Assuming that you don't have a chrome lined bore (or even if you do, why not), what do you use to deal with the corrosive primed ammo?

I've heard ammonia. Is that the go-to, or are there better options?

I shoot a lot of corrosive surplus ammo through various surplus bolt action rifles. I use Windex with ammonia.

I take a spray bottle of Windex with me, flush the bore and bolt face liberally when I'm done shooting and before leaving the range, then clean and oil promptly upon arrival at home.

I've never had issues with rust.

Windex is popular, plain water is popular. I personally use "moose milk"--ballistol mixed with water about 1:10. The oil is water soluble so after the water evaporates it leaves oil to prevent rust.

However water dissolves the corrosive salts fine. Then dry well and clean and lube as usual.

Wow, no one uses what I was taught. How about soap and water? Works pretty darn well, and doesn't cost very much. All the things mentioned
so far work just fine. Salt is water soluble and the idea is to get rid of the salt, plain and simple. The best thing to add to the water besides soap is heat. Hot soapy water is great. Then oil on the metal.

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
Windex is popular, plain water is popular. I personally use "moose milk"--ballistol mixed with water about 1:10. The oil is water soluble so after the water evaporates it leaves oil to prevent rust.

However water dissolves the corrosive salts fine. Then dry well and clean and lube as usual.

I use ballistol for my AK-74. But it does smell nasty.

Good old Hoppes #9. Have used it for decades & never any rust from corrosive ammo.

I too was taught hot soapy water. And I have used Hoppes, too. Right after shooting.

Put me in the water camp. I ran a few cases of 7n6 through my 5.45 Saiga. After shooting, I'd let it cool a bit, field strip and rinse all the parts with a bottle of water. I'd run one mag of non-corrosive ammo to dry things off and then clean and lube the rifle normally when I had time. Never had a problem with rust.

The same thing I use on my black powder rifles, Windex with vinegar.
(my BPCR are my most expensive rifles)

Hot water. Specifically, boiling hot flushed through. Dries quickly on its own, melts cosmoline left in the cracks. Oil after.

I use cool water and a little simple green for black powder residue...when I had a Mauser and a case of surplus ammo I used water and dawn...

Always used plain old soap and water. Then discovered a mix of water and balistol....works very well.

Believing that the ammonia in Windex does anything to neutralize corrosive primer salts is the equivalent of believing that a hit from a .45 will knock a man off his or that man can be killed killed by a 50 BMG just passing nearby. They are all just urban legend. Windex works wonderfully because it is mostly water!

Hot soapy water for corrosive ammo and black powder have been my go to for over 50 years.

I always used hot soapy water after firing black powder. The hot water heats the metal to help in drying.

Just plain water works fine. The corrosive salts used in the ammo is water soluble. Windex works just fine, but I believe it's the water in the window cleaner doing the work, not really the ammonia. So use Windex, soapy water, or just plain water. Whichever you desire.

Been shooting a lot of corrosive ammo lately through a few new milsurp rifles I've acquired, and the easiest way is a bucket of hot soapy water. Stick it in muzzle down and flush the bore with a tight patch on a cleaning rod. Then finish up with standard cleaning process.

I always just took my mosin home and just cleaned it like any other gun. Never had a problem. Only time I’d use windex is if I wasn’t going to clean it for a few days