cleanup after shooting mildly corrosive/corrosive surplus

water dissolves the salts, ammonia does nothing to help but it does not hurt.

What are you shooting and in what?

Mildly corrosive is like mildly pregnant! You must remove all the copper from a raw steel bore or the corrosive salts will be plated over but will eat the steel underneath the copper plating.

Chrome bore eliminates most problems with mildly corrosive ammo.

-- Chuck

Hi Chuck S,
Iv'e been shooting the Korean surplus 30-06 headstamped KA 71 & KA 73 in my SG Greek issued and RG Danish issued M1 Garands. I have been spraying down the bolt face and chamber areas and receiver areas and running a patch down the bore soaked with windex w/ammonia. Then I dry them off and then clean them with my regular cleaning solvents I been using Hoppe's Bench Rest-9. and greasing it up with Tetra gun grease. I just wanted to know if cleaning this way would keep my babies happy and my itchy trigger finger happy and pocketbook..due to low price of the ammo :wink:

Thank you
Ezra

If the ammo really is corrosive you need the Old Army (or Old Corps) cleaning method of every day for a week, using an agressive copper solvent. Getting the copper out is paramount as it's plating over the corrosive salts.

The small amount of ammonia in Windex will get the salts out, but is unlikely to get the copper out.

This much scrubbing will probably add more wear to your rifle than shooting it.

De-coppering a barrel that isn't using corrosive ammo isn't necessary. Copper "fouling" is self limiting and seldom causes any problems -- assuming this isn't a bench rest rifle.

Try to determine if this stuff is corrosive. US Military stopped using corrosive primers during the Korean War.

-- CHuck

I always wash out the bore, bolt face and gas system with WD40 immediately after shooting Chinese or Czech ammo with corrosive primers. When I get home, then clean the bore with Hoppe's Bench Rest Nitro Slovent and another patch with WD40. After a week I wipe out the bore again and give it another patch with WD40. Never had a problem when using this method.

I always wash out the bore, bolt face, flash hider and gas system with WD40 immediately after shooting Chinese or Czech ammo with corrosive primers. When I get home, then clean the bore with Hoppe's Bench Rest Nitro Slovent and another patch with WD40. After a week I wipe out the bore again and give it another patch with WD40. Never had a problem when using this method.

The Best thing to clean dirty Brass is with Walnut Shell Media and a small amount of Flitz added to it, Tumble it for a whole Day!
My best suggestion for Shooting Corrosive Ammo isONT!
There is no such thing as Mildly Corrosive, It is or It aint, You cant be Mildly Dead or Mildly Pregnant You IS or you Aint! :roll: