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cleaning routine for Ultimak and corrosive ammo


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I wanted to use an Ultimak on my SGL31 (and hopefully later on my Saiga 5.45), but couldn't find a cleaning routine before that was easy and that worked flawlessly. I tried various combinations of water and WD40, and funnels and tubes and such, but none of those things checked out. And the WD40 got into the air from my rifle later, such that I woke up during the night and TASTED it in my mouth!

 

There is a guy on the Warrior Talk forum who has a simple routine. I tried it this weekend, with really good results. I tested first on a rifle with no Ultimak, cleaning the gas tube while still attached. Later I detached the gas tube several times to examine the tube itself and, more importantly, the gas block. Not only were there no signs of rust over a 48 hour period (plenty enough time for it to develop in my humid location), the gas system was cleaner than it's been in a long time.

 

Materials needed: Long cleaning rod, 20 gauge bore mop, Hoppe's #9 (or some other solvent that neutralizes corrosive salts), and Brakleen brake cleaner. The purpose of the Brakleen is to flush the gas system of all crud and residue at the end, while leaving none of its own.

 

Procedure:

1) Attach bore mop to cleaning rod.

2) Soak mop in Hoppe's #9.

3) Run it through the gas system several times, with the rifle pointing down. There will be significant drainage out the barrel, which you will probably want to catch with paper towels or something else.

4) Let stand as long as desired (to allow the Hoppe's more time to work). I put paper towels on top of a towel, set the rifle on top pointing downward and lean it against a wall.

5) When ready, hose out the gas system (not including the rear sight block, if you want to avoid a mess) with the Brakleen. I rubber-banded some paper towels on the front of the barrel to catch the stuff coming out. Once again, put the rifle somewhere it can drain downward into some towels.

 

Some care needs to be taken with #5. Brakleen is really nasty smelling, and is dangerous to breathe. I hosed out the gas system in the backyard while walking and holding my breath. (Next time I will probably use a face mask to be extra careful). If allowed to drain in a well-ventilated area - I used my back porch - it will be gone entirely within 30 minutes to an hour. The only smell I could detect after that time was at the tip of the barrel where all the drainage had come out. I wiped it down with CLP and that was that. I put the gun in the safe for the night, and opened it in the morning, and smelled only Hoppe's. By contrast, last week the WD40 smell was potent after opening the safe. But Brakleen really does leave no residue. Which leads us to #6:

 

6) Run a bore snake or some other means of oiling the bore. Brakleen dries out very thoroughly everything it contacts, so the bore will need some attention afterward.

 

All in all, a very simple, effective, and cheap routine. (This discussion does not include the cleaning of the other parts of the gun after shooting 7N6, but that can be read about elsewhere). I was planning to remove the Ultimak every year for a thorough cleaning of the gas system, but after seeing the results of this method, I may do it every other year instead. As to price, I picked up a bunch of the 20 gauge bore mops for $1.25 apiece at the gun show, and the Brakleen bottle is huge and was $3.17 at WalMart. It should last at least a year at my current pace of shooting.

Edited by Jim Digriz
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Hmm. Interesting... I don't get the point of using something so toxic "to flush things out" tho. What's wrong with ammonia water? As far as Hoppe's #9, I thought that the consensus was that it doesn't do a good job at neutralizing salts? Also, a soaked 12 ga patch over a 12 ga brush would work just as well as mop.

 

BTW, is the gas block chrome lined? It sorta looks like it is on my rifle. Also, you don't have to worry about the Ultimak rusting, since it's made of aluminum. If the gas block is indeed chromed inside, you would only really have to worry about the brake, the area outside the chamber, inside the sight block and the bolt/striker area.

Edited by SpetsnazGRU
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Hi SpetsnazGRU,

Hmm. Interesting... I don't get the point of using something so toxic "to flush things out" tho.

It leaves the gas tube and gas block clean and completely residue-free and dry. I'd be happy to substitute something else that does the same thing.

 

 

What's wrong with ammonia water?

It leaves the gas tube wet, and with loose crud, if it's like any of the other water-based solutions I tried.

 

 

As far as Hoppe's #9, I thought that the consensus was that it doesn't do a good job at neutralizing salts?

The Mosin guys over at 7.62x54r.net have proved to my satisfaction that Hoppe's does a more-than-sufficient job neutralizing the salts.

 

 

Also, a soaked 12 ga patch over a 12 ga brush would work just as well as mop.

Quite possibly, though I would be afraid to have the patch detach in the gas tube. No danger of that with the mop.

 

 

BTW, is the gas block chrome lined? It sorta looks like it is on my rifle. Also, you don't have to worry about the Ultimak rusting, since it's made of aluminum. If the gas block is indeed chromed inside, you would only really have to worry about the brake, the area outside the chamber, the sight block and the bolt.

The first time I cleaned my 5.45 Saiga, I neglected the gas block. There was some rust the next day.

 

You're right about the Ultimak and rust, but you have to go through it to clean the gas block, and it doesn't hurt to clean it out.

 

Jim

Edited by Jim Digriz
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Anyone try just using CLP foaming bore cleaner?

 

Wipe out the big stuff, fill it up with foam, wipe it dry...

 

I was pretty sure this stuff will not neutralize corrosive salts. (It might wash them or most of them out the barrel; on the other hand, it might cause crud to collect near the bottom of the gas block). Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

What do you propose to use to wipe the gas system dry? I had a real problem getting it completely dry using any other method.

Edited by Jim Digriz
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I never try and over engineer the task at hand. Bore snake and RemOil work fine for me in the majority of cases. Gave up cleaning rods years ago. How about a home brew cleaner? A few links that may help.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsmjd/tech/eds_red.htm

http://www.majorsgunclub.org/edsred.html

http://www.frfrogspad.com/cleaners.htm

 

 

Good luck and be safe,

Yakdung

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I never try and over engineer the task at hand. Bore snake and RemOil work fine for me in the majority of cases. Gave up cleaning rods years ago. How about a home brew cleaner? A few links that may help.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsmjd/tech/eds_red.htm

http://www.majorsgunclub.org/edsred.html

http://www.frfrogspad.com/cleaners.htm

 

Good luck and be safe,

Yakdung

 

Thanks for the links.

 

A routine must be tested to work, such that one has confidence it will work even when we cannot see down into the gas block to verify. The routine must neutralize or remove the corrosive salts and any crud that might interfere with the gun's operation. So far the "over-engineered" routine above (which is actually pretty simple) is the only one I've found that will do all of this.

 

Anyhow, it works for me, and I thought others who want to run the Ultimak on their 5.45 rifles with 7N6 might benefit...

 

Jim

Edited by Jim Digriz
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Anyone try just using CLP foaming bore cleaner?

 

Wipe out the big stuff, fill it up with foam, wipe it dry...

 

I was pretty sure this stuff will not neutralize corrosive salts. (It might wash them or most of them out the barrel; on the other hand, it might cause crud to collect near the bottom of the gas block). Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

What do you propose to use to wipe the gas system dry? I had a real problem getting it completely dry using any other method.

 

If CLP neutralizes salts then I dont see any issues. I've used that CLP foaming stuff for years(non corrosive though). 12guages bore brush down the ultimak/into the gb, bore brush down the barrel, foam it up, 12 gauge wipe down the ultimak/into gb, wipe down the barrel.

 

The CLP foam stuff goes from foam to liquid within 15-20min. Doing the above steps gets it all out. I recently pressed off my GB on a rifle that I've only used that stuff with and it had 0 build up.

 

Now if CLP doesnt neutralize salts then yeah nvm :)

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Um, I'm gonna have to call BS on hoppes dissolving corrosive salts.

 

I run an ultimak on my 5.45 and I'm not about to remove it. I'm going to make a youtube video soon detailing the corrosive ammo cleaning process I use, but here is a summary.

 

If I can't clean it any time soon, then a good field cleaning consisting of:

-Gunzilla CLP (cleans corrosive)

-Wet patch the bore

-put a wet in barrel and let it sit underneath the gasport to prevent it from draining out so it can soak.

-Drip CLP (gunzilla) down into the gas block and let it get nice and soaked

-use a .40 nylon bore bush bent into a 'U' space to scrub out the gas block

-use a 12 patch eye and fold the patches over the top of the eye and clean

-doesn't have to be prefect

-wipe off crud with moist patch (gunzilla) the bolt carrier, piston, bolt and front of reciever

-remove pactch in barrel and throughly clean the bore ended on a wet patch for safety sake

-remove muzzle brake (74 zig-zag) and wet down and wipe with wet gunzilla patch

-I purposely leave the brake pretty dirty so I have an indicator if their is any corrosion happening.

-assemble and it'll be good to go

 

I know that the above method works VERY WELL, cleaning my saiga 545 like this 3+weeks ago after several hundred rounds and it rained on me at the range everything got soaked and rust was starting to form on my brake in between shooting. I cleaned like this (gunzilla only) and I had to go out of town for 3weeks. While I was out of town my saiga 545 sat in damp rifle bag with my saiga 762(no corrosive out of this one) in the back of my damp 4runner(rain got the back pretty wet) in midwestern US humidity and heat. When I returned I pulled out my bag and inspected both rifles, both had light rust on the muzzle devices and that was it.

To recap my saiga 545 was in the same shape or better than my other rifle that I've never fired corrosive out of. All internals (gas system, bore, bolt/carrier,piston) where spotless. I really liked gunzilla before this and now I LOVE it.

 

For cleaning at the house after the range prior to a storage period, I flush the gun with hot tap water for a few min while I boil a large pot of water. Then pour the boiling water down the bore and gas system. Either put it in a heated room to dry (my armory rm with my heater on high) or flush with WD40 and then clean as normal with gunzilla. I have that hard carbon caked on the inside of my muzzle brake and I've never had any corrosion there because the hot water washes the corrosion out. So it goes to reason that same hard carbon is in your gasblock and anything short of a miracle (even with the gas tube removed) will not get all that crap out of there down to the bore. Flush it with boiling water and call it good.

 

FYI gunzilla works good, you have to be clean everything very well if you don't use any boiling water since your are not 'rinsing' the gun in gunzilla. But if you were in the field just keep up on your cleaning and check it every couple of days to make sure you didn't miss anything.

Edited by Krom
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I think there is simply too much hype over corrosive ammo and too much Internet voodoo lore surrounding it...all I can say is that for years now I've used a garden hose with cold water to rinse the rifle and then cleaned it normally with hoppes in the bore and CLP on the rest. No rust, no matter how long the rifles sit in the safe here in our wonderfully humid city of Houston.

 

Lately I've taken to cleaning the bore with just Hoppes and using CLP on the rest of the rifle, no water at all...bolt carrier and bolt in particular don't get Hoppes, just CLP. Still no rust.

 

 

Cleaning for corrosive really only takes water to be 100% sure. Not boiling water, not high pressure water, not ammonia, not any special cleaning product...just water. Ballistol is nice because it lubricates while it cleans but the active ingredient to remove the small amount of primer residue is water, plain old water.

 

 

It's really not that complicated, it sounds like sometimes we get caught up in the hype and over think the solution, when all it takes is just simple water.

 

 

 

Z

Edited by TX-Zen
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Um, I'm gonna have to call BS on hoppes dissolving corrosive salts.

Just a bare assertion on your part? I would need more than that.

 

There are Mosin collectors at 7.62x54r.net that have hundreds of Mosins, and entrust them to Hoppe's after firing corrosive ammo. A typical routine is two patches soaked in Hoppe's, followed by two dry patches, followed by another Hoppe's-soaked patch or two, then done. If that works for them (and it does), then that's good enough for me. Additionally, they discourage the use of water, in that water can get into barrel threads and other hard to reach places.

 

 

I run an ultimak on my 5.45 and I'm not about to remove it. I'm going to make a youtube video soon detailing the corrosive ammo cleaning process I use, but here is a summary.

Thanks for the routine. There is more than one way to do it, as Perl programmers say. I'd love to see a cleaning thread where everyone could share their various corrosive ammo cleaning routines and tips.

 

 

I have that hard carbon caked on the inside of my muzzle brake and I've never had any corrosion there because the hot water washes the corrosion out. So it goes to reason that same hard carbon is in your gasblock and anything short of a miracle (even with the gas tube removed) will not get all that crap out of there down to the bore.

I've never noticed the caked-on carbon in the gas block, though I have seen it on my barrel face.

 

Jim

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I think there is simply too much hype over corrosive ammo and too much Internet voodoo lore surrounding it...all I can say is that for years now I've used a garden hose with cold water to rinse...It's really not that complicated, it sounds like sometimes we get caught up in the hype and over think the solution, when all it takes is just simple water.

 

Z, do you have a 5.45 rifle with an Ultimak? If so, I hope you've considered these things about water:

- It will get to places you can't oil if you use it with an Ultimak, unless you are EXTREMELY careful. That is sure to result in rust eventually. I was comfortable using water with my 5.45 rifles only so long as I could dry and then oil up the places water had touched. The Ultimak complicates that, so I choose not to use water anymore except on the flash hider, gas piston, and bolt.

- It doesn't really do much to clean the rifle. Yes, it washes away some of the powder, but that's about it.

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Jim, I'm not saying that hoppes cant work, I just know that salt is not dissolved in it. If it pushes all the salt out of the bore with the rest of the crap so be it. I'll have to search around but I read this test were a guy put salt water onto various pieces of steel then wiped them down and cleaned them with various commercial gun cleaners (hoppes included) to see which ones would remove the salts, and hoppes along with most other cleaners did not fair very well. But I can see cleaning just a bore (mosin) without water, but a gas operated firearm I think that using water (followed by wd40) is a good idea.

 

I know from experience that weapons used in the field will rust a little anyways (mostly the flash hider/muzzle brake) even without corrosive ammo, you just got stay on top of it cleaning wise to keep it from rusting.

 

 

 

 

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Jim, I'm not saying that hoppes cant work, I just know that salt is not dissolved in it. If it pushes all the salt out of the bore with the rest of the crap so be it. I'll have to search around but I read this test were a guy put salt water onto various pieces of steel then wiped them down and cleaned them with various commercial gun cleaners (hoppes included) to see which ones would remove the salts, and hoppes along with most other cleaners did not fair very well. But I can see cleaning just a bore (mosin) without water, but a gas operated firearm I think that using water (followed by wd40) is a good idea.

 

I experimented with a number of routines for weeks leading up to settling on this one. All of them included water in the gas system, two of them included WD40, and all of them turned out to be either excessively messy - both inside and outside of the gun - or ended up leaving rust in the rifle.

 

Last week, for instance, I hosed down the gas system liberally with water, via a tube that conveyed the water past the rear sight block. I followed up with a generous amount of WD40 down the gas tube. I left the rifle pointed downward for hours to drain out. Periodically I would detach the gas tube and examine it and the gas block. Late in the evening I found - despite the "Water Displacement" 40 - a considerable amount of rust in the gas tube near the front end, and specks of rust in the gas block. (No big deal, since this was a factory gas tube that will be tossed soon and replaced with a standard AK gas tube anyhow). Additionally - as I briefly mentioned in the first paragraph of this thread - the WD40 later got into the air off of the rifle and I woke up in the middle of the night and tasted it in my mouth...not good. Anyhow, WD40 can't be counted on to get the job done.

 

The one thing I considered but didn't try was to dry out the gas system with an air compressor. Alas, my air compressor died an untimely death the very week I intended to try it. (Perhaps a good thing, though, as one can't count on having electricity in a SHTF situation to power the air compressor).

 

So I decided to try a cleaning routine that a guy on the Warrior Talk forum has been doing for a while now, and with no problems resulting from using only Hoppes and Brakleen in the gas system. It worked, and, as a bonus, it was less messy and much simpler to carry out than the other routines I tried.

 

Jim

Edited by Jim Digriz
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I do have a 5.45 with an Ultimak and have put close to 1000 rounds down range with it, having cleaned it with nothing other than the garden hose method and hoppes on a brush/mop to swab out the gas block. I'm fully aware of what water does as well as the effects of corrosive primers, I've been using these methods for years and years and I have yet to see any long lasting effects.

 

 

My SLR105 has over 4000 rounds of corrosive down the pipe now including the 1000 with the Ultimak mounted. In 2006 I shot the piss out of out for 6 months straight without cleaning it once...I couldn't find any signs of pitting or corrosion even in the brake at that time. Yes the brake was rusted near the end, but the chamber with the lightening cuts is chrome lined and guess what...didn't rust. Yes the gas block was filthy and had small rust on the vent holes, but the inside is chrome lined and again, no rust. The piston and bolt face were foul as expected...wiped them off with CLP and no signs of rust damage. Yes there is wear and tear from use but nothing I can pinpoint as being corrosive related. Same year we shot the rifle in the rain and I forgot to clean it when I got home. 2 days later the bolt carrier was rusted shut and I had to use a hammer to break it free to cycle the action. 5 minutes with some CLP and the 105 was as good as new other than the usual wear and tear on the finish. In fact my 105 has never skipped a beat, ever, other than this year when I had a dud round of 5.45 fail to discharge when I pulled the trigger. In 5 years and thousands of rounds it's held up like a champ and up until recently all I shot was corrosive through it, year after year, and cleaned it with just water, Hoppes and CLP.

 

 

 

But I think I finally found evidence of corrosive ammo at last...the very end of the muzzle had 3 or 4 shallow pits/indentations that I can only assume are corrosive related. If you put a couple drops of CLP you have a hard time seeing them, they look nothing like old WW1 or WW2 pitted rifles do.

 

 

 

So having been through this long saga with my SLR105 and other AK's all these years I can say that I'm just not impressed by how dangerous corrosive is supposed to be. I shoot my rifles alot, like 3-4 times a month and maybe clean them every couple weeks at most, including my NDM86. Up until recently I used corrosive exclusively and I still have yet to see what it is about corrosive that eats these rifles up and leaves them rusted and pitted or whatever is supposed to happen.

 

To me an AK is a working gun and I use them that way. I don't care if they get banged around, get the usual rust in the brake or get dirty as long as the optics and irons don't get knocked around I don't particularly care what happens to them. I've lived in the field with M16's in the Army, later as a tank commander with M2 brownings and M240 7.62 MG's onboard. In reality there isn't much you can do to keep your weapons pretty and dainty, they get beat up, they endure the weather and get knocked around. You take care of them to make sure they continue to function but in the field factory new is a laughable concept. You only clean it factory new to get it back into the arms room past the turn in nazis but otherwise in the field dirt is a way of life for weaponry.

 

 

Whatever people seem to be worried about just doesn't seem to actually happen in my experience, at least on AK's. I don't shoot black powder or older rifles like Mosin Nagants but I do shoot corrosive all the time and am just not seeing anything unusual. Yes you get rust in the brake immediately and on the gas block vent holes but after it's wiped clean and lubed it stays clean and lubed. I don't use WD40 to displace the water after I rinse, I let them air dry and lube for storage. Next trip out I break them down at random and have very rarely found rust in the brake again and can't recall once seeing anything chrome lined rust. My NDM has a stainless steel bolt carrier group, if I don't clean it for long periods I will sometimes see tiny tiny spots of rust here and there but nothing that doesn't wipe away with CLP.

 

YMMV of course but in my experience corrosive is highly overrated and IMO worrying about it is probably counter productive. Instead of endlessly trying to make it factory new I'd train like hell with the rifle and shoot the crap out of it, and get used to it being a working gun. I'd much rather have the confidence the weapon will function when I need it than be really good at cleaning the hell out of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

Edited by TX-Zen
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Been lurking for awhile, gonna stick my (toe) in here.

 

I found this while researching corrosive ammo when I decided an a Saiga 5.45x39. I love cheap ammo.

I couldn't find anything in the Rules & Guidelines prohibiting links to another forum, moderators

please advise if this is verboten.

 

http://www.thecmp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6902

 

What I took away from it was:

 

A. Salts cannot be neutralized, only diluted & flushed.

 

B. Ballistol is the shit.

 

 

What I do is mix 1 part Ballistol & 9 parts water in a spray bottle- it looks like milk & smells like

licorice. Spray the hell out of the stripped rifle's metal (inside and out) over a bucket with the bolt

& carrier, gas tube & top cover in the bucket. Scrub the bore 10 -15 times, dipping the brush with each

pass down into the solution that has drained into the bucket. Scrub the gas tube the same way, but with

a nylon 12ga bore brush. Set everything aside to drain & dry- in the sun, if possible.

(It took me a hell of a lot longer to type that, than it does to perform it!)

 

The water will evaporate, even in a humid environment (on the beach) leaving a film of Ballistol that

has prevented any rust from forming until I get around to cleaning the regular way.

 

After 3 shooting sessions (2-3 hundred rounds each) with my Saiga & Russian surplus ammo, shooting in the

fog on the coast to a hot & humid day in the Sierras, I love that rifle + ammo & I swear by Ballistol.

 

A.G.

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I do have a 5.45 with an Ultimak and have put close to 1000 rounds down range with it, having cleaned it with nothing other than the garden hose method and hoppes on a brush/mop to swab out the gas block. I'm fully aware of what water does as well as the effects of corrosive primers, I've been using these methods for years and years and I have yet to see any long lasting effects.

 

 

My SLR105 has over 4000 rounds of corrosive down the pipe now including the 1000 with the Ultimak mounted. In 2006 I shot the piss out of out for 6 months straight without cleaning it once...I couldn't find any signs of pitting or corrosion even in the brake at that time. Yes the brake was rusted near the end, but the chamber with the lightening cuts is chrome lined and guess what...didn't rust. Yes the gas block was filthy and had small rust on the vent holes, but the inside is chrome lined and again, no rust. The piston and bolt face were foul as expected...wiped them off with CLP and no signs of rust damage. Yes there is wear and tear from use but nothing I can pinpoint as being corrosive related. Same year we shot the rifle in the rain and I forgot to clean it when I got home. 2 days later the bolt carrier was rusted shut and I had to use a hammer to break it free to cycle the action. 5 minutes with some CLP and the 105 was as good as new other than the usual wear and tear on the finish. In fact my 105 has never skipped a beat, ever, other than this year when I had a dud round of 5.45 fail to discharge when I pulled the trigger. In 5 years and thousands of rounds it's held up like a champ and up until recently all I shot was corrosive through it, year after year, and cleaned it with just water, Hoppes and CLP.

 

 

 

But I think I finally found evidence of corrosive ammo at last...the very end of the muzzle had 3 or 4 shallow pits/indentations that I can only assume are corrosive related. If you put a couple drops of CLP you have a hard time seeing them, they look nothing like old WW1 or WW2 pitted rifles do.

 

 

 

So having been through this long saga with my SLR105 and other AK's all these years I can say that I'm just not impressed by how dangerous corrosive is supposed to be. I shoot my rifles alot, like 3-4 times a month and maybe clean them every couple weeks at most, including my NDM86. Up until recently I used corrosive exclusively and I still have yet to see what it is about corrosive that eats these rifles up and leaves them rusted and pitted or whatever is supposed to happen.

 

To me an AK is a working gun and I use them that way. I don't care if they get banged around, get the usual rust in the brake or get dirty as long as the optics and irons don't get knocked around I don't particularly care what happens to them. I've lived in the field with M16's in the Army, later as a tank commander with M2 brownings and M240 7.62 MG's onboard. In reality there isn't much you can do to keep your weapons pretty and dainty, they get beat up, they endure the weather and get knocked around. You take care of them to make sure they continue to function but in the field factory new is a laughable concept. You only clean it factory new to get it back into the arms room past the turn in nazis but otherwise in the field dirt is a way of life for weaponry.

 

 

Whatever people seem to be worried about just doesn't seem to actually happen in my experience, at least on AK's. I don't shoot black powder or older rifles like Mosin Nagants but I do shoot corrosive all the time and am just not seeing anything unusual. Yes you get rust in the brake immediately and on the gas block vent holes but after it's wiped clean and lubed it stays clean and lubed. I don't use WD40 to displace the water after I rinse, I let them air dry and lube for storage. Next trip out I break them down at random and have very rarely found rust in the brake again and can't recall once seeing anything chrome lined rust. My NDM has a stainless steel bolt carrier group, if I don't clean it for long periods I will sometimes see tiny tiny spots of rust here and there but nothing that doesn't wipe away with CLP.

 

YMMV of course but in my experience corrosive is highly overrated and IMO worrying about it is probably counter productive. Instead of endlessly trying to make it factory new I'd train like hell with the rifle and shoot the crap out of it, and get used to it being a working gun. I'd much rather have the confidence the weapon will function when I need it than be really good at cleaning the hell out of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Z

 

Ok I agree for the most part, especially how a gun in the field is (same shit in the Marines).

 

So lemme get this straight, sometimes you don't clean it at all, and the rest of the time you just flush it with the hose? I think getting a ton of water in the gun and or letting it drip dry are a bad idea. I think if you flush it with water (mainly just the gas block) squirt it out with wd40 and clean immediately and just try the weapon wiped dry and lubed and you'll be good to go. Especially if you use something like gunzilla, for all I know maybe hoppes and clp are just as good, but gunzilla's clp is advertised from the manufacturer to clean corrosive so and I know it works from experience.

 

 

 

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Hi Z,

YMMV of course but in my experience corrosive is highly overrated and IMO worrying about it is probably counter productive.

 

While I appreciate the benefit of your experiences on this subject, my mileage does vary, quite a bit actually. Far from the dangers of corrosive ammo being "voodoo" or "hype", my guns will have significant rust in numerous places in a matter of days if I am not timely in cleaning it. You are fortunate to live where the climate does not quickly induce such things.

 

I am curious whether you have removed the Ultimak since you have had it. I would be very hesitant to get water in places that can't be later oiled up, such as in the handguard retainer and on parts of the barrel that are covered up. I've seen the rapid effects of water on the exterior of a Mosin barrel and a 10/22 barrel, so I can't imagine using the garden hose approach on a rifle that has an Ultimak.

 

Jim

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  • 3 months later...

Hey guys!

Thanks for all the great cleaning tips!

I've never shot corrosive ammo, so I wanted to brush up on what you guys do, before I get my 5.45 in the mail.

 

I heard somewhere else that a black powder cleaner also works very well on the corrosive 5.45, anyone actually done this, and does it work?

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  • 2 months later...
  • 7 months later...

Hoppes #9 Plus will remove the salts. It has some water in in and is made for black powder. The original Hoppes #9 formula was changed a few years ago. Might not be effective against salts anymore. I use one of the black powder solvents and then clean normally with CLP. WD40 will protect against rust from the salts for a day or two.

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