SKS bolt cleaning

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morgancoin

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I'm going to buy a SKS soon and I read a lot about cleaning it. I will shoot corrosive ammo so I want to know if I have to disassemble the bolt every time I clean the gun?

I heard a lot of things about hot water, windex, hoppe#9, breakfree CLP, etc. :confused:

Can someone sort it out? Thanks.
 
morgancoin said:
I'm going to buy a SKS soon and I read a lot about cleaning it. I will shoot corrosive ammo so I want to know if I have to disassemble the bolt every time I clean the gun?

I heard a lot of things about hot water, windex, hoppe#9, breakfree CLP, etc. :confused:

Can someone sort it out? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes you must field strip it the gun to clean the bolt. As for a solvent to clean the salts off, use WD40 or soapy water or windex, then lube with gun oil.

CLP will not take the salt out!
 
When you say ''field strip'' do you mean just removing the bolt from the gun or removing the firing pin and the extractor from the bolt?
 
morgancoin said:
When you say ''field strip'' do you mean just removing the bolt from the gun or removing the firing pin and the extractor from the bolt?
Click to expand...

no no leave the extractor and firing pining in. Soak the pin with WD40 and work it in. wipe off the carbon and clean the extrator claw with a swap or Q-tip.
 
Exactly what I do....don't need to take the bolt apart, I have a cpl SKS's and shot a lot of rds threw them, never taken the bolt apart. You can shoot WD40 straight down the firing pin from the back and it will get most the crap out. You shake it a few times and the WD40 will come out.
 
Everybody has there own method of cleaning and I am sure they all work well. But think about it when these rifles were produced did they have CLP, WD40, ect ect. Effective field strpping and cleaning is not meant to take a lot of time. Just Google SKS cleaning and the information is a there.
 
in my sks, i find the bolt has a lot of crap around the underside of the extractor and the firing pin is a bit gummed up after firing the corrosive stuff. it isnt all that much of an extra step to take it all apart, the fp retainer pin, the extractor and the fp. i do this so that Im sure there is no unnecessary corrosion or rusting.
 
Ugh.

So much wrong in this thread.

Nothing mentioned in this thread will "break down" KCl.

WD-40, break cleaner etc will not even dissolve it.

The flow of these chemicals will mechanically remove some of the molecules. Water is better for corrosive ammo cleaning because it will dissolve the KCl, which means it can be removed with the flow, instead of by the flow.

OP, you need to focus more on the bore and gas system. A majority of the KCl will be found in these places. A simple flush with boiling soapy water will suffice.
 
GilesG said:
Ugh.

So much wrong in this thread.

Nothing mentioned in this thread will "break down" KCl.

WD-40, break cleaner etc will not even dissolve it.

The flow of these chemicals will mechanically remove some of the molecules. Water is better for corrosive ammo cleaning because it will dissolve the KCl, which means it can be removed with the flow, instead of by the flow.

OP, you need to focus more on the bore and gas system. A majority of the KCl will be found in these places. A simple flush with boiling soapy water will suffice.
Click to expand...

Smallarms review had an article on Corrsive ammo. where they tested many solvents and WD40 was the best to remove the salts. I tried it and it works great "for cleaning only"
 
Dsiwy said:
Smallarms review had an article on Corrsive ammo. where they tested many solvents and WD40 was the best to remove the salts. I tried it and it works great "for cleaning only"
Click to expand...

Whether WD40 dissolves or just washes away KCL, doesn't really matter. End result is that WD40 prevents corrosion. WD40 is a water dispersant and I believe the fact that it keeps water from coming in contact with the metal surface, is enough to prevent rust.

KCL may still be present but the WD40 barrier protects the metal.
 
easyrider604 said:
Whether WD40 dissolves or just washes away KCL, doesn't really matter. End result is that WD40 prevents corrosion. WD40 is a water dispersant and I believe the fact that it keeps water from coming in contact with the metal surface, is enough to prevent rust.

KCL may still be present but the WD40 barrier protects the metal.
Click to expand...

This is a good point

It would be nice to know if its getting rid of the "KCL" or just preventing rust
 
Dsiwy said:
Smallarms review had an article on Corrsive ammo. where they tested many solvents and WD40 was the best to remove the salts. I tried it and it works great "for cleaning only"
Click to expand...

Ah yes, the worlds foremost scientific journal, Small arms review.

Since a metal halide salt won't dissolve in a non-polar solution, all the SAR article meant was that they pushed out more KCl or encapsulated it better with WD-40.

Any liquid will push out loose KCl the same. So it would be safe to assume that WD-40 is best at encapsulating it. A spray of WD-40 down the bore is a good idea when you cannot properly clean it right away. Who would have thought with a name like Water Displacement 40th attempt that it would be great at countering the hygroscopic properties of KCl?

Still doesn't change the fact that water is the best actual solvent for KCl. No amount of moronic gun mag writers can change that.

easyrider604 said:
Whether WD40 dissolves or just washes away KCL, doesn't really matter. End result is that WD40 prevents corrosion. WD40 is a water dispersant and I believe the fact that it keeps water from coming in contact with the metal surface, is enough to prevent rust.

KCL may still be present but the WD40 barrier protects the metal.
Click to expand...

It is not going to come close to "washing away" all the KCl. It absolutely does NOT dissolve KCl. This method isn't actually addressing the problem at hand. At very high atmospheric water levels, it may not even work.

Use boiling soapy water. If you are going to do something, do it right.
 
I use windex at the range when I finish shooting it and then boiling water when I get home.

The SKS is so easy to field strip why look for shortcuts? I know cleaning is a pita but with the sks there is no reason not to strip it and clean it when you get home. Strip it while the water boils, clean and oil it then it's ready for the next shooting trip.

I can field strip my sks rifles faster than my Mosquito sport pistol (no little allen screws to fuss with)

Cactus
 
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