Shooting military surplus rifles usually goes hand in hand with shooting military surplus ammunition. Most of it is cheap, plentiful, and usually accurate enough to use in any situation except competion target shooting. Only drawback to it is that most surplus ammo is corrosive and if you don't clean properly after shooting, you could wind up with an orange frosty bore filled with rust once humidity takes its toll.
I'm not gonna go into the whole why its corrosive, why "mildly corrosive" is just as bad, etc. I'll just say this.... if you don't know whether or not the ammo you're shooting is corrosive, or is made with corrosive primers, clean like it is corrosive. Some people falsely label ammo as non-corrosive just because only the primer is. I say rule of thumb is that unless it was made in the late 80's/early 90's, its potentially corrosive.
Best way I avoid ruining a bore is by bringing a few essentials to the range with me. A bottle of amonia based window cleaner (generic concentrated brands are cheap and easy to mix), a take down cleaning rod with a patch holder, some patches, a can of oil like Break Free, and a small funnel I rigged for getting cleaner in the rifle's bore without soaking the entire rifle. Some ranges don't allow clean up on site. In that case cleaning up when you get home is needed and you can use hot water to flush the bore and clean like you normally would afterwards with brushes and whatever cleaner you usually use. I'm sometimes lazy when I get home and will let a rifle sit for a few days w/out cleaning it properly so the quick clean job at the range for corrosive salts has never let me down.
Regardless of how you do it, heres a few shots of the funnel I rigged up to use in my rifles. Best thing about the funnel is that the cleaner, be it water or window cleaner, goes right into the bore and doesn't get all over the inside of the chamber, between the stock and receiver where it could sit and do damage. A standard plastic funnel, rubber hose, and aluminum tubing is pretty much all you need unless you need a small hose clamp or two to keep the fit snug.
Holding the rifle with the muzzle facing down, I put the aluminum tubing just inside the bore so the cleaner won't get on anything else.
Then I put the rubber tubing between the stock and my thumb to hold the funnel in place. As you pour cleaner down the bore you can tilt the rifle to make sure all areas, top, bottom, and sides get wet.
I'll usually flush a bore with about 4 or 6 ounces of cleaner, depending on how much I shot that day, then follow up with running some dry patches, then one thats oil soaked, then a few dry again. If i'm home i'll pour hot water down there by the cup fulls and let it run into a bucket, then clean with brushes and Ed's Red.
Even with a quick range clean up the way I mentioned, you still need to wipe down the inside of the chamber and bolt (especially the bolt face) with a rag and cleaner because corrosive salts can attack these areas as well. Just remember to give any areas you've cleaned a light rub with oil to protect the metal. Lucky for me I have fairly small fingers and can get my pinky in most rifle actions with a rag soaked in glass cleaner.![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
Some guys will say to strip and soak the bolt in cleaner and flush the entire chamber as well. That may be good if you live in and store your guns in a constantly humid enviorment, but I've never done that. Maybe i'm just lucky, but in 3 years of shooting corrosive ammo i've never had problems with rust after using the method of cleaning I described.
I'm not gonna go into the whole why its corrosive, why "mildly corrosive" is just as bad, etc. I'll just say this.... if you don't know whether or not the ammo you're shooting is corrosive, or is made with corrosive primers, clean like it is corrosive. Some people falsely label ammo as non-corrosive just because only the primer is. I say rule of thumb is that unless it was made in the late 80's/early 90's, its potentially corrosive.
Best way I avoid ruining a bore is by bringing a few essentials to the range with me. A bottle of amonia based window cleaner (generic concentrated brands are cheap and easy to mix), a take down cleaning rod with a patch holder, some patches, a can of oil like Break Free, and a small funnel I rigged for getting cleaner in the rifle's bore without soaking the entire rifle. Some ranges don't allow clean up on site. In that case cleaning up when you get home is needed and you can use hot water to flush the bore and clean like you normally would afterwards with brushes and whatever cleaner you usually use. I'm sometimes lazy when I get home and will let a rifle sit for a few days w/out cleaning it properly so the quick clean job at the range for corrosive salts has never let me down.
Regardless of how you do it, heres a few shots of the funnel I rigged up to use in my rifles. Best thing about the funnel is that the cleaner, be it water or window cleaner, goes right into the bore and doesn't get all over the inside of the chamber, between the stock and receiver where it could sit and do damage. A standard plastic funnel, rubber hose, and aluminum tubing is pretty much all you need unless you need a small hose clamp or two to keep the fit snug.
Holding the rifle with the muzzle facing down, I put the aluminum tubing just inside the bore so the cleaner won't get on anything else.
Then I put the rubber tubing between the stock and my thumb to hold the funnel in place. As you pour cleaner down the bore you can tilt the rifle to make sure all areas, top, bottom, and sides get wet.
I'll usually flush a bore with about 4 or 6 ounces of cleaner, depending on how much I shot that day, then follow up with running some dry patches, then one thats oil soaked, then a few dry again. If i'm home i'll pour hot water down there by the cup fulls and let it run into a bucket, then clean with brushes and Ed's Red.
Even with a quick range clean up the way I mentioned, you still need to wipe down the inside of the chamber and bolt (especially the bolt face) with a rag and cleaner because corrosive salts can attack these areas as well. Just remember to give any areas you've cleaned a light rub with oil to protect the metal. Lucky for me I have fairly small fingers and can get my pinky in most rifle actions with a rag soaked in glass cleaner.
Some guys will say to strip and soak the bolt in cleaner and flush the entire chamber as well. That may be good if you live in and store your guns in a constantly humid enviorment, but I've never done that. Maybe i'm just lucky, but in 3 years of shooting corrosive ammo i've never had problems with rust after using the method of cleaning I described.
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