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Most surplus ammo on the market today is corrosive.
Usually the
primer is the culprit, when fired it coats the inside of the
firearm with corrosive salt residue. When the salts combine with
moisture, damage starts to occur to the metal surfaces. Oils or
petroleum based products will not break down the corrosive salts
and therefore are ineffective in cleaning or neutralizing the
salt compounds.
I have read that modern bore solvents will break down the
salts and I have spoken with chemist friends that tell me that
this is not true. Alkaline based solvents will break
down the salts, as well as simple soap and water or just plain
water. Ammonia will not break down the corrosive salts and can
cause damage to the bore if left in too long. Ammonia will
remove metal deposits such as copper from the bore.
I for the longest time mixed an ammonia and water based
concoction that I used to clean the bolt, bore, and any other
effected areas. I then spoke to a friend of mine that said to
just use simple ammonia based window cleaner. |
 As
I am fairly cheap to begin with, I opt for the generic brands of
cleaner that are supposed to be a substitute for Windex with
Ammonia. The spray bottle as show in figure 1 makes for a great
applicator. |
 I
am kind of paranoid about my mil-surp rifles and don't want to
risk any chance of corrosion. Some folks stop at the bore
and the bolt face. I take it one step further and clean the
disassembled bolt as well as the receiver.Start
with removing the bolt from the rifle. |
 Next,
completely disassemble and layout the bolt parts on a towel (as
shown in figure 3). |
 Spray a very light coat of the ammonia cleaner on all of the
surfaces of the bolt parts. |
 Pay special attention to the bolt face. |
 Use a clean rag to wipe down all of the bolt parts,
removing any residue and excess cleaner. |
 Clean the bolt parts as
you normally would after shooting.
I place them in a bucket and pour enough Ed's Red Homemade Solvent
to cover the parts. I then set the bucket aside while I tackle
the rest of the rifle. |
 Lightly spray a patch with the window cleaner. |
 Using
a cleaning rod and cleaning jag, push the patch through the
barrel. |
 Push
the patch through the barrel and remove at the muzzle end. |
 Now take a short cleaning rod (pistol) with a cleaning patch
loop attached to it. Place a patch in the loop and lightly
spray it with the window cleaner. Then swab the inside of the
bore and receiver. |
 Take
your long cleaning rod and jag and clean the rifle's
barrel thoroughly as you normally would using your gun solvent.
I am not going
to go into detail on the cleaning regiment as you can read about
it at the following link -
Cleaning the Bolt Action Rifle. |
 Note:
I think it is important to use a cleaning jag when cleaning a
rifle's barrel. It pushes the cleaner or solvent with any
removed residues and dirt out of the barrel more efficiently.
Thus leaving less cleaner behind. |
 Take a short cleaning rod (pistol) with a cleaning patch
loop attached to it. Place a patch in the loop and coat it
with your gun cleaning solvent. Swab the inside of the bore
and receiver. |
 Then run a few dry patches throughout the rifles internal
surfaces. |
 Afterwards
run a oil soaked patch over all of the internal surfaces,
followed by clean patches to sop up any excess. |
 Assemble the bolt and coat it lightly with gun oil. |
 Return the bolt to the rifle and
you are now finished cleaning. |
