prevent rust. Brake cleaner on the bolt works great. Hoppe's solvent or even just G96 or Rem Oil for the barrel, brush and swab till its clean. G96 or Rem Oil for everything else. Trigger group gets a spray of oil and blast off excess with my lil 4 gallon compressor. Oil moving parts and wipe down with an oily rag to finish. No oil in/on firing pin as it will attract crud in the fp area and you dont want anything jamming that area up, increasing chance of slamfire. Also no oil on the gas piston head, it will just burn away and leave residue that is hard to remove.
I like the G96 as it seems to cling real well to where it is sprayed. Many times I have just spayed it in my SKS and stored the gun till I could clean it and it works great. It wont rust and loosens up the dirt on the gun.
Corrosive/non corrosive ammo, my thoughts>>>
I have used both and I thought I could avoid cleaning by using the non-corrosive stuff. I got a spring and firing pin from Murrays. Waste of time and $$$. Using the commercial 7.62 ammo with this gun means you will get popped primers that will F... up your firing pin and greatly increase your chances of slamfires and damage to the firing pin and the firing pin hole. Bits of metal from the primer get pushed into the hole the firing pin sits in and will mushroom/extrude the hole. Not good. Murrays sent me 3 springs with their firing pin and I ruined all of them in a couple weeks before I figured out what the heck was going on. Now its just the stinky dirty surplus ammo. Its what works best with this gun. 90 gazillion commies can't be wrong.
:)
 
I wonder what actual Russians did to clean the corrosives out of their rifles back in day. Especially during war times when they were lucky to even get heat, let alone hot water.

"Listen, Comrade, what you do is you take rrrifle, dunk and shake it arrround in mud puddle. Then lay against firre barrel to dry while you warrm up. The ammonia in your urine make excellent solvent forr patching out fouling using the cut up uniforms of your enemy. Then you get some oil out of that destroyed gerrman tank over there and lube generrously."
 
Patching? More like piss down the barrel. Good question though.
The rifle was designed to survive in the hands of a Russian serf, for a few engagements without becoming non-functional. For the price-conscious sports-shooter, a maintenance routine that will keep it in as-new condition for decades is more appropriate.
 
The rifle was designed to survive in the hands of a Russian serf, for a few engagements without becoming non-functional. For the price-conscious sports-shooter, a maintenance routine that will keep it in as-new condition for decades is more appropriate.

More true than you'd think. Six months to a year should be the lifespan of both rifle and Soviet soldier. The rifle would be beat to $#!t and the soldier would most likely be riddled full of holes and rotting in a field somewhere. Neither were expected to last very long.
 
My SKS gets treated like my other guns. Cleaned, lubed and made ready for the next day...never more than two to three days between shoots. Besides, I like the feel of cold, well oiled steel. Even the heady aroma of CLP-22 turns my crank.
 
More true than you'd think. Six months to a year should be the lifespan of both rifle and Soviet soldier.

You can easily foul the SKS a lot sooner than that. So obviously, they cleaned them routinely, just like any other military organization. Its really just a question of what their standards were, and probably a LOT lower than ours.
 
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