SKS cleaning

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noea77

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Hey, Im just wondering how long it usually takes you guys to clean an sks after shooting corrosive ? Ive been shooting an sks for over 4 years now but it seems it still takes me an hour and 15 mins from start to finish. Never had any rust so I must be doing a half decent job. I field strip the entire rifle except taking the stock off. I usually only take the stock off once a year and get at the trigger spring area etc. I pour hot water on everything and clean with eds red. Is there anything that can wait to be cleaned ? Thanks
 
While the rifle is still hot I wipe off the bolt face with a wet water patch and use a wet patch down the bore. It's the gas system you should be cleaning same day IMO. Look up military arms channel on YouTube. He shows his cleaning regimen at home.
 
I'm probably ten or twelve minutes for a field clean from shooting, and once a year a complete strip and clean with 30 minutes of my time. The only thing I shoot is corrosive and some sks rifles I've had for over 30 years
 
takes about 30 minutes to clean my SKS with Hopps, a toothbrush and cleaning rod and rags. I also wipe it down and inspect my guns every month to ensure nothing is sneaking up on me like those lil rusty grimlin bastards.
 
I clean my SKS much the same way as you do, If I work at it steady without interruptions it takes me about 30-40 minutes to it completely.
 
I am still newer to this, i've dirty'd my sks with corrosive 5 times or so now, each time, i take it all down, in a turkey pan, cover everything in boiling water, through gas tube, down barrel, through gas system etc, then wipe it all down with a rag and dry, then i get the hoppes solvent out and some q-tips and nook and cranny the bolt and other parts, then i oil it all and reassemble, it takes me like an hour or so start to finish. No rust yet, i figure the more i do it the faster i will get. But really i use mainly only boiling water..why spend $$$$$ on tonnes of cleaning products when water and a rag and q-tips will do everything you need.
Think about the old school russians :p hhahahahaa
 
You don't need to do such a thorough cleaning job just because you're shooting military surplus ammo with corrosive primers, there isn't that much salt.

Put a few wet patches down the bore and the gas tube and then follow with dry patches and then do your normal cleaning. The bolt, carrier and gas piston do need to be cleaned but they don't need to be drowning in a sea of boiling water. You can remove the salt and carbon by just wiping the surfaces down with solvent and a cloth/cotton swabs. The reason water is used to flush the bore and gas tube is because the internal surfaces are hard to access, even tight fitting patches might "miss a spot", so the water is used to dissolve the salts. An exterior surface is accessible and I just wipe those parts down with moose milk or ballistol and then wipe them dry with shop towels.

I recommend moose milk (Ballistol and water mix). If you don't get all of the water out, the oil will protect the surface until the water evaporates.

A light coat of oil goes a long way.
 
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about 15 miniutes start to finish the longest part is waiting for the water to boil. I pour 1 kettle of water over my steel parts and 1 through the gas tube and barrel. once everything is dry and cooled a bit i spray everything down in g96 wipe lightly and reassemble.
 
15-20 mins after shooting corrosive. Never a rust problem. It's common for owners to be overzealous about the whole process.
 
I have done it in 20 min with hot water, soap and break cleaner to help dry the whole thing quickly and displace water in the bolt when I was in a rush. I saved to oiling for the next morning.
 
Thanks guys for all the info. Im gonna try and cut the cleaning down by at least 1/3 to start on my next outing. So hopefully 40 minutes and Im all done. Im always worried about the corrosive ammo, but I do think Im cleaning way to much and need a new system. Thanks again
 
take barrelled action out of stock...

take off gas tube..

boiling water through breech with rifle barrel pointing down in bucket... until water flushes out through gas port..

compressed air through breech with and without end of bore plugged, to force water out...

oil and dry patch bore... plus nooks and crannies that may have gotten wet..

rinse and clean/oil piston and tube...

re-assemble...

usually 15-20 min
 
It takes me about 30 - 40 minutes with the SKS. 15 - 20 minutes of a Mosin Nagant. 20 - 30 minutes for the SVT-40. Its the gas tube on the SKS that eats up the extra time. Its like cleaning a second barrel just its a smooth bore. Everyone is a bit different with how they clean their gun. Everyone has a different level of standards. If what you do works for you, then keep doing it.
 
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